Bank of Italy finds no consistent cost advantage for stablecoin remittances
A Bank of Italy study found stablecoin remittances did not deliver a consistent cost or speed advantage over traditional payment channels because most friction came from fiat conversion and on/off-ramps, not blockchain fees. Researchers tested 200 USDC transfers across 10 corridors between Italy and Brazil, Argentina, Japan, the UAE, and South Africa. Total costs ranged from 0.3% to nearly 9%, and settlement times varied from under 20 minutes with instant payment rails to one or two business days without them. Stablecoin transfers were cheaper than the World Bank’s average remittance cost in most corridors, but were cheaper than Wise in only three of seven comparable corridors. The study says better domestic instant payment infrastructure would improve efficiency, and stablecoins would be most useful if they could be spent directly without reconversion to fiat. Regulation also mattered: restrictive regimes tended to push users toward offshore or unregulated channels rather than eliminate demand.
