Stablecoins are addressing challenges across multiple applications beyond simple payments. Their core features: stability, accessibility, and programmability, enable diverse real-uses from protecting savings to powering gaming economies.

Why stablecoins support more than payments

Instead of being seen as merely another payment method, stablecoins should be understood as flexible, reliable building blocks which can rapidly facilitate transactions.

Their price stability minimises volatility concerns for financial applications. Unlike other crypto assets that can dramatically fluctuate in price, dollar-pegged stablecoins can provide predictable, reliable value for savings, lending, and gaming economies.

The simplicity of global access is key to removing traditional barriers to financial services. Anyone with internet access can participate in stablecoin-powered services, making digital finance products and services available to underbanked populations.

The programmability of stablecoins enables their seamless integration with smart contracts which automatically execute complex financial logic, from automated yield farming to conditional payments.

Stablecoins are highly compatible across different chains, L2s, protocols, wallets, and other DeFi platforms. This makes stablecoins ideal for facilitating multi-chain strategies and ensuring ecosystem composability.

Savings and inflation protection

Stablecoins are designed to maintain their value, with their price tied to strong fiat currencies which experience few price fluctuations. This stability is empowering users in countries with less stable currencies to create digital savings accounts and escape local currency devaluations. By providing a reliable means for storing wealth, stablecoins are addressing one of the most pressing financial challenges facing emerging markets today.

In Argentina, stablecoins already account for 61% of crypto activity, with users converting pesos to USDT and USDC to preserve their purchasing power. Some provinces even accept tax payments in stablecoins, recognizing their value as stable stores of wealth. Similarly, in Turkey stablecoins are projected to achieve 28% market penetration by 2026 as citizens seek alternatives to the volatile lira.

Across emerging markets, stablecoins represent up to 43% of crypto transaction volumes

TON's integration with Telegram makes this use case even more accessible to users who would never download a separate crypto wallet. Users in emerging markets can hold USDT or USDC directly in Telegram without leaving their messaging app, eliminating the complex onboarding process and providing instant access to dollar-denominated savings.

DeFi lending and yield generation

The same stability that protects savings also enables stablecoins to power sophisticated yield-generation, risk management, and collatoralisation strategies.

TON's DeFi ecosystem is bringing these enhanced opportunities to mainstream users through Telegram Mini Apps. Protocols like EVAA, STON.fi, and Affluent have all integrated stablecoins for lending, trading, and yield generation directly within familiar interfaces, making sophisticated financial tools accessible without technical expertise.

Gaming and digital economies

Stablecoins enable stable value exchange in gaming environments where price predictability is important to ensuring developers can reliably receive fair value for their efforts, and users are confident that the fees for in-game purchases won't change overnight. Crypto-focused game studios are increasingly pricing their in-game assets in stable dollars to create intuitive experiences while protecting against the potential volatility of some tokens.

In NFT markets, stablecoins provide pricing stability and instant settlement. Major marketplaces now accept USDC and USDT to attract mainstream buyers seeking predictable values.

TON-powered games, which run as Telegram Mini Apps, are using stablecoins for in-game purchases and rewards. The ultra-low fees of $0.01-$0.05 make regular microtransactions more practical, enabling new gaming economies that weren't viable with the traditional fiat-driven high-fee payment systems.

Tokenized real-assets

Stablecoins also serve as the settlement layer for trading tokenized stocks, bonds, and commodities, enabling 24/7 markets with instant settlement. The tokenized Real World Asset market reached $24 billion by June 2025, representing 85% annual growth with the market size of major platforms such as BlackRock BUIDL, Ondo Finance, and Tether Hadron, now surpassing $1 billion USD. These platforms are demonstrating how stablecoins can enable institutional-quality asset management.

Overcoming current challenges

While stablecoins show strong growth across these applications, several barriers remain that ecosystems are actively addressing.

• Complex onboarding processes can take hours and require technical knowledge. TON's seamless integration with Telegram is enabling DeFi products and services to overcome these challenges and quickly provide users access to the ecosystem's best solutions.

• While legal clarity in Europe and the United States has improved following the enactment of MiCA and the GENIUS Act, regulatory frameworks in some key regions are still developing and require further action. Off-ramp limitations in many regions are slowing adoption.

• Telegram's simple integration of USDT and USDC can serve as a valuable means for overcoming UX barriers and expanding access.

The stable foundation for programmable money

Stablecoins have evolved from simple payment rails to versatile building blocks empowering the financial infrastructure that supports diverse applications across the global economy. From protecting savings from inflation to earning yields in DeFi, enabling gaming economies, or supporting institutional finance, they provide a stable foundation that makes internet-native finance accessible and practical.

As infrastructure continues improving and regulatory frameworks mature, stablecoins will support even more innovative applications. They represent an evolution in payments and a new category of programmable money that combines the stability of traditional currency with the accessibility and efficiency of blockchain technology.

TON's pioneering approach to making these applications easily accessible through familiar interfaces is a strong demonstration of how blockchain technology can reach mainstream adoption by meeting users where they are.