If you strip the global financial system down to its core, its function is deceptively simple: a mechanism for transferring and exchanging value. Whether it’s a cross-border payment between corporations, a consumer’s purchase at a local store, or the settlement of a high-frequency stock trade, the operation remains the same: financial assets are moved from point A to point B. The problem is, it doesn’t do it very well. It is plagued by a complex, multi-layered architecture involving correspondent banks, various clearinghouses and disparate technological standards.

Joshua Tate, CEO and co-founder of ForumPay, argues that stablecoins are gaining traction not due to their role as a novel asset or on-chain holding bay for traders (though they function as both), but rather as a superior settlement rail. Stablecoins, being digital assets pegged 1:1 to a stable reserve asset, such as the U.S. Dollar, harness decentralized ledger technology (DLT) to offer a direct, peer-to-peer and near-instantaneous method for value transfer. 

In this context, Joshua Tate sees stablecoins beginning to redefine the mechanisms underpinning value transfer within the global financial system, transitioning it from complex, time-consuming back-office functions to seamless, instantaneous data transfers, thereby unlocking a new era of efficiency in the global movement of value.

The problem: legacy settlement is slow and fragmented

As the CEO of global crypto payment gateway, ForumPay, Joshua Tate operates at the nexus of digital assets and real-world payments, navigating the limitations of traditional financial infrastructure on a daily basis. Working across both crypto and conventional payment systems, his perspective is grounded in how value actually moves, and where it breaks down.

From that vantage point, he believes stablecoins are emerging as a powerful solution to the inherent limitations of traditional financial infrastructure, particularly when it comes to value transfer and settlement. Existing financial rails are characterized by a complex web of multiple intermediaries, each adding layers of cost and time to the payment flow. This multi-layered system is the fundamental cause of significant delays, especially in cross-border transactions.

But this slowness is not born of technical inability; it is structural. Embedded deep within the legacy systems’ regulatory and operational models, the need for multiple hand-offs, batch processing, and disparate operating hours creates significant inefficiencies.

This is precisely the hurdle that Tate sees stablecoins solving. By operating on modern and transparent blockchain infrastructure, stablecoins offer a direct settlement layer, eliminating the need for many slow, costly intermediaries. The result is the potential for near-instantaneous, cost-effective, 24/7/365 settlement, regardless of geographic borders, thereby modernizing global financial plumbing.

As a settlement rail, they enable direct value transfer that supports cross-border payments and reduces counterparty risk. As a bridge layer, stablecoins link digital economies with fiat, connect disparate blockchain networks, and provide a stable asset for traditional finance to engage with DeFi. This establishes a new, programmable, and highly efficient global layer for financial settlement.

Not all stablecoins are created equal

While the efficiency gains of stablecoins are increasingly clear, their long-term adoption will ultimately hinge on the fundamental issue of trust. According to Tate, not all stablecoins are created equal. The real differentiator is not speed or usability, but confidence in the underlying asset. What backs the stablecoin? How is liquidity provisioned? And, critically, can that be verified in real time?

These questions are becoming central concerns as stablecoins move beyond trading environments and into real-world financial operations. For businesses and institutions, settlement is about certainty, and without transparency, efficiency alone is not enough.

Tate believes that this is likely to drive a natural consolidation within the market. As more stablecoins enter the ecosystem, only those with clear, verifiable collateral and robust liquidity will gain lasting traction. Models that rely on opaque structures or delayed reporting will struggle to compete in an environment where real-time visibility is increasingly expected.

The bigger picture: toward asset-agnostic transactions

For Tate, the rise of stablecoins is part of a larger structural transformation, one fundamentally propelled by the digitalization of finance and the growing trend of asset tokenization. As more forms of value transition onto digital infrastructure (take real estate, for example), the boundaries between asset classes begin to blur. Tokenization involves turning real-world assets into digitally native, interoperable, and 24/7-accessible assets held within a single environment.

In a fully digital financial ecosystem, assets can be used directly and move instantaneously, eliminating the need for conversion, complex routing, seasoning and associated delays. The traditional requirement to liquidate (selling one asset to access another) is thus rendered obsolete. From Tate’s perspective, this is where the next phase of financial infrastructure is heading: toward a global settlement model that maximizes capital efficiency by enabling real-time, asset-agnostic transactions. 

This asset-agnostic future requires sophisticated infrastructure, an area where Tate is building an impressive legacy. At ForumPay, the focus has been on enabling interoperability between asset classes, bridging digital assets, fiat, and tokenized value into a unified payment flow. By abstracting away the on- and off-ramp complexity inherent to cryptocurrency conversion, ForumPay allows different forms of value to be used interchangeably in real-world transactions. Whether it is peer-to-peer or B2B payment, or consumers purchasing goods and services from merchants and businesses, ForumPay handles the value transfer, ensuring the recipient receives instant confirmation and next-day settlement. 

In this context, stablecoins are not the ultimate goal, but rather a crucial structural component for a more efficient global architecture. They serve as a foundational layer, offering the necessary liquidity and stability to build a financial system that is more programmable and liberated from the burden of disparate asset classes.

Joshua Tate co-founded ForumPay in 2019 and has been CEO since its launch. For more information, visit www.forumpay.com.