Visa finds that 46% of people in Asia Pacific may use stablecoins by 2031

Interest in stablecoins in the Asia-Pacific region far exceeds actual use, and there is a huge gap in consumer perception.

A recent survey covering the Asia-Pacific region showed that consumers 'interest in stablecoins has far exceeded its actual application. 46% of consumers surveyed said they expected to use stablecoins in the next five years, while only 16% had actually used the token in the past year. This data reveals a significant gap between "interest" and "adoption rate" in the market.

The contrast between high intention and low awareness

Visa's "Consumer 360" research report released on October 5, 2026 pointed out that the survey surveyed 14,250 consumers aged 18 to 65 in 14 markets in the Asia-Pacific region from June to July 2026. The study found that although nearly half of consumers are open to stablecoins, their understanding of their operating mechanisms is extremely limited.

• Future use intentions: 46% of respondents said they may use stablecoins within five years.
• Current usage: Only 16% of respondents have used stablecoins in the past year.
• Perceptions: Only 6% of respondents accurately understand how stablecoins work, and another 41% mistakenly believe that the value of stablecoins will continue to increase over time.
• Regional differences: Vietnam and India have the highest intentions for future use, both reaching 67%; while in terms of popularity, Hong Kong ranks first with 84%, followed by India (80%) and Thailand (77%).

Main application scenarios: Cross-border payment and online consumption

Research data shows that consumers 'interest in stablecoins is mainly concentrated in online shopping, travel booking, overseas shopping, and cross-border fund transfer scenarios. Among them, cross-border transfers have the strongest intention to use them in the future, with about 49% of respondents believing that stablecoins are expected to become a common way of flowing funds between countries within five years.

Nischint Sanghavi, head of digital currencies for Visa Asia Pacific, said consumers are starting to consider using stablecoins for "online purchases, travel and cross-border transfers." The company views these uses as potential extensions of existing payment behavior. It is worth noting that this 16% of existing users may be involved in transactions, transfers, payments or other cryptocurrency activities, so it cannot simply be equated to the penetration rate in the pure consumer payment field.

Crisis of trust: Security concerns outweigh technical understanding

Although 66% of consumers are aware of stablecoins, only 6% actually understand its mechanism. For consumers who know but do not use stablecoins, the main obstacle is not a lack of interest, but security concerns and lack of knowledge. 38% were deterred by fear of fraud or fraud, and 36% attributed it to their own lack of understanding.

When it comes to providers, consumers prefer regulated institutions. Government or central bank-affiliated institutions ranked first with a support rate of 27%, followed by banks and regulated financial institutions (26%). This shows that compliance and security are key factors in promoting large-scale adoption of stablecoins.

Visa accelerates deployment of stablecoin infrastructure

随着市场兴趣的增长，Visa正在积极构建自身的稳定币支付生态。今年7月，Visa推出了Visa稳定币平台（Visa Stablecoin Platform），这是一个企业级服务，允许银行、金融科技公司加密企业通过单一运营环境铸造、持有、转移和赎回稳定币。该平台初期支持Open USD，并已进入选定客户的测试阶段。

与此同时，Visa现有的稳定币关联卡业务也在迅速扩张。今年9月，Visa报告称，在其财政第二季度，全球已有超过160个稳定币关联卡项目运行，交易量较上年同期增长近200%。截至9月，其稳定币结算量已达到年化200亿美元以上的水平。最新数据显示，2026财年迄今，Visa稳定币关联卡交易量中约有17%来自企业和商业项目。

亚太地区的合作伙伴关系进展

Visa在亚太地区的多个稳定币项目正与调查结果指出的应用场景相契合。例如，韩国新韩金融集团（Shinhan Financial Group）于今年8月与Visa签署协议，涵盖稳定币发行、转账、赎回及潜在的卡片结算。此外，运营Upbit交易所的Dunamu也与Visa建立了合作关系，共同探索稳定币支付、国际汇款及基于AI的金融服务。

Currently, Visa provides stablecoin settlement services in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan through partners such as Crypto.com, Coinbase, StraitsX and Nium. Its global stablecoin settlement pilot was expanded to nine blockchains in April this year, and the settlement scale has climbed from an early annualized US$7 billion to more than US$20 billion today.

Differences in crypto asset adoption by different groups

It is worth noting that another survey released by CoinShares on October 5 showed that wealthy investors in the United States and six European markets presented a completely different picture of digital asset holdings. In these markets, 54% to 70% of wealthy investors already hold digital assets, and the vast majority plan to increase their holdings in the future. This is in sharp contrast to Visa's survey results on general consumers, reflecting the significant differences in the adoption paths of crypto assets between high-net-worth individuals and ordinary consumers.