Pennings, A.J. (2026, Jul 28) How Developing Countries Will Access US Stablecoins. apennings.com https://apennings.com/uncategorized/how-developing-countries-will-access-us-stablecoins/

Introduction

This post covers topics that my students and I have been addressing in a course called EST 230 – Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) for Sustainable Development that I have been teaching for the last six years and has major components on mobile money and finance as well as the mobile broadband infrastructure needed to make it work.[1]

The promise of Treasury-backed US stablecoins lies not only in their potential to strengthen the global role of the dollar but also in their ability to democratize access to dollar liquidity. For decades, access to US dollars has depended on commercial banks, correspondent banking relationships, and expensive international payment systems. Much of the developing world has remained outside this financial infrastructure, with millions of individuals and small businesses unable to open dollar accounts or participate fully in global commerce. Treasury-backed stablecoins offer a fundamentally different model. Rather than requiring access to a bank branch, participation begins with a mobile phone and a digital wallet.

The digital wallet becomes the primary gateway to the global dollar economy. Whether installed on a modern smartphone or accessed through a basic feature phone using SMS or USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) technology, the wallet allows users to hold, send, and receive Treasury-backed digital dollars without maintaining a conventional bank account. This mobile-first approach builds upon the remarkable success of mobile money systems that have already transformed financial inclusion across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Instead of replacing these systems, stablecoins can integrate with them, extending their reach from domestic payments to global dollar transactions.

Remittances will likely become the first major driver of adoption. Every year migrant workers send hundreds of billions of dollars to families in developing countries, yet a significant portion of those transfers is absorbed by fees, unfavorable exchange rates, and lengthy settlement times. Treasury-backed stablecoins dramatically reduce these frictions. A worker in New York, London, or Dubai could transfer digital dollars directly to relatives in Nairobi, Manila, or Tegucigalpa within minutes rather than days. The funds would arrive almost instantly in a digital wallet, preserving more of the sender’s earnings while providing recipients with a stable store of value denominated in US dollars.

International trade provides a second pathway. Exporters in developing economies frequently face delays, high banking costs, and currency volatility when receiving payments from overseas customers. Treasury-backed stablecoins offer an alternative settlement mechanism. A coffee cooperative in Ethiopia, a garment producer in Bangladesh, or a software developer in Kenya could receive payment directly in digital dollars, eliminating much of the friction associated with correspondent banking and foreign exchange conversion. Faster settlement also improves cash flow, allowing businesses to reinvest more quickly and participate more competitively in global supply chains.

Local financial networks will make acquiring stablecoins increasingly straightforward. Licensed digital asset exchanges, mobile money operators, neighborhood cash-in and cash-out agents, retail merchants, and other trusted financial intermediaries can convert local currencies into Treasury-backed stablecoins and vice versa. Much as mobile airtime vendors became the distribution network for mobile money, local merchant networks are likely to become the retail infrastructure for digital dollars. Users will gradually move between local currency (banking) and dollar-denominated digital assets according to their savings, spending, and business needs.

Governments and development organizations may also become important participants. Public-sector salaries, conditional cash transfers, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, agricultural subsidies, and health-care reimbursements could all be delivered directly into digital wallets. Direct distribution reduces administrative costs, minimizes leakage and corruption, and allows recipients immediate access to liquid funds. Rather than relying on multiple intermediaries, assistance can flow directly to individuals and communities.

The growth of the global digital economy further expands these opportunities. Increasing numbers of freelancers, software developers, online educators, designers, content creators, and small entrepreneurs earn income from clients located around the world. Treasury-backed stablecoins provide these workers with a native digital payment system that eliminates many of the delays and costs associated with international banking. Individuals who once struggled to receive foreign payments can now participate more fully in global labor and service markets while retaining their earnings in a relatively stable currency.

Underlying these diverse payment channels is a global blockchain infrastructure that operates continuously, twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year. Unlike traditional banking systems constrained by business hours, national holidays, or settlement windows, blockchain networks provide near-instantaneous final settlement across borders and time zones. This constant availability significantly improves liquidity, particularly for regions where access to banking services has historically been limited.

Artificial intelligence is likely to make these systems even more accessible. AI-powered financial assistants can guide first-time users through wallet setup, provide voice-based interfaces in local languages, detect fraudulent transactions, assist with currency conversion, and offer personalized financial guidance. For populations with limited financial literacy, AI may become as important as the underlying payment infrastructure itself, lowering barriers to participation while increasing security and confidence.

