Latin American institutions are routing cross-border payments through stablecoins at the highest rate of any region, according to a report published this month by The Digital Chamber. The group states that 71% of institutions across the region have already begun using stablecoins for these flows.

The finding lands as a data point on adoption that goes beyond retail hedging and into day-to-day treasury and settlement use by companies, banks, and fintechs.

Context: stablecoins as payment infrastructure in LatAm

Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to hold a stable value, typically pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar and backed by reserves of cash or short-term Treasuries. In Latin America, where many local currencies face inflation pressure or capital controls, households and businesses have used them for years to preserve purchasing power and move value across borders without traditional banking friction.

Cross-border payments have long been expensive and slow in the region. Traditional remittance channels often charge 5–7% (or more) and can take days to settle through correspondent banks. Stablecoins settle near-instantly on public blockchains at a fraction of the cost, which is why they gained early traction for remittances and freelance payouts.

What the new report highlights is that this use case has moved up the stack: institutions themselves are now embedding stablecoins into their own operations.

The 71% figure and supporting data

The Digital Chamber’s June 17, 2026 post cites the 71% adoption rate for cross-border payments as the highest of any global region. It also notes that on-chain crypto volume in Latin America rose 60% year-over-year in 2025, driven largely by stablecoins.

Supporting numbers from the report and aligned sources include:

  • $324 billion in stablecoin transaction volume across LATAM in 2025, an 89% year-over-year surge.
  • In Brazil, over 90% of all crypto flows are now stablecoin-related; in Argentina, over 60%.
  • Global B2B stablecoin volumes grew 30x over the past two years, with Latin American businesses, banks, and fintechs among the early adopters.

The OpenTrade LATAM Stablecoin Report echoes the volume picture: of roughly $730 billion in on-chain crypto received across the region in 2025, $324 billion moved as stablecoins.

Remittance economics add a concrete incentive. Mizuho research cited in the coverage puts stablecoin rails in the US–Mexico corridor at under 1% fees versus the traditional 5–7% average. Applied to the $142 billion sent from the United States to Latin America in 2025, that difference could translate to $6.1–8.9 billion in potential consumer savings if more flows shifted to lower-cost infrastructure.

Regulatory tailwinds

The numbers arrive against a backdrop of clearer rules on both sides of the border.

In the United States, the GENIUS Act (signed July 2025) created the first federal framework for payment stablecoins, requiring 1:1 high-quality reserves, attestations, and licensed U.S. issuance. In Latin America, Brazil’s Virtual Assets Law, Argentina’s mandatory exchange registration regime, and Bolivia’s reversal of its long-standing crypto ban are all cited as factors that have made institutional use more feasible.

The result is not that every institution is now a crypto treasury, but that the rails are becoming reliable enough for production payment and settlement workflows.

Why this matters for Latin America

For companies and financial services firms operating across borders in the region, stablecoins reduce settlement time from days to minutes and cut FX and intermediary costs. That matters for payroll, supplier payments, treasury management, and any flow that previously required pre-funding accounts in multiple countries.

For end users, the institutional layer creates more on-ramps and liquidity. When a Brazilian fintech or Mexican PSP can settle the cross-border leg in stablecoins and deliver via Pix or SPEI the same day, the experience for the person receiving the money improves even if they never touch a wallet.

The shift also intersects with self-custody. Many stablecoin flows begin or end in user-controlled wallets rather than leaving value parked on an exchange or in a traditional bank account exposed to local currency or counterparty risk. As more institutions build around these rails, the infrastructure that supports non-custodial holding and movement grows stronger.

Tourism and small business acceptance is another thread: hotels, restaurants, and service providers in several markets are starting to take stablecoin payments directly from visitors, avoiding FX spreads and card fees on both sides.

Takeaway

The 71% statistic is a snapshot of infrastructure adoption, not a price call. It shows that in Latin America, stablecoins have become a practical settlement layer for a large share of institutions moving value across borders — the highest such share reported anywhere.

For readers in the region, the practical takeaway is that the tools for cheaper, faster, and more sovereign cross-border value transfer continue to mature. Whether you are a freelancer, a business, or simply someone who prefers to hold dollars outside local banking channels, the on-ramps and off-ramps are becoming more embedded in the financial apps and services you already use.

Not financial advice. Stablecoins carry issuer, regulatory, peg, counterparty, and operational risks even when reserves are attested. Users and institutions should review the specific structure, attestations, and legal status of any token or rail they use and do their own research.

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