Study Finds Stablecoins Need a Better Elevator Pitch

For much of the past year, stablecoin discussions have centered on Washington. Regulatory frameworks, reserve requirements and oversight have dominated conversations among policymakers and financial institutions alike.

Yet PYMNTS Intelligence research in collaboration with Velera suggests the greatest barrier to adoption may have little to do with regulation at all. Instead, the data points to a simpler problem: Many consumers do not distinguish stablecoins from cryptocurrencies, do not know whether their financial institutions offer them and have yet to develop a clear understanding of why they would use them in everyday payments.

Consumers See Crypto and Stablecoin as Essentially the Same

The report, based on nearly 14,000 U.S. consumers, found that 70% of credit union members do not know whether their institution offers receipt, storage or transactions using stablecoins. Just 7% say those services are available. Those figures are almost identical to responses regarding cryptocurrency availability, despite stablecoins being designed around price stability rather than speculation.

The industry has spent years drawing distinctions between bitcoin and dollar-backed stablecoins, emphasizing that one functions primarily as an investment while the other is intended to facilitate payments. Consumers, however, appear to make little distinction.

Interest levels reinforce the point. Among millennials, 31% express strong interest in using cryptocurrency for purchases or payments, while 28% express the same level of interest in stablecoins. Across other generations, the differences remain modest rather than dramatic.

If consumers truly viewed stablecoins as a separate payment technology, those numbers would likely diverge more sharply. Instead, they move almost in tandem, suggesting that many people simply categorize both products as digital assets without understanding their different purposes.

The Interface May Matter More Than the Asset

The report also suggests that familiarity changes perceptions.

When respondents were asked about using stablecoins through digital wallets rather than as standalone financial products, interest increased across nearly every demographic. Among credit union members, strong interest more than doubled from 5% to 12%. Millennials moved from 28% to 32%, while bridge millennials recorded one of the largest increases.

The improvement likely reflects confidence in the delivery mechanism rather than the underlying technology. Consumers already understand digital wallets through existing payment experiences. Introducing stablecoins inside those environments reduces the cognitive burden of learning both a new asset and a new interface simultaneously.

That finding carries important implications for financial institutions evaluating digital currency strategies. Rather than leading with technical explanations about blockchain architecture or reserve backing, providers may benefit more from embedding stablecoin functionality into products customers already recognize.

For credit unions in particular, the data suggests that becoming relevant in digital assets does not necessarily require building proprietary crypto ecosystems. Partnerships that make stablecoin capabilities available within trusted wallet experiences could prove more effective than standalone offerings that require consumers to adopt entirely new behaviors.

The industry’s regulatory debates will continue, and they remain important for long-term market development. But regulation addresses supply. Consumer understanding determines demand.

Before convincing consumers that stablecoins are safe, institutions may first have to convince them that stablecoins are something different from crypto at all. Until that happens, the biggest obstacle to adoption may not be Congress or financial regulators. It may simply be customer confusion.