A software developer in Lahore or a nanny in Manila can move dollar-pegged digital tokens across borders in seconds, often paying 1 to 3% to convert them into local currency. The World Bank estimates that sending $200 home through conventional channels costs 6.5% on average in 2025. For the 24m South-East Asians working abroad, that gap amounts to the difference between a modest saving and a lost day’s wage. In the Philippines, where remittances equal 9% of gross domestic product, the arithmetic is stark.
India illustrates the paradox. Despite a 30% tax on gains and a 1% levy on each transaction, the country absorbed an estimated $338bn in crypto inflows between mid-2024 and 2025. For the third consecutive year it tops Chainalysis’s global adoption index. Nine of the top 20 countries are Asian, including Pakistan in third place, alongside Vietnam, Japan and South Korea. Speculation persists, though the more durable shift lies elsewhere. As one analyst observes, ‘Crypto is being used to solve real-world problems.’
Stablecoins, whose value tracks the dollar, now dominate this activity. Between January and July last year, global transfer volumes exceeded $4trn. That remains a sliver of total cross-border payments, yet business use is accelerating. Monthly business-to-business volumes have climbed from under $100m in early 2023 to more than $6bn by mid-2025, according to Artemis, a crypto analytics firm.
A Vietnamese importer paying a Thai supplier can avoid layers of correspondent banks, foreign-exchange spreads and compliance delays. Settlement arrives faster and with fewer intermediaries. Hence the verdict: ‘Stablecoins are becoming the backbone of crypto activity.’
Asia’s 210m gig-economy workers add further scale. Conventional payment systems can hold up earnings for drivers and delivery workers; digital tokens settle instantly. Visa is testing direct transfers to stablecoin wallets. Pakistan, home to roughly 2m freelancers and $38bn in annual remittances, has seen many opt for such payments.
The same speed and anonymity that ease a nurse’s transfer to Manila also suit criminal networks in Myanmar and Cambodia. Whether stablecoins mature into low-cost financial plumbing or drift into a parallel system beyond scrutiny will depend heavily on Asian regulators. The region commands both the volume and the urgency to settle that question.