Stablecoins vs the Payments Toll Booth

Payments firms have run on a toll booth model for decades: clip a fee off every transaction. Neil Chopra (Head of Strategy & Business Development, Americas, Fireblocks) on why that model is running out of road, and how stablecoins let firms keep funds on platform, get direct to users, and build new services.

From the Finextra panel on stablecoin settlement, with Nuvei and EY. Watch the full session: https://youtu.be/uKpfIr5zaDU

Chapters

0:00 The toll booth model in payments

0:24 Western Union and MoneyGram issuing their own stablecoins

1:06 The real pain: prefunding, nostro accounts, trapped capital

1:33 Issuing your own stablecoin and holding the reserves

2:10 Getting direct to users with wallets

2:26 Inserting the tech without disrupting the core business

Key Takeaways

Payments firms have traditionally worked like a toll booth, taking a clip of each transaction. To stay competitive, they have to rethink the underlying business model.

Western Union and MoneyGram issuing their own stablecoins shows the shift: keep funds on platform, take the yield on reserves, and deliver new products instead of just routing payments.

The pain stablecoins solve is the one Neil saw across ten years in corporate treasury: prefunding nostro accounts and capital trapped globally. Moving value in real time unlocks that capital to put to use.

The endgame is getting direct to users with wallets, moving past correspondent banking, and broadening financial services from there.

Learn more about our stablecoin infrastructure: https://www.fireblocks.com/solutions/stablecoin-infrastructure

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