Major issuers of stablecoins and fintech firms are building their own blockchains to secure an edge and greater control over payments, according to Delphi Digital.
The next wave of blockchains is built to settle payments instead of tokens.
General purpose chains weren’t designed for institutional payment flows. A new wave of chains built for stablecoin payments is filling that gap, and none of them are going after the same market.
The two… pic.twitter.com/cSycn47QXz
— Delphi Digital (@Delphi_Digital) March 20, 2026
Another driver for payment-focused protocols, the analysts argue, is that the previous wave of general-purpose networks was not built for institutional payment flows.
Circle, the firm behind USDC, launched a public testnet of its Arc layer-1 blockchain in October 2025. The platform is pitched as an “economic operating system” for developers and companies, with limited access.
Tether, issuer of USDT, backs the EVM-compatible L1 platform Plasma, optimised for using the stablecoin in cross-border transfers and across emerging markets. The blockchain’s mainnet debuted in September.
Stripe and Paradigm are moving in a similar direction. They built the Tempo platform as a settlement layer geared to enterprise use. In recent years Stripe also acquired Bridge, Privy and Metronome, gaining technology needed to implement layers for stablecoin issuance, a wallet and invoicing.
The Tempo L1 network launched in March 2026. The project also unveiled an open protocol for machine transactions.
Delphi Digital also highlighted more specialised solutions:
- Codex — an aggregated rollup on OP Stack with a native forex mechanism for banks and money-transfer firms using multi-currency settlement;
- 1Money — a blockchain for retail payments and remittances with built-in sanctions controls and anti-money-laundering mechanisms;
- Payy — a network for institutions that provides the transaction privacy they require by default.
Asked why stablecoin projects do not simply use existing platforms, the analysts stressed:
“The problem is that today’s general-purpose blockchains were not designed with payments—let alone institutional flows—as a primary goal. Instead, most are optimised for a completely different set of priorities, namely permissionless execution and broad composability. Their generality is not accidental.”
Stablecoins take on new roles
Stablecoins can help outpace competitors through more efficient settlement; they may also improve cash flows and free up trapped working capital. Some 74% of respondents to a Ripple survey of more than 1,000 executives at banks, asset managers, fintechs and corporations agreed.
Ripple surveyed 1,000+ global finance leaders in 2026. A few things stood out: https://t.co/414dTO9Qit
→ 72% say digital assets are now table stakes to stay competitive
→ 74% see stablecoins as a cash-flow tool, not just a payment rail
→ 89% of those surveyed say digital…— Ripple (@Ripple) March 19, 2026
“Such unanimity clearly shows that financial leaders view stablecoins not just as a new way to make payments. Increasingly, they see them as treasury-management tools. This is a more conservative domain, examining the indisputable benefits of using blockchain technology to move value,” the report’s authors observed.
Fintechs are the most active users of fiat-pegged tokens: 31% use stablecoins to collect customer payments, and 29% of respondents in this group accept the assets directly.
Tokenisation on the march
In all, 72% of respondents believe financial firms must offer digital-asset solutions to stay competitive today.
The survey underscored the rise of tokenised products: most respondents are actively seeking partners to pursue such initiatives. Of these, 89% cited custody as a top priority and 82% pointed to token lifecycle management.
More than half of fintechs and financial institutions prefer end-to-end providers; among banks the figure reaches 71%.
Almost unanimously (97%), respondents expect potential partners to have ISO and SOC II certification. Also important are post-integration operational support (88%), domain experience (80%) and financial stability (79%).
In March, experts noted that corporations have accelerated the shift of stock markets onto blockchains.