[Weekend Money] Will Stablecoins Replace All Payment Methods?

There are predictions that stablecoin payments will not be the only method used in the era of agent artificial intelligence (AI). Payment methods such as stablecoins and cards will vary depending on the type of transaction.

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On April 25, virtual asset data platform Xangle projected that bank transfers or cards will be used for simple domestic payments, while stablecoins will be utilized for small online payments and cross-border business-to-business (B2B) remittances.

As agent AI becomes more prevalent, the commerce ecosystem will shift from e-commerce to agentic commerce. Unlike e-commerce, where payment is made only once even after comparing multiple products, agentic commerce involves multiple payments in the process of achieving a single goal. In agentic commerce, each stage-such as coupon searches, price comparisons, inventory checks, and order executions-incurs separate costs.

In these cases, stablecoins serve as a useful payment method. The domestic bank transfer system does not support conditional payments; for example, if a product arrives within a month, payment is made, but if it is delayed, a refund is issued. While stablecoins are not strictly essential for payments themselves, building a conditional settlement system tailored for agentic commerce requires a separate platform.

Stablecoins are more cost-effective than card payments in agentic commerce. While it is technically possible to set up a step-by-step payment structure required by agentic commerce using cards, if multiple card payments are made for small transactions, the fees could exceed the price of the actual goods.

Stablecoins are also advantageous for cross-border bank remittances. Traditionally, remittances are handled through the international banking financial messaging network (SWIFT), which involves many intermediary stages and uncertainty regarding which institution is responsible for processing and when the transaction will be completed. With the introduction of agent AI, this can result in exceptional situations where it is difficult to clearly distinguish between deposit completion or transaction processing. In contrast, stablecoin on-chain settlements are finalized within seconds or minutes, eliminating exceptions and thereby removing uncertainty.

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However, there are risk factors associated with stablecoins as well. Centralized stablecoins carry issuer risk, as the issuing company can freeze addresses or block certain asset transfers in response to law enforcement requests or regulatory action. Unlike card payments, which include approval, settlement, and dispute resolution processes, stablecoins only handle asset transfers, so a separate protocol needs to be designed for consumer protection. On-chain payments also have inherent infrastructure risks, such as network congestion or downtime, since they operate on decentralized networks.

Experts point out that it is important to segment the areas where the strengths of each payment method are required. For simple domestic transactions, card payments or bank transfers-which offer low fees and safety for consumers-are advantageous.

For small online payments or cross-border B2B remittances, stablecoins are more advantageous. In small online payments, stablecoins enable economic efficiency through pure on-chain settlements between agents. For cross-border B2B remittances, stablecoins help eliminate uncertainty, thereby reducing costs.

Jinsan Kim, a researcher at Xangle, stated, "In agentic commerce, the key issue is not whether to use stablecoins or cards, but how to design a payment structure that enables agents to execute seamlessly."

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