Author: Olivier Acuna
Compiled by Deep潮 TechFlow
DeepChain Summary: A Visa survey of 14,250 people across Asia-Pacific shows that 46% of respondents may use stablecoins within five years, while only 16% have actually used them in the past year; only 6% truly understand stablecoins, with fraud and scam concerns remaining the biggest barriers. This indicates that while interest is growing among Visa, banks, and card networks in competing for payment access in Asia-Pacific, trust and education have yet to catch up.
A new survey by payment giant Visa (V) finds that consumers in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly interested in using stablecoins for everyday spending, travel, and cross-border transfers.
This payment giant said it found that nearly half of the approximately 2.5 billion consumers in Asia-Pacific are willing to start using fiat-backed cryptocurrencies within the next five years.
“We are seeing a meaningful shift in how consumers in Asia-Pacific view stablecoins,” said Nischint Sanghavi, Visa’s Head of Digital Currencies for Asia-Pacific.
Sanghavi explained that although consumers have limited understanding of stablecoins, interest in adopting them is growing.
Among the 14,250 people surveyed by Visa, about half believed that stablecoins can only be used to buy and sell other cryptocurrencies.
Research shows that 46% of surveyed consumers may use stablecoins within the next five years, compared to 16% who have used them in the past 12 months. Approximately 49% of respondents believe stablecoins are likely to become a common method for cross-border fund transfers within five years.
There remains a significant gap between interest and understanding. Visa reports that only 6% of respondents demonstrated accurate understanding of how stablecoins work; among those aware of stablecoins, 49% believed they could only be used to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. For respondents who are aware of stablecoins but have not yet used them, concerns about fraud and scams were the most frequently cited barriers.
According to the Asia Business Council, stablecoin issuers, banks, and card networks are competing for a payment opportunity targeting approximately 2.5 billion middle-class consumers. Asia has led the world in stablecoin capital flows and on-chain activity, and payment companies are working to turn this demand into everyday usable products, according to CoinDesk Research.
Visa has expanded its stablecoin settlement network and is seeking to support additional tokens and blockchains. Its partner Reap is also preparing fiat-backed stablecoins for Asian and other markets, aimed at 24/7 foreign exchange settlement, with potential candidates including Hong Kong dollar, Korean won, and Japanese yen tokens.
“Consumers are beginning to see that stablecoins can support the spending and funds transfer methods they already use,” said Sanghavi, Visa’s Head of Digital Currencies for Asia Pacific. “The current opportunity is to turn this interest into scalable, trustworthy, and familiar payment experiences.” He also noted that this research validates the direction Visa has been building toward.