The most financially excluded pay more to buy stablecoins

LONDON, TALLINN, and GIBRALTAR – 8th October, 2025 – With Financial Inclusion Week underway, Orbital – a global payment orchestration platform across stablecoins and traditional payment rails – has released its new Stablecoin Premiums Dashboard* which offers insights into stablecoin market data that reveals that the countries with the highest stablecoin premiums are those with populations that, on average, are more financially excluded.

The Dashboard shows how much extra a retail user pays to buy US-dollar backed stablecoins compared to the local US dollar exchange rate. 

The top 10 markets that have the highest incremental cost for stablecoins above the official FX rate pay on average a 12.5% premium. These markets predominantly have low levels of financial inclusion when compared to the 79% global average. The biggest disparity is India where 65% of the population are financially excluded yet they pay a 7.14% premium for stablecoins. 

The findings, based on peer-to-peer crypto exchange market data and the World Bank’s Global Findex Database, highlight the ‘premium’ consumers pay to buy stablecoins compared to local spot USD FX rates. They enable access where local currencies are volatile and traditional banking access is low, but at a cost.

Stablecoin premiums are an indicator of shadow FX rates.
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Emerging markets are leading the way in stablecoin adoption. Four of the top five countries in Chainalysis’ latest 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index are in emerging markets.

Arguably its primary use-case, stablecoin adoption is being driven by more efficient cross-border payments to and from the Global South as well as for savings and inflation hedging. However, emerging markets also face the highest costs to access USD-backed stablecoins. 

These premiums are where the cost of buying USDT and USD varies, with some markets having a significant premium on USDT bought and sold. This is an indication of the “shadow FX” market in these countries, and how they differ from the official rate. Unlike official FX rates, stablecoins pricing is heavily influenced by informal peer-to-peer markets. Limited liquidity and infrastructure may also make access more expensive for smaller user bases. 

The double penalty, and closing the gap.

Stablecoin premiums are functioning as a de facto shadow FX market across emerging economies. They create a double penalty for consumers - a lack of access to traditional financial services and a higher cost for accessing stablecoins which act as a proxy Dollar. 

“Stablecoins have the potential to help drive financial inclusion, particularly for retail users excluded from formal FX channels. But high premiums and reliance on informal markets risk limiting that potential,” said Luke Wingfield Digby, Co-Founder & Head of Corporate Development, Orbital.

“To ensure stablecoins realise their promise, clear local regulation and reliable banking access for local issuers and liquidity partners are essential. With the right frameworks in place, local currency (non-USD) stablecoin issuers can emerge, making on-chain FX possible, leading to institutional liquidity displacing informal P2P markets. Success ultimately depends on regulators, banks and digital asset providers working together to ensure stablecoins strengthen – not weaken – financial inclusion. At Orbital, our focus is on making them practical for global commerce, helping businesses move money faster and more efficiently, while expanding access in markets where it’s most needed,” Wingfield Digby added.

*The data is collected from Binance P2P Marketplace, which is the most common onramp for users to buy crypto/stablecoins in many emerging markets. A link to the full Stablecoin Premiums Dashboard, with more details of these and other insights, can be found here. 

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Important: The views and information shared here are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, legal, or other professional advice. No representations or warranties are made as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the data or content provided. The analysis is based on publicly available blockchain and third-party data, subject to known limitations, assumptions, and estimation methods including but not limited as outlined in the Methodology & Limitations section. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult with a qualified advisor before making any financial decisions. Mentions of specific digital assets, protocols, or platforms are for analytical purposes only and do not constitute endorsements or evaluations of their quality, stability, legality, or regulatory status. Orbital does not recommend buying, selling, or holding any particular digital asset and makes no representations regarding the suitability of any such asset for any use.

Orbital is the trading name representing the Pay Perform group of traditional financial and digital asset service providers. Regulatory status of Orbital’s services differs per jurisdiction, and you may not be protected by government or regulatory protection schemes. Please see Legal Disclosures for more information or reach out to us at: hello@getorbital.com.

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About Orbital group

Orbital group is an award-winning global payment orchestration platform specialised in delivering secure, seamless and compliant stablecoin and traditional payments for enterprises. It equips B2B and B2C businesses with an all-in-one platform that offers named vIBANs, stablecoin wallets, and the ability to pay-in, payout, and exchange across all major stablecoins, traditional currencies, and over 80 exotic currencies interchangeably.

Founded in 2017, Orbital is the trading name representing the group of traditional financial and digital asset service providers: Pay Perform Limited - a Financial Conduct Authority authorised payment institution, Pay Perform (Gibraltar) Limited - an e-money issuer permissioned by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission, Pay Perform Digital Limited a distributed ledger technology provider authorised by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission, Pay Perform OÜ a virtual currency service provider authorised by Republic of Estonia Financial Intelligence Unit and Pay Perform Switzerland GmbH a member of VQF SRO, an officially recognised self-regulatory organisation (SRO) according to the Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Orbital’s multi-jurisdictional licensing framework, combined with compliance with international security standards including SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001:2022, CSA TPC, and Cyber Essentials Plus, enables the platform to seamlessly unify both stablecoin and traditional currency payments on a global scale.