Many people think it will be a long time before cryptocurrency becomes part of everyday life. But the world’s largest payments giant has just told the market, based on a survey of tens of thousands of people, that ordinary consumers are already eager to give it a try—they just need a wallet that’s as easy to use as a credit card. The convergence of traditional card networks and public blockchain infrastructure is quietly reshaping global consumer payment flows.
【A great migration in payments among 2.5 billion middle-class consumers: Visa survey reveals nearly half intend to use stablecoins】
According to Visa’s latest Consumer 360 survey, as reported by CoinDesk and BlockTempo, an in-depth study of 14,250 consumers aged 18 to 65 across 14 Asia-Pacific markets found that 46% of respondents said they were “likely or very likely” to use stablecoins for payments within the next five years. Compared with an actual usage rate of just 16% over the past 12 months, intended adoption has surged to nearly three times that level. In addition, as many as 49% of respondents believe stablecoins could become a common way to move money across borders and make everyday remittances within five years.
These figures show that stablecoins are moving beyond their role as on-chain hedges and tools for funding exchange accounts, and are making major inroads into real-world payment flows. Statistics from the Asia Business Council indicate that the Asia-Pacific region is home to around 2.5 billion middle-class consumers. This vast landscape of everyday retail payments and cross-border transactions is becoming a strategic battleground for stablecoin issuers, traditional commercial banks, and international card networks.
However, the survey also revealed a striking “knowledge gap”: only 6% of respondents accurately understood how stablecoins work under the hood. Among those who had heard of stablecoins, as many as 49% mistakenly believed they “can only be used to buy and sell other cryptocurrencies,” while 41% wrongly thought their “prices only go up, unlike speculative tokens.” Among non-users, concerns about scams and cybersecurity (38%) and a lack of sufficient understanding (36%) were the two main barriers. When it comes to trust, consumers showed significantly greater confidence in government- or central bank-affiliated institutions (27%) and regulated banks (26%) than in purely decentralized entities. Visa’s head of digital currency for Asia Pacific, Nischint Sanghavi, said the market’s key opportunity lies in turning user interest into scalable payment products that offer institutional-grade trust and a familiar user experience. Visa is currently expanding its stablecoin settlement channels and working with Hong Kong fintech partner Reap to prepare trials of local-currency stablecoins for Asia-Pacific markets, such as tokenized Hong Kong dollars, Korean won, and Japanese yen, for 24/7 foreign exchange clearing and settlement.
【Breaking into physical retail settlement: Solana stands to benefit from traditional card networks’ expansion】
What does this mean for readers? From the perspective of value capture in public blockchain ecosystems, traditional card networks’ push into stablecoin payments in Asia Pacific is essentially opening the door to hundreds of millions of end users for high-throughput blockchains. Among the many Layer 1 blockchains, Solana was selected by Visa as the core network for an enterprise USDC settlement pilot as early as 2023. Its sub-second finality and very low fees make it a natural fit for the demanding requirements of banks and merchants handling frequent, low-value retail transactions. As everyday purchases and cross-border transfers by Asia-Pacific’s 2.5 billion consumers shift from traditional SWIFT rails to on-chain systems, demand for the underlying settlement networks’ throughput and fee consumption could expand exponentially.
In market trading, SOL was quoted at around $109.80 on Binance spot at the latest update. Over the past 24 hours, it traded within a narrow range of $108.45 to $112.06, with spot trading volume of about $152 million for the day. Order book data shows that SOL attracted steady buying after retesting recent support at $108.50, with bulls and bears battling around the key $110 level.
【Key factors to watch: Asia-Pacific local-currency pilot launches and the $112 breakout】
Looking ahead, investors should closely monitor two objective signals:
First, track the rollout of traditional card networks’ local-currency stablecoin pilots and on-chain transfer volumes. The market should continue to monitor the commercial rollout of non-USD stablecoins in Asia Pacific, such as those settled in Hong Kong dollars and Japanese yen, by Visa and its partners. The real fundamental signal is not stated intent in a survey, but the actual weekly transaction count in on-chain enterprise settlement wallets and growth in active merchants. If the pilots transition to round-the-clock, scaled clearing, the real network effects generated by high-frequency settlements could significantly boost fee capture for fast blockchains such as Solana. Conversely, if regulatory compliance progress stalls or the pilots remain limited to small-scale sandbox programs, the market will gradually price out the premium based on expectations;
Second, watch Binance spot’s $108.50 support and $112 resistance. SOL is consolidating in the short term above $108.50. A decisive breakout above $112 on strong daily trading volume would confirm a short-term bottom and open the way to test the $115–$118 range. Conversely, a drop below the intraday low of $108.45 could lead to a retest of support at the $105 level.
