Stablecoins are a superior global payment rail because crypto solves the political problem of finding a single payment platform that works everywhere, and Stripe Treasury now supports stablecoin balances natively — expanding Stripe's reach from ~60 fiat countries to ~150 countries.
Will argues stablecoins represent a better infrastructure layer for global payments than any existing nationalized system, because crypto rails provide a universal 'shelling point' that works everywhere. Stripe has made stablecoins native in Treasury, enabling users to hold stablecoin balances and extending Stripe availability from ~60 to ~150 countries. ✦ AI generated
Will Gaybrick · a16z Podcast · 2026-08-17 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 37:59
“Talk about stablecoins — like you said there's a lot of friction in the process today but just state of the stablecoin market and what you see the opportunity to be for the next call it five years.”
Stablecoins are just a better platform for moving money than exists otherwise. You need a shelling point for the global economy, right? Just what can we all agree on? And that's where crypto rails solve this political problem where just this platform works everywhere. If we all used it, the global financial system would work better, be faster, be cheaper. We decided to make stablecoins native to stripe treasury. So you can just hold a balance in stables just like you hold a balance in USD or EUR or GBP. Right now you can be a Stripe user in around 60 countries in fiat, but you can be a Stripe user in stablecoins in about 150 countries. So just bringing more people into the online economy.
verbatim transcript · starts at 37:59
37:59out really good payment systems. Most of them are nationalized. You know UPI in in India. Um actually it's interesting when you look at these economies uh the percentage of sub$5 payments in India I believe is on UPI is I think something like 86% whereas in the US cards I think it's >> single digits%. So, you know, there's some good, cheap, fast payment schemes that are nationalized. Picks, another
38:29one in Brazil, which has grown meteorically, [snorts] >> but you need a shelling point for the global economy, right? >> Just what can we all agree on? And that's where crypto rails solve this political problem where just this platform works everywhere. >> And so, if we just all used it, the world, the global financial system would work better, be faster, be cheaper, and so on. Um, so if we all like went to
38:53sleep tonight and woke up tomorrow and we all held stables, it would just be a better global >> less friction and less cost in the economy. >> Exactly. Um, now that might be one of those, uh, should work this way, may never, you know, work this way problems and so we are sort of resolutely focused on trying to change that. Um, we talked earlier about stripe treasury and, you
39:16know, we decided to make stable coins native to stripe treasury. So you can just hold a balance in stables just like you hold a balance in USD or EUR or GBP or anything like that. [snorts] So um we believe that the opportunity for stables is just faster um money movement, cheaper money movement and more global money movement. Um, right now you can be a Stripe user in I can't
39:42remember what the exact number is, but around 60 countries in fiat, but you can be a Stripe user in stable coins in I think about 150 countries. So just bringing more people into the uh online economy uh in a way that allows them to you know transact with you know the AI companies and you know as the as the economy the software economy gets more and more global
40:06bringing more people into it is more and more valuable. You can build a powerful AI company with two engineers in Thailand uh just as well as you can do it in the US or as well as you can do it in Brazil. So you know for stables for us it is higher performance more global. >> Yeah and I like the position that you guys are in as it relates to stable
40:24coins just because again talk about meeting the market where it is like people don't want to cut over full wholesale and just you know drop all their fiat and move over to stable coins. So I think >> the relationships that you have and the sort of comprehensive offering that you have allows for adoption to happen at the pace that the enterprises want to adoption adopt at or startups.