Stablecoins are rapidly evolving from niche crypto instruments into essential components of institutional financial infrastructure, according to a new cross-sector outlook published by Moody’s. In its 2026 Digital Economy report, the ratings agency said fiat-backed stablecoins and tokenised bank deposits are increasingly functioning as “digital cash,” supporting liquidity management, collateral transfers, and settlement across a progressively tokenised global financial system.
Moody’s estimates that stablecoins processed roughly $9 trillion in settlement volume during 2025, representing an 87% increase from the previous year. Unlike traditional bank-to-bank payment flows, this activity reflects onchain transactions spanning decentralised and institutional platforms, signalling a structural shift in how value is moved and settled. The agency noted that stablecoins are no longer confined to crypto-native use cases but are being embedded directly into the operational rails of mainstream finance.
The report places stablecoins alongside tokenised bonds, funds, and credit instruments as part of a broader convergence between traditional financial markets and blockchain-based infrastructure. Throughout 2025, banks, asset managers, and market infrastructure providers ran extensive pilot programmes focused on blockchain settlement networks, digital custody, and tokenisation platforms. These initiatives were aimed at reducing issuance friction, improving post-trade efficiency, and enhancing intraday liquidity management.
Moody’s projects that more than $300 billion could be invested globally in digital finance and supporting infrastructure by 2030, as institutions build the foundation for large-scale tokenisation and programmable settlement. Within this framework, stablecoins and tokenised deposits are increasingly being used as settlement assets for cross-border payments, short-term secured lending arrangements such as repos, and collateral movements between trading venues and funds.
The agency highlighted several real-world implementations already underway. Regulated financial institutions made use of cash- and US Treasury-backed stablecoins in 2025 to facilitate intraday transfers between funds, credit pools, and exchanges. Banks, including Citigroup and Société Générale, were cited as participants in these trials. Moody’s also pointed to JPM Coin as an example of a deposit token model that integrates programmable payments and liquidity controls into existing banking systems, demonstrating how digital cash layers can operate on top of traditional infrastructure rather than replace it.
Regulatory frameworks are beginning to align with this transformation. Moody’s referenced the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, proposed US stablecoin and market structure legislation, and licensing regimes in jurisdictions such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates as signs of a converging global approach to digital asset oversight. Bank-issued initiatives like Société Générale-Forge’s euro-denominated products and experiments with dirham-linked payment tokens in the Gulf were highlighted as early examples of regulated digital money.
Despite the momentum, Moody’s cautioned that the shift introduces new risks. As more value moves onto digital rails, vulnerabilities such as smart contract flaws, oracle failures, cyberattacks on custody systems, and fragmentation across blockchains could create fresh operational and counterparty challenges. The agency stressed that robust security, interoperability, and governance will be critical if stablecoins are to serve as dependable institutional settlement tools rather than sources of systemic risk.
