The evolution of stablecoins in a native-first world

By Camila Vieira, Ana Cristina Gadala-Maria & Gbenga Ajayi

Bitso’s Stablecoin Conference in Mexico City has quickly become a central gathering for the stablecoin ecosystem. The event brings together fintechs, banks, payment networks, crypto-native companies, regulators and investors, and Bitso, a QED portfolio company, continues to play a key role in shaping the market conversation.

Stablecoins are now seen as infrastructure rather than a standalone crypto category, which has significant market implications. Established players are intensifying their focus, and opportunities for new entrants are narrowing as larger firms prepare to enter the market.

Here are six ways the ecosystem is evolving.

1. Traditional KYC workflows are ineffective in environments where fiat and stablecoins interact

Transaction volumes are increasing rapidly, with McKinsey and Artemis estimating that stablecoins moved more than $35 trillion on-chain last year, forcing companies to slow growth to manage risk.

Leading stablecoin companies embed compliance into their product architecture by integrating behavioral analytics, on-chain monitoring and transaction-level controls. Banks, payment networks and other regulated partners will only scale with providers that treat compliance as a core function.

We believe a large company can be built here, especially since compliance teams often lack dedicated product and development resources. The main question from compliance 1.0 remains: how to build a sustainable business that is more than just a data and workflow provider. We believe the answer lies in deep integrations, AI-driven modeling, local differentiations and agnostic rails. One of our portfolio companies, Footprint, is an AI-native solution that can meaningfully move the needle for the industry.

2. The first generation of crypto infrastructure companies was not designed to adapt to the many protocols and the agentic environment ahead

Institutions continue to face challenges with custody and operations, including developer experience, implementation complexity and cost. This creates opportunities for newer infrastructure providers that can streamline operations and reduce integration burdens, while also being built native-first rather than adding an AI wrapper.

While many pitches may appear similar, the details matter. Major marketplaces and neobanks have selected initial solutions, but since most regulated institutions’ adoption is still ahead, the market remains very much open.

3. Cross-border FX routing is becoming commoditized

Many companies plan to build or own routing internally due to thin margins and limited defensibility. Greater opportunity exists in integrating routing into enterprise back-office workflows, serving as a data, benchmarking or decision-making layer.

This position is likely more durable than a simple API integration, though long-term differentiation remains uncertain.

4. While not yet universally available due to varying global regulations, yield is quickly becoming expected in wallets and deposit-like offerings

Products such as tokenized treasuries, bank deposits and local sovereign debt instruments are already available, and enterprise interest is growing. The main challenges are structural: counterparty risk, issuer quality, collateral management, duration, rule of law and regulatory and accounting treatment are all critical at scale.

Companies that combine strong distribution with robust structures will be best positioned. We are also monitoring the aggregation layer for yield. As more yield sources emerge, enterprises may prioritize flexibility over committing to a single provider or structure. Flexibility could provide a more sustainable position than simply offering yield, especially for companies that help regulated clients evaluate and access these options safely.

5. Named accounts provide a near-term distribution advantage, particularly for consumer and B2B2C products where trust, licensing and user experience are critical

However, we see that this advantage is likely temporary as OCC licenses become more accessible and more companies offer similar structures. Lasting differentiation will depend on what companies build on top of this access, including distribution, workflow ownership, compliance depth and product trust.

6. The major card networks and PSPs are not sitting idly by

The presence of Visa, Mastercard, Western Union, Nuvei and Citi was not a surprise: stablecoins directly touch two profit pools these firms have controlled for decades, card settlement and the spread, liquidity and pre-funding economics embedded in cross-border FX.

On the card side, the risk is that merchants settle directly in stablecoins, reducing dependence on network rails. On the FX side, the opportunity is to free up the capital that PSPs and money transfer operators keep locked in pre-funded accounts across corridors.

This is why the category is no longer limited to crypto-native companies. PSPs, remittance providers, treasury platforms, importers, exporters and other cross-border businesses are increasingly treating stablecoins as a settlement and liquidity-management layer, creating demand for compliance, treasury, fiat connectivity, reconciliation and operational tooling. Incumbents are active, and the key questions are timing and defensibility.

The conference was a LatAm event after all, and we see local players maintaining a significant lead in regulatory footholds, local rails and market knowledge. However, global platforms are rapidly entering the region, narrowing the gap. For LatAm founders, the main question is whether they are building defensibility in the right areas before larger platforms attempt to catch up.

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