"Cross-border payments are still expensive and slow… Stablecoins could be the solution"

A claim has been raised that stablecoins (digital assets pegged in value to fiat currencies) could be used to improve inefficiencies in cross-border payment systems. However, it was also noted that stablecoins still face challenges that must be addressed to become part of real-world infrastructure.

Kim Byeong-hee, head of Shinhan Bank’s digital-asset cell, said at the ‘2026 Blockchain Meetup Conference’ held at the Seoul Textile Center on the 12th, “At present, cross-border payments continue to draw criticism for being costly, slow to process, and lacking in transparency and accessibility.” He added, “The G20 and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) are also pushing initiatives to enhance the efficiency of cross-border payments to address this issue, but there are limits to what can be achieved by partially improving existing systems.”

According to Kim, the biggest problem with the current system is fragmentation. Information needed for transactions, the status of assets, and remittance messages are all dispersed, meaning significant time and costs are consumed during verification.

Kim then introduced the concept of “Finternet.” This is the Bank for International Settlements (BIS)’s proposed solution to change how existing payment systems operate by building a single network that integrates fragmented finance, assets, and ledgers. Notable models for the Finternet include ▲Project Agora, ▲Ledger, and ▲Project Pax.

Kim predicted that stablecoins will play an important role in these models. “Stablecoins are the most viable financial alternative among the solutions introduced so far in terms of transaction finality speed,” he said, adding that “because they can move in token form carrying asset information, transaction rules, and remittance information together, they can improve processing efficiency.”

However, Kim added that stablecoins still have hurdles to clear before they can become an international payments standard. “Stablecoins have the advantage of fast transfer, but they still need improvements in two areas—liquidity and regulation,” he said.