The payment orchestration platform, which operates across stablecoins and traditional payment rails, has released a report titled The Honest Price of Stablecoin FX. The study examines whether stablecoins consistently deliver cheaper foreign exchange, and it concludes that the answer depends on which way funds move, who supplies the liquidity, and when a transaction is executed. The report is produced by Pay Perform Technologies Ltd.
The analysis draws on 27.057 quotes from 20 stablecoin liquidity providers across 52 currencies, each priced at a notional value of USD 100.000. These quotes were compared against two fintech providers and an institutional FX desk. Luke Wingfield Digby, co-founder of Orbital, said that stablecoins can lower the cost of cross-border payments, but that identical payments may carry very different economics depending on direction, liquidity source, and timing.
Payment direction affects cost
For businesses already holding USDT, paying out into local currencies costs between ten and 21 basis points more than collecting funds in 15 of the 17 currencies analysed. On a USD 100.000 transaction, this equates to an additional USD 100 to USD 210 in FX costs.
Brazil and Argentina were exceptions, with collections notably more expensive than payouts. In Brazil, converting dollars into reais costs seven basis points below the fiat mid-market rate. Converting reais into dollars costs 83 basis points above it, a difference of 90 basis points.
Stablecoins were cheaper than the two fintech providers in 30 of 32 comparisons, typically saving between 0.10% and 0.40%. Against the institutional FX desk, stablecoins were cheaper in six of 22 comparisons, while the remaining 16 fell within five basis points of institutional pricing. In addition, the report indicates that additional savings from stablecoins may be negligible for businesses that already access institutional rates.
Weekend pricing and provider spreads
Stablecoins settle around the clock, but the research found that competitive pricing does not always follow. Some liquidity providers doubled their charges at weekends or stopped quoting altogether. Quoted conversion costs for Mexican pesos reached 2.6 times weekday levels and Japanese yen 2.3 times, while costs for Canadian dollars and Norwegian krone also more than doubled. Traditional providers showed the same pattern: one fintech raised its FX fee from 0.48% on weekdays to 1.48% at weekends.
Provider choice was another significant variable: in one Southeast Asian currency, one regional liquidity provider quoted a round trip at 16 basis points and another at 322, a 20-fold gap. Other currencies in the region, where competition was thinner, cost between 138 and 286 basis points for a round trip. The gap between the lowest and highest quotes was approximately 44 basis points for Brazilian reais and 19 for Mexican pesos.
The report also notes that USDT traded at a median price of USD 0.99922 over six months, a discount of approximately 0.08% against the US dollar. A business holding USD 1 million in USDT and valuing each token at exactly USD 1 could receive approximately USD 800 less than its recorded value when converting back into dollars, before fees.
Implications for businesses
The findings suggest that the cost of stablecoin FX depends on how a payment is executed rather than on the asset alone. According to Luke Wingfield Digby, co-founder of Orbital, businesses can capture the potential savings only by understanding the true cost of each payment and securing competitive pricing, rather than assuming stablecoins will always offer the most favourable rate.
Orbital states that the analysis is subject to the limitations, assumptions, and estimation methods set out in the report’s methodology section. The report is intended for general information and does not constitute financial advice.
