Stablecoins Fall Short on Cost Advantage for Remittances: Italian Study

A study by the Bank of Italy found that stablecoin remittances do not necessarily offer a cost advantage over traditional channels. The research involved transferring USDC across 10 corridors, with total costs ranging from 0.3% to nearly 9%. Fiat conversion fees and banking rails were responsible for most expenses and delays.

The study compared its results to the World Bank's global average remittance cost of 6.65%, finding that stablecoin transfers were cheaper in most corridors examined. However, they were less expensive than Wise in only three of seven comparable corridors, while being more expensive in four, including both UAE routes and Italy to Brazil.

The researchers cautioned that the study's findings cannot be readily generalized to every provider or corridor due to its limited scope. They suggested improving domestic payment infrastructure and connecting fast-payment systems across borders, treating stablecoin rails and domestic instant-payment systems as complements rather than substitutes.