India is the world's largest remittance market, receiving a staggering $135 billion in 2025. Yet, while the inflows are record-breaking, the cost of moving this money remains painfully high—3% to 7% in fees, amounting to $4–$10 billion lost annually to intermediaries, conversion charges, and payment processors.
Worse still, these transactions often take 2–5 days to settle, especially for freelancers and service exporters dependent on global clients. While India is rapidly becoming digital first economy, these issues should be addressed through using stablecoins for cross-border payments in seconds at a fraction of the cost.
India has over 15 million freelancers and a growing cross-border gig economy, with the freelance platform market alone projected to reach $775.6 million by 2030. Yet this digital workforce continues to suffer from outdated payment rails.
If RBI can allow regulated stablecoins under the Payment Aggregator - Cross Border (PACB) framework enabling payments for goods and services, bound by strict KYC and AML norms, the impact could be transformational.
By extending this framework to stablecoin-based aggregators, India can:
1. Cut remittance fees by up to 90%
2. Reduce settlement times from days to seconds
3. Save the economy nearly $10 billion annually
4. Empower millions of Indian freelancers and global service exporters
Countries like Singapore and UAE are already embracing stablecoins for cross-border payments. For India, the opportunity is bigger—not just to catch up, but to lead.
Stablecoins Crossbroderpayments India Remittance
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