Stablecoin foreign-exchange pricing fell below interbank funding levels for the first time in the second quarter of 2026, according to Bernstein’s latest report led by senior analyst Gautam Chhugani. The Block, citing the report, called it a structural turning point for the cost base of stablecoin payment infrastructure compared with traditional cross-border finance.
Latin American currencies stayed within 22 basis points of interbank levels
The report said stablecoin FX execution costs for the Mexican peso, Colombian peso and Chilean peso stayed within 22 basis points, or 0.22%, of interbank funding levels throughout the second quarter of 2026.
Bernstein said that puts stablecoin rails close to, and at times better than, traditional bank pricing for cross-border settlement across those three mid-sized Latin American economies.
Kenyan shilling gap narrowed sharply from January to March
The Kenyan shilling was the fastest-converging example in the report. Bernstein said the gap between stablecoin quotes and interbank pricing stood at 176 basis points in January 2026 and narrowed to 33 basis points by March.
That was a reduction of more than five times in about three months, which the report said reflected rapidly improving market-making efficiency for stablecoins in East Africa. For corridors that rely heavily on remittances and trade settlement, Bernstein framed that as a real drop in costs.
USDC and USDT showed a median FX spread difference of zero
Another structural finding in the report was that USDC and USDT recorded a median FX spread difference of 0 basis points across the full second quarter. Bernstein said the two stablecoins have reached functional equivalence for FX use.
That means choosing between USDC and USDT for cross-currency transactions is no longer mainly a pricing question. The deciding factor is now routing and access to liquidity.
Bernstein described routing as the next competitive layer in stablecoin FX. In the report, routing refers to splitting orders across chains and across liquidity pools. The firms that can direct orders to the most efficient pools and aggregate the deepest liquidity across chains are the ones most likely to offer the lowest execution costs.
Market structure, not just issuer choice, is shaping price
The report contrasted that with traditional FX markets, where pricing is tied to interbank funding rates. In stablecoin FX, Bernstein said, market structure itself is becoming the price-setting mechanism.
On that basis, the report said the eventual winners in stablecoin payment infrastructure will not be determined by issuers alone, but by competition among liquidity aggregation layers and routing protocols.
