Stablecoin remittances hit 9% in Bank of Italy test

Banca d’Italia has released a July 2026 study finding that stablecoin remittances do not consistently beat traditional transfer services on cost or speed. Summary Ten USDC corridors produced total remittance costs ranging from 0.30% to nearly 9%, researchers found. Under 20 minutes was achievable where instant payment systems supported both fiat conversion endpoints efficiently. Three corridors beat Wise, while four cost more, showing stablecoin savings remained highly corridor-specific overall. Researchers executed real transfers of 200 USDC across ten corridors linking Italy with Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Japan. The mystery-shopping study recorded total costs from 0.30% to almost 9%. The blockchain leg averaged only 0.4%, while exchange purchases, funding methods, withdrawals and foreign-exchange conversion produced most of the expense. The authors said stablecoins showed “no systematic cost advantage” over traditional channels. Stablecoin remittance costs varied sharply by corridor The Italy-to-Argentina transfer was the cheapest at 0.30%, while Argentina-to-Italy cost 8.96%. The study warned that the low outbound Argentina result partly refle...