For many years, fintechs have focused their efforts on creating banking as a service (BaaS).

Infrastructures that enable offering digital accounts, payments, cards, and credit without each company needing to become a traditional bank. Now, this movement is beginning to advance to a higher level. Companies, large platforms, and even governments are starting to discuss the creation of their own currencies through stablecoins.

This topic, which had already been discussed within the crypto ecosystem, has recently also entered the radar of traditional media and the financial system.

Why does this advancement make sense in Brazil?

Brazil has become a particularly favorable ground for this evolution due to some structural factors:

• Pix has transformed instant transfers into basic infrastructure
• Open finance has expanded the sharing of financial data
• The banking system is already largely digital
• Regulation has sought to integrate new technologies, rather than simply blocking them

In this scenario, stablecoins cease to seem experimental and begin to be seen as a natural extension of the existing financial infrastructure.

Practical use cases that explain the interest in stablecoins

The advancement of stablecoins is not linked to speculation, but to operational efficiency. Some uses that help explain this movement:

1. Payments within proprietary ecosystems
   Companies can use stablecoins for internal payments between clients, partners, and suppliers, reducing costs and intermediaries.

2. Faster financial settlement
   Stablecoins allow for almost immediate settlement, including in B2B transactions, without relying on banking hours or legacy systems.

3. Digital credits and loyalty programs
   Points and credits cease to be just accounting records and start functioning as programmable digital assets.

4. Integration with international operations
   Stablecoins facilitate cross-border transactions, with less currency and operational friction.

The point of attention that accompanies this evolution

Despite the efficiency gains, stablecoins are not neutral. By issuing its own currency, a company or institution begins to:

• define usage rules
• control circulation
• establish limits and permissions
• collect detailed data on transactions

In other words, in addition to financial innovation, we are talking about control of monetary infrastructure.

This is the central point of the debate: technology advances rapidly, but the real discussion is who defines the rules of digital money.

Conclusion

The growth of stablecoins is not a future hypothesis. It is already underway, driven by infrastructure, regulation, and demand for efficiency.

The question that remains is not whether this model will advance, but how it will be implemented and who will have decision-making power in this new phase of the financial system. Money continues to digitalize, but the debate now is about governance, control, and limits.

This text is based on reflections raised by a recent article from Exame about the advancement of stablecoins in Brazil and around the world, with original analysis.