There is growing consumer interest in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region in using stablecoins for everyday spending, travel and cross-border transfers, according to a new survey conducted by Visa (V).
The payments giant said it found that nearly half of APAC’s 2.5 billion consumers are open to start using fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies within the next five years.
"We're seeing a meaningful shift in how consumers across Asia Pacific think about stablecoins," said Nischint Sanghavi, head of digital currencies at Visa’s APAC division.
Sanghavi explained that although consumers have limited knowledge of stablecoins, they are increasingly interested in adopting them.
About half of the 14,250 people Visa surveyed said they believed stablecoins could only be used to buy or sell other cryptocurrencies.
The study found that 46% of consumers interviewed are likely to use stablecoins within the next five years, compared with 16% who have used them in the past 12 months. About 49% of them believe stablecoins could become a common way to move money across borders within the next five years.
The gap between interest and understanding remains wide. Only 6% of respondents demonstrated an accurate understanding of how stablecoins work, Visa said, while 49% of people aware of them thought they could only be used to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Concerns about fraud and scams were the most commonly cited obstacle among respondents who were aware of stablecoins but had not used them.
Stablecoin providers, banks and card networks are competing for a payments opportunity in a region with about 2.5 billion middle-class consumers, according to the Asia Business Council. Asia already leads global stablecoin flows and onchain activity, and payment companies are working to turn that demand into everyday products, according to CoinDesk research.
Visa itself has expanded its stablecoin settlement network and is seeking to support a wider range of tokens and blockchains. Its partner Reap is also preparing local-currency stablecoins for 24/7 foreign-exchange settlement in Asia and other markets, including potential Hong Kong dollar, won and yen tokens.
“Consumers are beginning to see how stablecoins could support the ways they already spend and move money,” said Sanghavi, Visa’s head of digital currencies for Asia Pacific. “The opportunity now is to turn that interest into trusted and familiar payment experiences that work at scale.” He also said the research confirms what Visa has been building toward.