Stablecoins Stumble as Banking Partners Prove Indispensable

The stablecoin sector is facing an unexpected challenge as companies scaling their services are building deeper into the traditional banking system rather than routing around it. In late 2025, genuine stablecoin payments reached a staggering $390 billion annualized, roughly 0.02% of the cross-border market worth $208 trillion.

Stablecoins were initially supposed to settle the middle leg of enterprise cross-border payments, which involves getting value across borders from one institution to another. However, it turns out that banks still own the other two legs - the entry point, compliance anchor, and local rails in every market a payment touches.

The companies scaling on stablecoin rails are building into the banking system, corridor by corridor. For example, Stripe paid $1.1 billion for Bridge, whose core product is orchestrating banks. Citi is launching crypto custody, while Standard Chartered is testing stablecoin settlement in Singapore.

Single-bank dependency is the most underrated operational risk in crypto payments today. Most companies on stablecoin rails lean on one primary banking partner, which can leave them vulnerable to risks such as bank exits, regulatory shifts, and changes in management or compliance reviews.