Stablecoins are about to stop feeling like a crypto side quest—and start acting like standard financial plumbing, at least if Ripple’s leadership is right.
In a January 20, 2026 “crypto predictions” post, Ripple President Monica Long argued that within the next five years, stablecoins will become fully integrated into global payment systems, not as a parallel rail but as a foundational one—especially in B2B payments and cross-border settlement. ForkLog echoed the same thesis in a Russian-language recap published January 21, highlighting Long’s view that stablecoins will become a mainstream tool inside payment infrastructure rather than an “alternative.”
That prediction lands at a moment when banks, card networks, and regulators are all pushing (sometimes reluctantly) toward a world where money moves 24/7—more like the internet, less like a bank branch.
From “crypto tool” to settlement default
Long’s core claim is blunt: stablecoins are on track to become the default for global settlement. She framed the shift as already happening in practice, pointing to large payments brands “hard-wiring” stablecoin settlement into existing flows.
Ripple also pointed to a surge in real-world business usage: Long cited research showing B2B stablecoin payments reached an annualized run rate of $76 billion “last year,” up from under $100 million per month in early 2023. That’s the kind of growth curve that makes banks stop rolling their eyes and start asking, “Okay… how do we connect to this safely?”
Regulation is no longer the side plot
Ripple’s argument leans heavily on regulatory momentum—specifically the U.S. GENIUS Act (a stablecoin framework referenced by Ripple and reported in earlier Reuters coverage) as a catalyst for regulated digital dollars.
And it’s not just talk: Ripple’s ability to push stablecoins “into the banking system” is strengthened by its regulatory positioning. In December 2025, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) conditionally approvedRipple’s application to establish a national trust bank—an important step toward bank-grade operations (even though national trust banks don’t operate like full commercial banks with deposits and loans).
Long argued that highly compliant, U.S.-issued stablecoins—including Ripple USD (RLUSD)—could become the “gold standard” for programmable, 24/7 payments and collateral use. Reuters has also reported Ripple’s broader push to integrate with traditional finance, including banking-charter efforts tied to RLUSD and payment infrastructure access.
Why banks are warming up now
There’s a practical reason stablecoins keep resurfacing in boardrooms: they can make payments faster, cheaper, and programmable—without waiting for every legacy system to modernize.
A recent Reuters report on Visa’s crypto strategy captured this shift in real time. Visa’s crypto lead said the firm is betting on stablecoin settlement and has already run pilots allowing U.S. banks to settle transactions using Circle’s USDC. Reuters also noted stablecoins are still small compared to Visa’s overall volume, but growing—and that several major banks (including Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Citi) are exploring stablecoin initiatives.
Meanwhile, Deloitte’s Regulatory Outlook (Jan. 19, 2026) describes stablecoins and tokenised deposits as front-and-center in banking strategy discussions, noting growing regulatory clarity is forcing banks to decide whether to (1) support issuers, (2) integrate third-party stablecoins, (3) issue their own stablecoin, or (4) push tokenised deposits under existing banking rules.
This is the “integration” story Ripple is betting on: stablecoins don’t replace banks—they get embedded into banking rails, treasury systems, and settlement workflows.
The “tokenized bank money” angle is getting louder
Ripple isn’t the only one forecasting a tokenized future. On January 21, Reuters reported that ECB policymaker Fabio Panetta said commercial bank money will inevitably become fully tokenized over time, even as he questioned whether stablecoins would ever play more than a secondary role compared with traditional currencies.
That matters because it frames a likely 2026–2028 reality: stablecoins and bank-issued digital money may coexist, each used where it fits best—public-blockchain stablecoins for global, scalable flows; tokenized deposits for bank-native liquidity movement and regulated settlement.
The BIS has also been pushing a “tokenised financial system” vision, where tokenized platforms built on central bank reserves, commercial bank money, and government bonds can form a next-generation foundation for the financial system.
Ripple’s “stablecoin + banking” playbook
Ripple’s strategy looks less like “launch a coin and pray,” and more like building a financial stack around stablecoin utility:
- Reuters reported Ripple’s acquisition of prime broker Hidden Road (a $1.25B deal), noting that RLUSD was being used as collateral in brokerage workflows—exactly the kind of institutional use case Ripple keeps emphasizing.
- Reuters also reported Ripple’s move to buy stablecoin infrastructure platform Rail, signaling a deeper push into the compliance and banking partnerships needed for stablecoin payments at scale.
That’s the subtext behind “tight integration with the banking system”: it’s not just APIs—it’s custody, collateral, compliance, settlement, and enough regulatory comfort that big institutions will actually press “go.”
What could slow this down
Even with momentum, the path isn’t frictionless:
- Merchant adoption still lags (stablecoins are widely used in trading and arbitrage; payments are growing but not dominant).
- Regulatory fragmentation across jurisdictions can slow cross-border scale (MiCA in the EU, varying rules elsewhere).
- Bank pushback is real—traditional incumbents worry about deposit outflows and competitive pressure when stablecoins become easy, programmable money.
Conclusion
Still, the direction of travel is clear: stablecoins are becoming less like “crypto money” and more like digital cash rails that banks and corporates can’t ignore—especially for cross-border payments, treasury movement, and 24/7 collateral mobility.