The Ramping Bottleneck

Stablecoins

17.12.2025

by Vaidya Pallasena

Stablecoins move money faster, and in many corridors, at meaningfully lower costs. But the real bottleneck to adoption is the cost and quality of on/off ramps.

We are excited to share our new report on stablecoin on/off ramps, published under a grant from the Ethereum Foundation. Read the full report here.

Executive Summary

All-in ramping cost

Bank account-funded ramping on exchanges or direct ramping costs 0–0.3% in the US and Europe. Card-funded ramping costs 3–5% in developed markets, but 7–10% in many emerging markets. P2P-funded ramping costs the lowest at around 0.5% in Latin America and Southeast Asia, but highly variable elsewhere. For example, costs in Africa are typically around 4–6% at the lower end, and stretch to 15–20% at the higher end.

High-volume corridors

Stablecoin transfers often cost 50–90% lower than traditional channels, and 20–70% lower than the cheapest listed provider. Stablecoin settlement often takes less than 30 minutes while traditional channels take T+0 to T+5 days, depending on specific rails.

High-cost corridors

Across several routes in Africa and Asia, stablecoin transfers are 58–94% cheaper than averages reported by the World Bank. They are often lower than the best listed Money Transfer Operators (MTOs). Savings are the most consistent on routes within Africa (ex. Tanzania → Kenya) and from Africa to Asia (ex. South Africa → China).

Cross-border B2B corridors

Stablecoin transfers are not always the cheapest option in mature corridors with tight FX spreads. But they still slash settlement time from days to minutes. In under-served routes, stablecoin transfers often win on cost as well as speed.

Market Structure

Centralized exchanges remain the backbone for liquidity, but specialized liquidity providers also exist. Orchestrators broaden access and compress costs. Since regulation is fragmented, ramps are forced to use a mix of buy, build or rent strategies to secure a patchwork of licenses for scaling.

Outlook

Full-stack orchestration and the stablecoin tech stack has changed the game. Prices for end users should keep compressing. The next wave of breakout fin-tech companies will be built on stablecoin. What’s missing? Simpler user experiences, institutional-grade privacy, banks as first-class ramps, and reusable ID verification.

Conclusion

The evolution of stablecoins depends on one critical component: ramping infrastructure. The ecosystem supporting this infrastructure has matured, but cost and access still vary widely.

"Ramps are getting cheaper, but not necessarily easier."

In the US and Europe, ramping on exchanges or direct ramps often cost at 0–0.3%. Outside these markets, there is a trade-off between cost and convenience. In Latin America and Southeast Asia, an all-in cost of about 0.5% is common, but users typically rely on P2P markets or exchanges to reach those prices. In many Sub-Saharan African countries, the lower band of costs is about 3–6%, and mobile-money rails step in where banking access is limited. Prices are improving, but the cheapest paths expect users to navigate order books or P2P listings. This means high friction for mainstream, non-technical users that are essential for adoption.

"Despite these challenges, stablecoins move money better."

Across the five high-volume corridors reviewed, stablecoin transfers cost 50–90% lower than traditional channels, and 20–70% lower than the cheapest listed provider. In 11 of 13 high-cost corridors, stablecoin transfers cut costs by 30–90% versus Money Transfer Operators (MTOs), and by 50–90% versus corridor averages. In all measured corridors, settlement can be achieved in minutes using stablecoins, while traditional channels take T+0 to T+5 days, depending on specific rails.

"The next phase is about building for utility."

While first generation ramps were built for trading, the next set is built around payments, payroll, treasury and other future use cases. As new primitives like orchestration and FX stacks get paired with other products, on/off-ramping will become background steps. Ramps are the essential plumbing that will enable this future, creating true fungibility between fiat and stablecoins, and making the process of moving between these two worlds effortless.

Read the full report here.

The Ramping Bottleneck

Executive Summary

Conclusion

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