From Wallets to Networks: The Infrastructure Scaling Stablecoin Adoption

The industry’s focus on stablecoin connectivity is showing up in the data, as institutions shift resources toward the infrastructure that makes these flows possible. The EY-Parthenon 2025 Stablecoin Survey shows that 56% of financial institutions view wallet infrastructure as a top strategic priority, matched by the same share prioritizing on- and off-ramp services. Together, these capabilities define how U.S. institutions are preparing to support stablecoins by leveraging  stablecoin infrastructure to move seamlessly between digital and traditional money.

So where do institutions start? 

Why Wallet Infrastructure Is Step One for U.S. Institutions

Every stablecoin payments strategy begins with having the right stablecoin infrastructure for accounts: wallets. 

For banks, fintechs, and payment providers, wallets serve both internal treasury functions, such as liquidity management and internal cross-border transfers, and external customer accounts that enable new, revenue-generating services. Many implementations today focus on the client-facing side, where wallets are becoming the foundation for new payment products and digital money services.

Payment companies are already operationalizing wallets at scale. Bridge uses Fireblocks’ wallet infrastructure to create and manage both business and end-user wallets as part of its stablecoin payments solution. Having wallets directly in their payments stack enables fintechs and enterprises using Bridge to plug into stablecoin rails, orchestrate bulk settlements, and offer programmable, automated payment capabilities, all while Fireblocks manages the on-chain security, gas, and wallet behind the scenes.

The embedded wallets model is also unlocking new opportunities in remittances. By moving from simply processing transactions to providing each sender and receiver with their own wallet, remittance companies can become a financial hub for their customers, enabling faster, lower-cost transfers and ongoing account relationships across borders—and on both ends of the transaction.

One novel example comes from the American Express Amex Passport app, a blockchain-based wallet experience powered by Fireblocks Wallet-as-a-Service. It focuses today on digital “stamps” and travel experiences, but it demonstrates how major brands could build the infrastructure to eventually support secure digital payments.

For banks, once client accounts are wallet-enabled, institutions can begin offering new services, from payments and custody to tokenized deposits and onchain settlement. Today, payments are a priority for institutions facing heightened competition from neobanks and fintechs that are using wallets and stablecoins to capture market share in cross-border payments and merchant flows.

With the right embedded wallet technology, fintechs, enterprises and institutions can deliver seamless onchain experiences and customer-facing crypto products at scale. No deep crypto expertise or dedicated blockchain teams required.

In all these use cases, as well as for their own internal wallets, once accounts are wallet-enabled, banks and payment companies can begin moving value on blockchains. They can process payments, manage liquidity, and integrate with on- and off-ramps.

Operationalizing Wallets Through a Connected Payments Network

Moving value requires security, reliability, and access to local liquidity and banking rails. That’s where the Fireblocks Network for Payments comes in. It provides that fabric, linking banks, fintechs, and payment providers across 100+ countries and 60+ currencies through a single API.

Compliance is embedded, with built-in AML, KYT, and Travel Rule screening supported by integrations with Notabene, Elliptic, and Chainalysis. Today, providers like Circle, Bridge (Stripe), and zerohash are part of this neutral, open network. For payment firms like Conduit, that connectivity translates directly into operational efficiency.

Being on the Fireblocks Network for Payments has been a force multiplier for Conduit. Many of their existing partners and customers are already on the platform, so they can tap into a network of liquidity providers and trading partners as needed, using the same trusted and secure interface.

Banks see the same imperative. A big challenge is how to come on- and offchain, or as Ather Williams from Wells Fargo put it at Sibos, how to bridge from a tokenized world to the fiat world where most people still live. That bridge between digital and fiat money is exactly what the Fireblocks Network for Payments delivers. It connects institutions to regulated on- and off-ramps so digital money can move between stablecoin and fiat currencies.

For payment companies and banks, this means stablecoin transactions can scale across markets without building custom connections or compromising on risk controls, governance, or security.

Stablecoin Scale Starts with the Right Infrastructure and Network

With regulatory guardrails like the GENIUS Act in place and the policy direction clear, the United States is becoming the proving ground for how stablecoins will integrate into the global financial system.

The next phase of adoption will be defined by the networks that make those infrastructures interoperable. Institutions that approach stablecoins and wallets as infrastructure investments designed for this interoperability, not as innovation pilots, will be best positioned to operate at scale in the next era of payments.