These are personal views and an informational summary, not investment advice. DYOR.
$SOL #Solana #Stablecoin
【A great migration in payments among 2.5 billion middle-class consumers: Visa survey reveals nearly half intend to use stablecoins】
According to Visa’s latest Consumer 360 survey, as reported by CoinDesk and BlockTempo, an in-depth study of 14,250 consumers aged 18 to 65 across 14 Asia-Pacific markets found that 46% of respondents said they were “likely or very likely” to use stablecoins for payments within the next five years. Compared with an actual usage rate of just 16% over the past 12 months, intended adoption has surged to nearly three times that level. In addition, as many as 49% of respondents believe stablecoins could become a common way to move money across borders and make everyday remittances within five years.
These figures show that stablecoins are moving beyond their role as on-chain hedges and tools for funding exchange accounts, and are making major inroads into real-world payment flows. Statistics from the Asia Business Council indicate that the Asia-Pacific region is home to around 2.5 billion middle-class consumers. This vast landscape of everyday retail payments and cross-border transactions is becoming a strategic battleground for stablecoin issuers, traditional commercial banks, and international card networks.
However, the survey also revealed a striking “knowledge gap”: only 6% of respondents accurately understood how stablecoins work under the hood. Among those who had heard of stablecoins, as many as 49% mistakenly believed they “can only be used to buy and sell other cryptocurrencies,” while 41% wrongly thought their “prices only go up, unlike speculative tokens.” Among non-users, concerns about scams and cybersecurity (38%) and a lack of sufficient understanding (36%) were the two main barriers. When it comes to trust, consumers showed significantly greater confidence in government- or central bank-affiliated institutions (27%) and regulated banks (26%) than in purely decentralized entities. Visa’s head of digital currency for Asia Pacific, Nischint Sanghavi, said the market’s key opportunity lies in turning user interest into scalable payment products that offer institutional-grade trust and a familiar user experience. Visa is currently expanding its stablecoin settlement channels and working with Hong Kong fintech partner Reap to prepare trials of local-currency stablecoins for Asia-Pacific markets, such as tokenized Hong Kong dollars, Korean won, and Japanese yen, for 24/7 foreign exchange clearing and settlement.
【Breaking into physical retail settlement: Solana stands to benefit from traditional card networks’ expansion】
What does this mean for readers? From the perspective of value capture in public blockchain ecosystems, traditional card networks’ push into stablecoin payments in Asia Pacific is essentially opening the door to hundreds of millions of end users for high-throughput blockchains. Among the many Layer 1 blockchains, Solana was selected by Visa as the core network for an enterprise USDC settlement pilot as early as 2023. Its sub-second finality and very low fees make it a natural fit for the demanding requirements of banks and merchants handling frequent, low-value retail transactions. As everyday purchases and cross-border transfers by Asia-Pacific’s 2.5 billion consumers shift from traditional SWIFT rails to on-chain systems, demand for the underlying settlement networks’ throughput and fee consumption could expand exponentially.
In market trading, SOL was quoted at around $109.80 on Binance spot at the latest update. Over the past 24 hours, it traded within a narrow range of $108.45 to $112.06, with spot trading volume of about $152 million for the day. Order book data shows that SOL attracted steady buying after retesting recent support at $108.50, with bulls and bears battling around the key $110 level.
【Key factors to watch: Asia-Pacific local-currency pilot launches and the $112 breakout】
Looking ahead, investors should closely monitor two objective signals:
First, track the rollout of traditional card networks’ local-currency stablecoin pilots and on-chain transfer volumes. The market should continue to monitor the commercial rollout of non-USD stablecoins in Asia Pacific, such as those settled in Hong Kong dollars and Japanese yen, by Visa and its partners. The real fundamental signal is not stated intent in a survey, but the actual weekly transaction count in on-chain enterprise settlement wallets and growth in active merchants. If the pilots transition to round-the-clock, scaled clearing, the real network effects generated by high-frequency settlements could significantly boost fee capture for fast blockchains such as Solana. Conversely, if regulatory compliance progress stalls or the pilots remain limited to small-scale sandbox programs, the market will gradually price out the premium based on expectations;
Second, watch Binance spot’s $108.50 support and $112 resistance. SOL is consolidating in the short term above $108.50. A decisive breakout above $112 on strong daily trading volume would confirm a short-term bottom and open the way to test the $115–$118 range. Conversely, a drop below the intraday low of $108.45 could lead to a retest of support at the $105 level.
These are personal views and an informational summary, not investment advice. DYOR.
$SOL #Solana #Stablecoin