This mobile-native architecture represents a significant departure from previous approaches to financial inclusion. Earlier development strategies often depended on constructing physical banking infrastructure, expanding branch networks, or building costly administrative systems. Treasury-backed stablecoins invert that model. Financial participation begins with a device that billions of people already carry in their pockets and expands organically through everyday economic activity such as receiving remittances, selling products, paying suppliers, earning freelance income, or participating in public programs.

If Treasury-backed stablecoins achieve widespread adoption, the world’s unbanked will not enter the global economy by first becoming customers of traditional banks. Instead, they will join through digital wallets connected to globally interoperable payment networks, allowing them to save, transact, invest, and build businesses using secure, low-cost digital dollars. In doing so, Treasury-backed stablecoins could become one of the most important financial inclusion technologies since the emergence of mobile money itself, extending access to reliable dollar liquidity to hundreds of millions of people who have historically remained on the margins of the international financial system.

Summary

Treasury-backed US dollar stablecoins offer a revolutionary model for global financial inclusion by replacing legacy correspondent banking rails with mobile-first digital wallets operating on 24/7 public blockchain networks. By functioning on standard smartphones or basic feature phones via SMS and USSD technology, digital dollar wallets seamlessly integrate with existing mobile money ecosystems without requiring physical bank branches.

Adoption is driven primarily by cross-border remittances and international trade, enabling migrant workers, small exporters, and digital freelancers in emerging markets to transfer value in minutes. This mobile-first architecture drastically reduces transfer fees, eliminates settlement delays, and protects purchasing power against local currency volatility.

The fintech system scales locally through capillary distribution networks such as neighborhood merchants, cash-in/cash-out agents, and licensed digital asset exchanges—that convert local currency into digital dollars. This direct-to-wallet pipeline also allows governments and humanitarian organizations to disburse public-sector salaries, welfare grants, and emergency relief directly to individuals, minimizing administrative friction and corrupt leakage.

Artificial intelligence further lowers technical barriers by offering voice-driven interfaces in local languages, detecting fraud, and delivering financial literacy guidance. Ultimately, Treasury-backed stablecoins invert traditional development strategies by democratizing access to dollar liquidity directly through existing mobile devices, empowering hundreds of millions of unbanked people to participate in the global economy.[2]

References

Coinbase Institutional. (2024). Stablecoins and the New Payments Landscape: Market Intelligence Report. Coinbase Global, Inc.
Pennings, A.J. (2026, Jul 25) Some Mechanics of Blockchained Treasury-Backed Stablecoins Dollars. apennings.com https://apennings.com/global-e-commerce/some-mechanics-of-blockchained-treasury-backed-stablecoins-dollars/
United States Congress. (2025). Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, Pub. L. 119–27.
Sachs, J. D., Modi, V., et al. (2016). ICT & SDGs: How Information and Communications Technology can Accelerate Action on the Sustainable Development Goals. The Earth Institute, Columbia University & Ericsson.
World Bank. (2025). Remittance Prices Worldwide and Global Financial Inclusion Database. World Bank Group.

Notes

[1] At SUNY Korea we have a specialization in Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D) that address these issues extensively as part of a BS in Technological Systems Management.
[2] While much of my work on finance has focused on spreadsheet logic, I have extended the analysis to include AI finance and monetary coordination.
AI Prompt(s) Elaborate on how Developing Countries Will Access US Stablecoins. Access primarily occurs through digital wallets on mobile phones. Key on-ramps include:Remittances from diaspora workers, delivered instantly at low cost. Export earnings and trade payments received directly in stablecoins. Local on-ramps via exchanges, mobile money operators, cash-in agents, and merchant networks. Targeted distributions through development programs or government salary payments. Earned income from global platforms and micro-export activities. Global blockchain networks ensure 24/7 availability, while integrations with existing mobile money systems and feature-phone interfaces extend reach.

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Not to be considered financial advice. AI is often used, and results are thoroughly interrogated. Links are used for some citations.

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Anthony J. Pennings, PhD is a Professor at the Department of Technology and Society, State University of New York, Korea and a Research Professor for Stony Brook University. He teaches AI and broadband policy. From 2002-2012 he taught digital economics and information systems management at New York University. He also taught in the Digital Media MBA at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas, where he lives when not in Korea.

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Category: blockchain, characteristics of digital media, cryptocurrencies, data analytics and meaning, democratic political economies, disaster risk management, enabling frameworks, financial technology, futurists, geopolitical risk, global communications, global e-commerce, mobile technologies, public administration

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