1. Digital-Money Landscape
Imagine sending money to family overseas as easily as sending a text message, available 24/7, costing pennies instead of dollars. This is the promise of stablecoins, a new form of digital money that combines the stability of traditional currencies with the speed and accessibility of the internet.
To understand stablecoins, we first need to understand how money itself has evolved. Just as we moved from trading physical goods to using coins, then paper money, and eventually credit cards, we're now witnessing another transformation. This time, money is becoming digital in ways that go beyond simply moving numbers between bank databases.
This section will walk you through this evolution, explain the different types of digital money emerging today, and show you why stablecoins matter for everyone, from individuals sending money home to businesses managing global operations. By the end, you'll understand why stablecoins settled $27.6 trillion in on-chain transaction volume during 2024, surpassing the combined card transaction volumes of Visa and Mastercard [1].
This remarkable growth didn't happen overnight. To understand how we got here, let's trace the evolution of money itself.
Digital money represents the latest evolution in humanity's 3,000-year journey to create more efficient value exchange systems. From physical coins to paper currency, from telegraph wires to instant payments, each innovation has reduced friction, expanded access, and enabled new economic possibilities. Today, we stand at another turning point where blockchain technology enables programmable money that operates 24/7 across borders without traditional intermediaries. For example, payment can release automatically when goods arrive, or funds can split among multiple parties based on predetermined rules.
Stablecoins occupy a unique position in this landscape, bridging the gap between volatile cryptocurrencies and traditional finance. Unlike Bitcoin's price swings or central bank digital currencies' government control, stablecoins maintain steady value while offering the benefits of blockchain technology: instant settlement, global accessibility, and programmable functionality. With $260 billion in circulation serving 30 million monthly users [2][3], they have graduated from crypto experiment to critical infrastructure supporting everything from Argentine salary preservation to Philippine remittances to Fortune 500 treasury management.
This section provides foundational understanding of how money evolved to this point, what distinguishes different types of digital assets, why price stability matters for practical adoption, and how various regions are embracing stablecoins to solve distinct economic challenges. Whether you're a policymaker evaluating regulatory frameworks, a financial professional considering integration strategies, or simply someone who sends money to family abroad, this overview establishes the context needed to understand stablecoins' growing role in the global financial system.
What This Section Covers
References
[1] Stablecoin surge: Reserve-backed cryptocurrencies are on the rise - https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/03/stablecoins-cryptocurrency-on-rise-financial-systems/
[2] Central bank body BIS delivers stark stablecoin warning - https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/central-bank-body-bis-delivers-stark-stablecoin-warning-2025-06-24/
[3] Stablecoin users grew 53% in one year: Report - https://cointelegraph.com/news/stablecoin-users-53-percent-growth-2025
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