Bank of Italy Test Narrows Stablecoin Remittance Cost Claims
CoinDesk reported that a Bank of Italy mystery-shopping study used 200 USDC transfers in 10 corridors and found an all-in remittance cost band of 0.3% to almost 9%, shifting attention from blockchain fees to off-ramp and currency-conversion costs.
Stablecoin remittances are facing a cost test beyond the blockchain fee.
CoinDesk reported that a Bank of Italy mystery-shopping study used 200 USDC transfers in 10 international corridors and placed all-in charges between 0.3% and almost 9%.
The result does not reject the speed advantage of moving digital dollars on-chain.
It narrows the claim that stablecoins are automatically cheaper for people who start from a bank account and need the recipient to end with spendable local currency.
Off-Ramp Costs Drive The Gap
The Bank of Italy paper tested funds sent from Italy toward Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the UAE and Japan.
That design made the relevant measure the full route from sender funding to local payout rather than the blockchain leg alone.
Network gas fees were only a small part of the total bill.
The larger charges came from euro-to-USDC conversion, local-currency withdrawal, foreign exchange spreads and fees from exchanges or domestic banking networks.
That mechanism changes how remittance economics should be judged.
A token can move quickly between wallets, yet the customer still pays for the points where bank money becomes a stablecoin and where the stablecoin becomes local cash again.
Speed Varies With Local Payment Rails
Settlement speed also depended on the local withdrawal path.
The Bank of Italy study put the fastest completions near 20 minutes in corridors with instant-payment withdrawal support, while conventional bank-transfer payouts could stretch the process to two business days.
The timing finding leaves stablecoins with a more specific advantage.
Always-on settlement and programmability remain useful when both sides can stay inside crypto rails or when local off-ramps are efficient, but the user experience weakens when the final payout depends on slower banking infrastructure.
Payment Firms Still Need Local Integration
The commercial implication falls on exchanges, wallet providers and payment companies building cross-border stablecoin products.
Lower network fees alone are not enough if conversion spreads and cash-out charges carry most of the customer cost.
Off-ramp providers regulated under Europe's MiCA framework could increase competition, and closer links with domestic instant payment systems could shorten withdrawal times.
The Bank of Italy study still leaves foreign exchange spreads as a persistent cost in international payments.
End-to-end pricing now determines the operating case.
Stablecoins may solve the transfer of value across a blockchain, but adoption in household payment corridors depends on whether providers can make the bank-to-wallet-to-local-currency route cheaper and predictable.
