30s Summary

Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) is partnering with fintech firm Lightnet to offer customers stablecoin cross-border payments. The cheaper transaction costs of stablecoins, such as those linked to the US dollar, offer potential savings for users. SCB tested its service in the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory sandbox. Stablecoins are particularly popular in countries where local currencies are losing value; around 43% of all crypto transactions in Sub-Saharan Africa use stablecoins. Growing digital remittances to South America are likely to increase the use of blockchain assets like stablecoins.

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Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), Thailand’s oldest commercial bank, has decided to team up with fintech company Lightnet to provide clients with a way to make stablecoin cross-border payments. This means you can send or receive money across borders anytime you want and it will cost you less.

Stablecoins are a really smart choice if you’re getting money from more valuable currencies because the transaction fees are lower. The big shot at Lightnet, Tridbodi Arunanondchai, said that these coin services are good for everyone and they’re especially important because there’s a lower money requirement per transaction. He also mentioned how great these services are for store owners, businesses, and organizations.

SCB tested their new stablecoin services in the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory sandbox. This sandbox is a place where banks can play around with digital money under more relaxed rules without stressing about lawsuits.

These stablecoins, especially ones pegged to the US dollar, are becoming more and more popular with people in less wealthy countries. This isn’t surprising as they are a way to save cash and keep purchasing power safe against currencies that are quickly losing value.

A recent report from Chainalysis, a cryptocurrency analysis firm, found that stablecoins make up roughly 43% of all crypto transfers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Another interesting point is that erosion of local currencies seems to lead to more adoption of stablecoins.

Looking at Latin America, the data seems to confirm Chainalysis’ findings. In Venezuela, for instance, where their local currency is losing value very fast, around 9% of the money sent home in 2023 used cryptocurrency. Over half of these digital remittances to Venezuela were made with stablecoins. This was not just a trend in Venezuela but was also seen in Argentina, Columbia, Brazil, and Mexico.

In 2024, Mastercard put out a report discussing remittances to South America. The report showed that the region has the fastest-growing remittance rates in the world. According to the credit card and payments company, blockchain assets like stablecoins will continue to grow in the crypto market and will help towards a more digital economy.

Source: Cointelegraph