You will hear a lot about how cheap stablecoins are for moving money across borders. Some of it is true. The full story has a second half.
A January 2026 overview from a payments company puts the average cost of sending a global remittance at around 6.5%, according to World Bank data it cites. Stablecoin transfers, it says, settle in minutes at any hour and can cost under 1%, or even a fraction of a cent on the network itself. For a freelancer paid by a client in another country, that gap is worth knowing about.
Now the caveats. The article is written by a company that sells these services, and its own fee figures do not line up neatly, so read the headline numbers as marketing, not a quote. More importantly, "cheap to send" is not the same as "cheap to use". Turning a stablecoin back into baht or dollars in a bank account goes through an exchange or service, and that is where fees, spreads and rules apply. The article barely covers that step, so check it yourself before relying on any route.
The risks it does name are real and worth taking seriously:
- Loss of peg. A stablecoin is only as solid as the reserves behind it. Holders may have no legal claim on those reserves. - Lost keys. If your private keys are gone or stolen, so is the money. - Changing rules. Regulation differs by country and is still moving, including here in Thailand.
A sensible habit for anyone trying this: send a small test amount first, keep the balance low between payments, and know exactly how you will cash out before you accept payment this way.
Members of The Digi Yesmads compare notes on banks, exchanges and payment tools in the community, so ask before you commit.
*This is general information, not financial advice.*