BIS study: Stablecoins bypass national capital controls

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) compared stablecoin inflows to traditional foreign-currency deposits to determine how financial actors maintain dollar exposure. While both forms of dollarization rise during sovereign crises or periods of high inflation, only bank deposits respond to government-imposed restrictions. Because stablecoins circulate outside the traditional regulatory perimeter, they are increasingly used for remittances and trade settlements in emerging markets like Nigeria and across Latin America.

This shift presents a challenge to monetary sovereignty. When transactions migrate from regulated banks to blockchain networks, authorities lose visibility into capital movements and the ability to enforce monetary policy. In Nigeria, stablecoins accounted for over 65% of cross-border crypto inflows in 2024, with usage rivaling formal remittance channels. Similarly, Bitso Business reported an 81% surge in stablecoin payment volumes in Latin America during the first half of 2026, as USDT and USDC replaced Bitcoin as the primary crypto assets for regional users.

The BIS findings suggest that existing frameworks are insufficient to manage this trend. While central banks are exploring tokenized deposits through initiatives like Project Agorá to keep digital payments within a regulated two-tier banking system, private stablecoins continue to expand. Policymakers now face the prospect of needing entirely new control mechanisms that account for decentralized exchanges and self-hosted wallets, as traditional banking rules fail to contain the rising demand for digital dollar access.