Stablecoins let you move dollars across a border over a blockchain instead of through a chain of correspondent banks. The on-chain part is fast and often costs almost nothing; the real costs and risks sit at the two edges, where dollars become coins and coins become pesos, rupees or shillings again. This guide walks through each step, compares network fees, prices a $1,000 transfer to the Philippines against a bank wire, and covers the GENIUS Act, US tax rules and the cases where a bank or remittance service is still the better choice. For how stablecoins hold their value in the first place, see our crypto guides and how stablecoins work.
How does sending money with stablecoins work?
You convert dollars into a stablecoin, send it to the recipient's wallet address over a blockchain, and the recipient keeps the coins or sells them.
Buy a dollar stablecoin
Open an account with a crypto exchange or payment app, pass its identity check and buy USDC or USDT with a bank transfer or card. The spread or fee on this purchase is the first cost in the chain.
Agree on the coin and the network
Ask the recipient which stablecoin and which network their wallet or exchange accepts, and get a deposit address for that network. USDC on Ethereum and USDC on Solana are the same dollar token on two different blockchains, and an exchange credits a deposit only if it arrives on the network that address was issued for.
Send a small test, then the rest
Paste the address, pick the matching network and send a few dollars first. Once the recipient confirms the coins arrived, send the balance and keep the transaction ID.
Hold the dollars or cash out
The recipient can keep the coins in a wallet as dollars, or sell them on a local exchange and withdraw local currency to a bank account or mobile wallet.
Which stablecoin should you send?
Send the coin the recipient can sell most easily where they live, which usually means USDT or USDC, by far the two largest dollar stablecoins.
Both are claims on a private company that promises to redeem each coin for $1, and they differ in how they show their backing. Circle, the issuer of USDC, discloses its reserve holdings weekly and gets monthly assurance from a Big Four accounting firm that the reserves exceed the coins in circulation; most of the reserve sits in an SEC-registered government money market fund. Tether, the issuer of USDT, publishes a quarterly attestation. As of September 30, 2026, it reported total assets of $191.45 billion against liabilities of $183.50 billion, with $132.4 billion in US Treasury bills held directly or indirectly.
Backing doesn't guarantee the market price. During the March 2023 banking turmoil, USDC traded as low as 86 cents after Circle said it couldn't withdraw $3.3 billion of reserves, about 8% of the total, from the failed Silicon Valley Bank. It fully recovered once Circle resumed redemptions on March 13. The table shows the largest dollar stablecoins today.
| Stablecoin | Circulating supply | 30-day change | Price | Backing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tether (USDT) | $179.23B | -2.5% | $0.9990 | fiat backed |
| USD Coin (USDC) | $71.42B | -3.7% | $0.9996 | fiat backed |
| Sky Dollar (USDS) | $6.4B | -4.6% | $0.9999 | crypto backed |
| Dai (DAI) | $4.74B | -1.2% | $1.0000 | crypto backed |
| Ethena USDe (USDe) | $4.54B | -7.1% | $0.9984 | crypto backed |
| World Liberty Financial USD (USD1) | $3.89B | -12.4% | $0.9980 | fiat backed |
Our stablecoin rankings cover more coins, and USDC vs USDT compares the two leaders in depth.
Which network has the lowest fees?
Solana, Base, Polygon, Arbitrum and BNB Smart Chain all charged well under a cent per stablecoin transfer in October 2026 snapshots, while USDT on Tron cost about $2.24.
| Network | Fee paid in | Cost of one stablecoin transfer, October 2026 | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | ETH | About 1 to 3 cents at mid-October daily averages, with peaks near 30 cents | Fees rise when the network is busy |
| Tron | TRX | About $2.24 for USDT if the sender has no staked or delegated energy | Roughly double if the receiving address has never held USDT |
| Solana | SOL | About $0.0005 | A one-time deposit of about 0.0015 SOL if the recipient has no account for that token yet |
| Base | ETH | About $0.0007 for USDC | A layer-2 network that settles to Ethereum |
| Arbitrum One | ETH | About $0.002 for USDT | A layer-2 network that settles to Ethereum |
| Polygon PoS | POL | About $0.0006 for USDT | Check that the receiving exchange supports it |
| BNB Smart Chain | BNB | About $0.0013 for USDT | Check that the receiving exchange supports it |
The Ethereum figures come from daily gas averages for October 11 to 17, 2026; the others are from a cross-chain snapshot taken on October 19, 2026. Fees move with network demand and the price of each network's token.
Fees are paid in the network's own token, not the stablecoin, so most wallets holding USDC on Ethereum also need a little ETH to send it; current prices are on our Ethereum and Solana pages. An exchange typically charges its own withdrawal fee instead, which it sets itself and which can be higher or lower than the network's cost.
