Stablecoin remittances hit 9% in Bank of Italy test
Banca dItalia has released a July 2026 study finding that stablecoin remittances do not consistently beat traditional transfer services on cost or speed. Researchers executed real transfers of 200 USDC across ten corridors linking Italy with Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Japan. The mystery-shopping study recorded total costs from 0.30% to almost 9%. The blockchain leg averaged only 0.4%, while exchange purchases, funding methods, withdrawals and foreign-exchange conversion produced most of the expense. The authors said stablecoins showed “no systematic cost advantage” over traditional channels. Stablecoin remittance costs varied sharply by corridor The Italy-to-Argentina transfer was the cheapest at 0.30%, while Argentina-to-Italy cost 8.96%. The study warned that the low outbound Argentina result partly reflected differences between the countrys official and market exchange rates, rather than blockchain efficiency alone. Brazil-to-Italy cost 2.21%, compared with 2.70% in the opposite direction. South Africa-to-Italy cost 5.44%, while Italy-to-South Africa reached 4.58%. The two UAE routes were among the most expensive at 7.20% and 8.95%, partly because card funding and withdrawal charges increased the total. USDC beat Wise in only three comparable routes Banca dItalia compared its transactions with Wise simulations for the same $200 amount. USDC was cheaper in three routes: Italy to Argentina, Italy to
