Visa’s latest consumer survey points to a potential expansion of stablecoin use across Asia Pacific, with 46% of 14,250 respondents saying they are likely to use the tokens within five years. The finding, released Monday, places stablecoins closer to mainstream payment expectations than current behavior: only 16% said they had used one during the previous 12 months.
The gap between expected adoption and actual use is large, but it gives payment companies and regulated financial institutions a clear opening. Consumers in Visa’s survey associated stablecoins with practical cross-border spending, including international transfers, travel and overseas online purchases, rather than purely with cryptocurrency trading.
A separate CoinShares survey found that digital assets already have substantial penetration among affluent respondents in the United States and Europe. Across seven markets, the share holding digital assets ranged from 54% in Sweden to 70% in the U.S., UK and Germany, according to the asset manager’s survey of 2,230 people conducted between May 11 and June 5.
Stablecoin interest exceeds current use in Asia Pacific
Visa conducted its research in June and July across 14 Asia Pacific markets. Nearly half of respondents said they expect stablecoins to become widely used for international money transfers within five years, a result that aligns with the region’s established demand for remittances, cross-border commerce and travel payments.
Stablecoins are crypto tokens designed to maintain a fixed value, commonly by being backed with assets such as cash and short-dated government debt. For consumers, the appeal is less about exposure to crypto price movements and more about moving a dollar- or currency-linked balance across borders without navigating several banking systems.
The survey also shows that familiarity has not yet become confidence. Visa found that 66% of respondents were aware of stablecoins, but only 6% demonstrated an accurate understanding of how they work. Among people who knew about stablecoins but had never used them, 38% identified fraud or scams as a reason for staying away.
That divide could shape the next phase of competition in the sector. A stablecoin may offer fast settlement and a familiar unit of account, yet consumers still need to know who stands behind the token, what reserves support it and how they can recover funds if a service provider fails or an account is compromised.
Respondents placed the highest trust in government- or central bank-linked entities as stablecoin issuers or managers, with 27% selecting them. Banks and regulated financial institutions followed closely at 26%. The narrow gap suggests that consumers may accept privately issued stablecoins, but expect them to operate within a recognizable financial framework.
Visa’s results do not indicate that consumers are ready to abandon bank payments. Instead, they show demand for stablecoins is most likely to grow where the tokens solve a visible problem, such as reducing friction in cross-border transfers or allowing travelers to spend funds abroad without repeatedly converting currencies.
Affluent holders favor diversified crypto portfolios
CoinShares found that digital-asset ownership was already widespread among the affluent respondents it surveyed in the U.S., UK, Germany, Sweden and four other markets. Holdings were not limited to Bitcoin: 89% of respondents who held Bitcoin also owned other digital assets.
Bitcoin remained the dominant asset, held by 80% of digital-asset holders on average across the seven markets. CoinShares said allocations to digital assets generally clustered around 10% of portfolios, suggesting that many respondents treated crypto as one component of a broader wealth strategy rather than an all-or-nothing wager.
The survey also found a strong inclination to add exposure. In five of the seven markets, at least 85% of current digital-asset holders said they planned to increase their exposure in 2026. The figure reached 91% in the U.S., UK and Germany.
Long-term appreciation and diversification ranked ahead of speculation as motivations for holding digital assets, according to CoinShares. Only 6% of respondents described themselves primarily as short-term traders.
Those answers offer a different picture from the high-turnover image often associated with cryptocurrency markets. Among the surveyed affluent group, ownership appears tied more closely to portfolio construction and long-term expectations than to short-term price trading. That does not remove market risk, particularly in assets known for sharp price swings, but it suggests that a portion of demand has become less dependent on day-to-day trading momentum.
Trust and usability remain the central tests
Taken together, the two surveys describe separate but connected paths for digital assets. Stablecoins are being considered as payment tools by consumers who may never seek direct crypto market exposure, while wealthier holders are treating assets such as Bitcoin as part of a diversified portfolio.
The overlap is trust. Visa’s respondents expressed a clear preference for issuers connected to governments, central banks, banks or regulated financial institutions. CoinShares’ results show that even where digital-asset ownership is already widespread, most Bitcoin holders retain exposure to a range of tokens rather than relying on a single asset.
For stablecoin issuers and payment providers, the survey results place pressure on consumer protections, transparent reserves and straightforward user experiences. A product designed for international shopping or travel must compete with cards, bank transfers and mobile wallets that users already understand.
For digital-asset markets, the CoinShares findings suggest that demand from affluent holders may increasingly depend on whether crypto can retain a place alongside conventional assets in long-term portfolios. The next stage of adoption is likely to be shaped less by broad awareness than by whether regulated providers can convert interest into trusted, repeat use.
Want deeper context on regional trends? Explore why stablecoins are so important in Asia today and how adoption is accelerating.
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