What happened? Seven major blockchain companies launched the Blockchain Payments Consortium to standardize cross-chain stablecoin payments.
Fireblocks, Polygon Labs, Mysten Labs, Monad, Solana, Stellar and TON announced the new consortium to build a common framework for cross-chain stablecoin transactions. The founding members together represent over $10 trillion in annual stablecoin transaction volume and are responding to a fragmented payments landscape after on-chain volume neared $20 trillion in 2024. They’ll start working groups on technical standards, compliance and institutional integration early next year to make blockchain payments more like traditional payment networks.
Who does this affect? Payments companies, banks, regulators, merchants and anyone who sends or accepts stablecoins will feel the impact.
Infrastructure providers, exchanges, wallets and DeFi platforms stand to gain from clearer interoperability and shared standards that make integrations easier. Banks and payment processors will be watching closely because aligned compliance rules could make it simpler to onboard crypto flows and offer hybrid fiat-blockchain services. Consumers and merchants could see faster, cheaper cross-border payments as a result if the consortium’s work leads to smoother settlement and clearer regulatory paths.
Why does this matter? If it succeeds, the consortium could reshape the payments market by making blockchain rails a real alternative to card networks and legacy cross-border systems.
Standardized, compliant cross-chain payments would reduce friction, lower costs and speed up settlement, which could accelerate corporate and retail adoption and draw more institutional capital into stablecoin flows. That would increase competition with traditional networks like Visa and Mastercard—already outpaced by stablecoin volume in raw on-chain value—and could shift fee and settlement economics across payments. Ultimately, clearer rules and better interoperability would favor interoperable chains and service providers while pressuring closed or noncompliant systems to adapt or lose market share.