Two networks need extra explanation. On Tron, a USDT transfer uses about 64,000 units of energy, a network resource. Accounts that have staked TRX or received delegated energy pay little or nothing, and exchanges and app operators commonly cover energy for their users; everyone else burns about 6.4 to 6.8 TRX per transfer. On Solana, the base fee is 5,000 lamports, or 0.000005 SOL, per signature. If the recipient has never held the token, the sender usually also pays a deposit to open a token account for it (0.00148844 SOL under the network's rent rules on November 2, 2026), which goes back to the account's owner if the account is closed later.
Picking the wrong network is an easy and expensive mistake. Addresses on Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Polygon and BNB Smart Chain look identical, so a wallet will send coins on any of them, and the receiving exchange may never credit a deposit on a network it doesn't support. Our guides to sending crypto on the wrong network and gas fees go further.
How does the recipient turn stablecoins into local money?
The usual route is to sell the coins on a local exchange or payment app, then withdraw the proceeds to a bank account or mobile wallet.
The rate the exchange pays is the second big cost. Compare it with the mid-market rate the way you would check any transfer quote; our guide to exchange-rate markups shows how. On $1,000, every 1% below mid-market costs the recipient $10.
Local rules decide which platforms a recipient can use. In the Philippines, a January 2026 central bank memorandum tells banks, e-money issuers and other supervised institutions to deal only with registered crypto providers. It also says retail customers in the Philippines may not directly use offshore exchanges unless they are registered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) or the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission. Banks there may also limit large transfers to unknown offshore exchanges. Check the equivalent rules wherever your recipient lives.
Selling to another person peer to peer, for a bank transfer in local currency, can pay a better rate but carries more risk: the buyer's payment can turn out to be fraudulent or reversed, and receiving scam proceeds can lead a bank to freeze the account.
Some recipients keep the dollars instead, to protect savings from a weak local currency or to pay for things priced in dollars. The coins themselves pay no interest, and yield offers involve lending them out, which adds risk; our comparison of stablecoin yield and bank interest explains the trade-off.
What does $1,000 to the Philippines cost by stablecoin and by bank wire?
Under the assumptions below, the stablecoin route delivered about ₱1,800 more and cost the sender $45 less than a bank wire.
The example uses a mid-market rate of 63.68 pesos per dollar, the cross rate implied by the European Central Bank's reference rates on October 30, 2026. Today's rate is 1 USD = 63.7037 PHP (Nov 2, 2026).
Worked example: Sending $1,000 to the Philippines: stablecoin route vs bank wire
Stablecoin route, with assumed fees:
| Step | Assumption | Cost | What's left |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy USDC with a bank transfer | 0.5% spread | $5.00 | 995 USDC |
| Withdraw on Solana to the recipient's exchange | 1 USDC withdrawal fee | $1.00 | 994 USDC |
| Recipient sells USDC on a registered local exchange | 1% below mid-market | $9.94 | ₱62,664.94 |
| Recipient withdraws to a bank account | ₱20 fee | $0.31 | ₱62,644.94 |
| Total | $16.25 (1.6%) | ₱62,645 |
Bank wire, with assumed fees:
| Step | Assumption | Cost | What's left |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outgoing wire fee | $45, paid on top | $45.00 | $1,000 sent |
| Intermediary bank deduction | $15 | $15.00 | $985 |
| Bank converts to pesos | 3% below mid-market | $29.55 | ₱60,843.06 |
| Total | $89.55 (9.0%) | ₱60,843 |
- Mid-market value of $1,000: 1,000 × 63.68 = ₱63,680
- Stablecoin route: 994 × 63.68 × 0.99 = ₱62,664.94 from the sale
- Bank wire: 985 × 63.68 × 0.97 = ₱60,843.06
- If the recipient can only sell to a peer-to-peer buyer at 3% below mid-market, the stablecoin route costs about $36 (3.6%), more than double the base case
A bank wire is only one benchmark, so compare the stablecoin route with licensed transfer services too. The World Bank surveys what banks and money transfer operators charge for sending $200 and $500 in this corridor:
| Amount sent | Average fee | Exchange-rate margin | Total cost (% of amount) | Total cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $200 | $6.23 | 1.40% | 4.52% | $9.03 |
| $500 | $9.07 | 1.06% | 2.87% | $14.35 |
A digital transfer service with a low fee and a margin near 1% can match the stablecoin route on a $1,000 send, without the wallet setup or the risk of a mistyped address. Peso withdrawals also run into local payout limits on each rail, which our guide to sending money from the US to the Philippines covers.
What are the risks of sending money with stablecoins?
