Traditional cross-border transfers rely on infrastructure predating the internet. As a result, moving funds can be slow, expensive, and tangled in multiple intermediaries often taking days despite handling over $190 trillion annually and supporting a global financial system valued at more than $270 trillion.
Stablecoins: The Modern Money Rail
Stablecoins digital tokens pegged to fiat have become essential financial instruments. Today they boast:
- $250 billion in circulating liquidity
- Roughly 60 percent of all on-chain transaction volume
- About $24 trillion in on-chain transfers during 2024, with $7.6 trillion used for payments
Their programmable nature and 24/7 availability allow value to flow with speed and precision. But these features demand an equally modern blockchain foundation.
Aptos: Built for Instant, Cost-Effective Payments
Aptos delivers the infrastructure stablecoins need:
- Sub-second finality under normal load
- Scalability to hundreds of thousands of transactions per second
- Micro-fees averaging $0.00055 per transaction
Smart contracts on Aptos make money programmable and composable. Developers can automate payroll, merchant payouts, micropayments for creators, and large-scale institutional disbursements all on a single platform.
Real-World Impact Today
Already, Aptos supports the top three US dollar stablecoins natively. Within months of launch, circulating supply exceeded $1.3 billion and monthly stablecoin volume surpassed $30 billion rivaling the busiest networks in crypto.
Emerging use cases include:
- Instant cross-border remittances without middlemen
- Global payroll disbursements in seconds
- Merchant acceptance without card fees or settlement delays
- High-volume on-chain payouts for financial institutions
- Pay-as-you-go models for content, gaming, IoT and more
The Road Ahead
This convergence of stablecoin utility and high-performance blockchain marks the start of a new payments standard. On Aptos, money moves as freely as information unlocking possibilities for financial innovation at true internet scale.