Use case · remittances

Remittances

Stablecoins now process ~$120B in annual cross-border remittances, displacing Western Union and MoneyGram in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Sub-cent fees on Tron and Solana plus instant finality make USDT and USDC the rails of choice when fiat off-ramps are available.

Updated today
Market size
Updated 1d ago
Addressable market
$900.0B
Annual volume
$120.0B
Growth (YoY)
+42.3%
Avg fee saved
5.8pp
vs traditional rails
How it works

How it works

Sender buys stablecoins via local on-ramp (Lemon Cash, Bitso, Coinbase). Transfers via Tron/Solana/Polygon — confirms in seconds, cost < $0.01. Receiver cashes out at a local exchange or merchant who serves as off-ramp.

  1. 01 Sender funds wallet via bank transfer or card at on-ramp (Ramp, MoonPay, Bitso, Lemon)
  2. 02 On-ramp delivers USDT/USDC to sender's wallet (typically Tron TRC-20 for sub-cent fees)
  3. 03 Sender transfers to recipient's wallet address (no name/address required)
  4. 04 Transfer settles in 1-60 seconds depending on chain
  5. 05 Recipient cashes out via local exchange, P2P market or stablecoin-enabled merchant
Real-world examples

Real-world examples

US → Mexico USDT corridor

$18B annual flow

Mexican remittance market is now ~22% USDT-denominated, mostly via Tron. Bitso and Volcán serve as primary off-ramps converting to MXN at <1% spread.

US → Philippines via Coinsph

~$4.2B in 2025

Coinsph's USDT-to-PHP off-ramp covers ~14% of the US-Philippines remittance corridor, undercutting Western Union by 4-5pp on fees.

EU → Nigeria via Yellow Card

$1.8B in 2025

Yellow Card handles USDC and USDT off-ramps to NGN across 20 African countries, with local agent networks for cash payout.

Key players

Key players

Stablecoins
usdt usdc
Chains
tron solana polygon base
Projects
circle tether stripe ramp
Where it's strongest

Where it's strongest

MexicoPhilippinesNigeriaArgentinaVietnamLebanonPakistan
Challenges

Challenges

  • ● Off-ramp regulatory pressure in receiving countries (KYC, AML reporting thresholds)
  • ● FX spread between stablecoin and local currency at illiquid off-ramps
  • ● User education for first-time crypto wallet setup
  • ● OFAC freeze risk for sanctioned destinations
Future outlook

Future outlook

Expect stablecoin remittances to capture 25-30% of the global $900B remittance market by 2028, with sub-corridor fees collapsing below 1%. Integration with major banks (Citi, Santander already pilot stablecoin payouts) will pull the volume out of P2P into custodial flows. Regulatory clarity from MiCA and GENIUS Act creates compliant on/off-ramp infrastructure in EU and US.

More context

For live data on the stablecoins powering this use case, see their individual fichas linked above.