The main risks are mistakes you can't undo, a coin losing its peg, a thin cash-out market and fewer consumer protections than a regulated transfer offers.
- Irreversible mistakes. No bank or card network sits in the middle to claw a payment back. A mistyped address, the wrong network or a scammer's wallet means the money is gone unless the person holding it returns it.
- Depegs and issuer risk. A stablecoin is only as sound as its issuer's reserves and its ability to redeem quickly. Reserve reports are snapshots, and a run can push the market price below $1 before redemptions catch up, as USDC showed in 2023.
- Cash-out risk. Where few licensed exchanges operate, the recipient may face wide spreads or low limits, and banks may scrutinize deposits that come from crypto platforms.
- Scams. Investment and romance scams often steer victims into buying crypto, stablecoins included, because the payments are fast and final. Our money transfer scams guide lists the warning signs.
- Protection gaps. The CFPB proposed in January 2025 to treat some stablecoin wallets as accounts covered by federal electronic-transfer rules, then withdrew the proposal in May 2025, so error-resolution rights for a self-sent transfer are unsettled at best. If you pay a licensed service to deliver local currency, ask whether it treats the payment as a remittance transfer, which brings disclosures, error rights and a right to cancel within 30 minutes after paying, for a full refund. Our guide to remittance transfer rights explains them.
What does the GENIUS Act change for senders?
The GENIUS Act sets federal licensing and reserve rules for companies that issue dollar payment stablecoins to people in the United States.
- Where the law stands: Signed July 18, 2025 (Public Law 119-27); takes effect January 18, 2027 (Congress.gov, as of Nov 1, 2026)
- What issuers must hold as backing: at least 1:1 reserves in cash or Federal Reserve balances, deposits at insured banks and credit unions, Treasuries with 93 days or less to maturity, overnight repos and reverse repos backed by Treasuries, government money market funds that hold only those assets, other liquid federal government assets a regulator approves, and tokenized versions of the non-repo assets
In October 2026 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finalized its rules for the issuers it oversees, covering reserves, redemption, custody and capital, effective on the date the Act takes effect. Issuers with a substantially complete application pending on that date can ask for waivers of up to 12 months. The Act also limits which stablecoins digital asset service providers can offer to people in the US, so the coins listed on a US exchange may change.
For senders, the practical gain is clearer reserve and redemption rules for US-regulated coins. The Act doesn't make transfers reversible, doesn't turn a stablecoin into an insured deposit and doesn't govern how the recipient cashes out abroad. Our crypto hub covers the GENIUS Act in detail.
How is a stablecoin transfer taxed in the US?
Selling a stablecoin, or spending it on goods or services, is a taxable disposal, although the gain or loss is usually close to zero.
- Buying stablecoins with dollars isn't taxable, and neither is moving them between wallets you own.
- Fees are the exception: paying a network fee with ETH, SOL or TRX disposes of that token, and a fee taken in the stablecoin disposes of a small amount of it.
- If you sell the coins yourself, or pay a seller or contractor with them, you report a disposal; a coin bought and sold at $1.00 produces no gain. Paying people abroad has extra reporting rules, covered in our guide to paying international contractors.
- You must report disposals even if no Form 1099-DA arrives, and brokers can leave qualifying stablecoin sales off the form when your total for the year is $10,000 or less.
- A gift of coins isn't income for a US recipient when it arrives. If your gifts to one person in 2026 exceed the annual exclusion of $19,000 per recipient, you file a gift tax return, as our guide to gift tax on money sent abroad explains.
When do stablecoins beat banks and remittance services?
Stablecoins tend to win when the recipient wants dollars or can sell them cheaply nearby, and lose when the recipient needs cash or local currency without a crypto account.
| Situation | Better choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The recipient wants to hold dollars | Stablecoins | A dollar balance without a US bank account |
| Both sides already use exchanges that list the same coin and network | Stablecoins | Few steps and near-zero network fees |
| You send on a weekend or holiday | Stablecoins, if the cash-out side also works then | The network never closes, though local bank withdrawals may wait |
| The recipient needs cash pickup or has no smartphone | A remittance service | Agent networks pay out cash; stablecoins need a wallet |
| The recipient's country restricts crypto platforms | A bank or remittance service | Cashing out may be impractical or unlawful |
| You want cancellation and error rights | A licensed remittance provider | US remittance rules give consumers these rights |
| Small, frequent sends | Compare both | Fixed purchase and withdrawal fees weigh more on small amounts |
Before the first large send, test the whole route with a small amount, including the recipient's sale and withdrawal, and keep a record of what each step cost.
For the wider picture of moving money abroad, including how quotes and payout methods compare, start with our guide to international money transfers. To see how a blockchain confirms a payment, read how blockchain works.