Nearly half of consumers surveyed across Asia-Pacific said they could use stablecoins within the next five years, highlighting growing interest in digital payments despite limited understanding and persistent concerns about scams.
Interest is rising faster than adoption
Visa surveyed 14,250 people across the Asia-Pacific region and found that 46% were likely to use stablecoins during the next five years. That compares with 16% who said they had used them in the previous 12 months.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a value linked to an asset such as a traditional currency. The survey suggests that consumers are beginning to consider them for more than crypto trading. Everyday purchases, travel and cross-border money transfers were among the uses attracting interest.
The findings are significant because Asia-Pacific has about 2.5 billion middle-class consumers, according to the Asia Business Council. Payment companies, banks and stablecoin providers are competing to develop products for this market. Asia already leads global stablecoin flows and on-chain activity, according to CoinDesk’s reporting and research cited in the source material.
Visa’s research also found that 49% of respondents believed stablecoins could become a common way to transfer money across borders within five years. Cross-border payments can involve different currencies and financial systems, making them an important area of focus for companies developing digital payment networks.
Knowledge and trust remain obstacles
The survey showed a substantial gap between consumer interest and consumer understanding. Only 6% of respondents demonstrated an accurate understanding of how stablecoins work. Among people who were aware of stablecoins, 49% believed they could be used only to buy or sell other cryptocurrencies.
That misunderstanding may limit adoption as companies attempt to move stablecoins into routine payments. The survey found that concerns over fraud and scams were the most frequently cited barrier among respondents who knew about stablecoins but had not used them.
Nischint Sanghavi, Visa’s head of digital currencies for Asia Pacific, said the research showed a change in how consumers view stablecoins. He said people were increasingly interested in ways the technology could support the spending and money transfers they already make, while noting that the next challenge was creating trusted and familiar payment experiences that function at scale.
The distinction between awareness and understanding is important for payment providers. Consumers may express interest in a new payment method without knowing how its value is maintained, how transactions are processed or what risks may be involved. The survey figures indicate that education and trust could be as important to adoption as the underlying technology.
Visa expands its payment infrastructure
Visa has been expanding its stablecoin settlement network and is seeking to support a broader range of tokens and blockchains. Settlement networks are used to complete and reconcile payments between participating institutions, and expanding them can help payment providers connect digital assets with existing financial systems.
Visa partner Reap is preparing local-currency stablecoins for 24-hour, seven-day foreign-exchange settlement in Asia and other markets. The potential tokens mentioned in the source material include versions linked to the Hong Kong dollar, South Korean won and Japanese yen.
These efforts reflect competition among card networks, banks and stablecoin issuers to turn interest in digital assets into consumer-facing services. For users, the proposed applications include paying for goods, handling expenses while travelling and moving money between countries. For providers, the survey points to a sizeable potential market, but one where concerns about fraud and a lack of understanding remain unresolved.
Visa said the survey confirms the direction of its work. Sanghavi described the opportunity as converting rising interest into payment experiences that consumers trust and recognise.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar market data as of October 11, 2026, at the times shown:
- NEAR Protocol (NEAR): $5.2508066032, down 0.01% in 24 hours and up 6.91% over seven days, as of 11:28 +03:30.
- Stable (STABLE): $0.0274604081, down 0.91% in 24 hours and up 3.35% over seven days, as of 11:29 +03:30.
- OpenLedger (OPEN): $0.1098855469, down 0.29% in 24 hours and down 9.13% over seven days, as of 11:29 +03:30.
- Espresso (ESP): $0.1149035296, up 3.17% in 24 hours and up 7.03% over seven days, as of 11:28 +03:30.
These market figures cover the listed digital assets and are separate from Visa’s consumer survey findings.
