At Consensus Miami 2026, senior executives from MoonPay, Ripple and Paxos argued that US stablecoin regulation has finally pulled traditional finance into the market — but that real-world adoption still hinges on building payment rails and privacy safeguards.
Regulation opened the door, infrastructure must follow
MoonPay’s Richard Harrison, VP of banking and payment partnerships, said the GENIUS Act “brought us clarity,” making it easier for banks and other traditional firms to evaluate compliance and enter the stablecoin space. But clarity alone isn’t enough. Harrison compared today’s stablecoin ecosystem to electric vehicles: the core product works, but mass adoption depends on supporting infrastructure. “How do you use stablecoin to pay your rent? How do you use it to buy a cup of coffee?” he asked.
Practical utility, not market cap, drives institutions
Ripple’s Jack McDonald, senior VP for stablecoins, said institutional buyers are less interested in token market capitalizations and more concerned with regulatory compliance, custody security and whether stablecoins solve real business problems beyond trading. Ripple is focused on treasury operations, collateral management and cross-border payment settlement as the primary enterprise use cases — areas where utility can unlock sustained adoption.
Remittances: a big upside if rails improve
Harrison noted stablecoins today account for only a small slice of global remittance flows but forecast they could capture roughly 10% of the market over the next five years as payment rails and merchant integrations improve. He highlighted the cost and speed advantages: many stablecoin-powered cross-border transfers settle near-instantly at fees below $1, versus traditional banking fees that can top 6%.
Privacy remains the stubborn bottleneck
Paxos senior staff engineer Brent Perrault said privacy is the industry’s most persistent unresolved issue. Public blockchains reveal transaction amounts and fund flows, which raises compliance and confidentiality concerns for businesses handling sensitive financial data. Perrault warned partial privacy fixes aren’t sufficient because users and funds inevitably move between private and public chains. As a result, competitive differentiation among issuers is increasingly shaped by trust, distribution partnerships and user incentives as much as technical specs.
Institutional demand is real — but integration is hard
Perrault pointed to growth in PayPal USD and Charles Schwab’s use of Paxos infrastructure as concrete signs that legacy financial firms want in. Still, even well-capitalized, compliant issuers face significant friction when trying to connect stablecoin rails to the everyday payment systems consumers and businesses rely on.
Regulatory backdrop and market context
The panel’s comments came as the CLARITY Act headed for a Senate Banking Committee markup on May 14; five major banking trade groups had rejected the Tillis-Alsobrooks compromise language just days before the vote. While the executives didn’t directly debate that markup, their remarks underscored why regulatory outcomes matter to companies building stablecoin payment products at scale.
The stablecoin market is roughly $317 billion today. New entrants like Western Union — which announced its USDPT on Solana in early May, issued via Anchorage Digital — illustrate the dynamic Harrison described: regulation has lowered barriers to entry, but the infrastructure and privacy layers needed for everyday consumer use are still being built.
Bottom line: regulation has accelerated institutional entry, but mainstream use will depend on solving payments integration, merchant acceptance and robust privacy solutions — the next big hurdles for stablecoin adoption.
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