Ripple President Monica Long Predicts Stablecoins Will Move From Pilot to Production by 2026

Stablecoins are about to graduate from the sandbox.

Ripple President Monica Long just dropped a timeline that could reshape global payments: the experimental phase ends, and full-scale production begins, by 2026. It's not a vague prediction; it's a market call.

The Pilot Phase is Over

For years, stablecoins have been the promising intern of crypto—lots of potential, not yet trusted with the real work. That changes now. Long's forecast signals a shift from proof-of-concept to backbone infrastructure. Think less 'testing lab,' more 'highway system.'

Why 2026 is the Tipping Point

The date isn't arbitrary. Regulatory frameworks are crystallizing, institutional demand is maturing, and the tech has proven it can handle volume. The pieces are aligning for a move out of niche applications and into the financial mainstream. The plumbing is ready; now the water needs to flow.

Production Means Pressure on Legacy Systems

When stablecoins go live at scale, they don't ask for permission. They cut settlement times from days to seconds and bypass correspondent banking fees that have padded bottom lines for decades. Traditional finance loves efficiency—just not when it eats their lunch.

The race isn't about who has the best pilot program anymore. It's about who builds the production-grade rails that move real value for corporations, governments, and billions of people. By 2026, we'll know who won. And a few banks might finally have to explain those 'operational cost' line items to their shareholders.

Stablecoins Embedded Into Global Payment Rails

Long points to recent developments from traditional payment giants as evidence that stablecoins are being “hard-wired” into incumbent systems.

Visa and Stripe going live with USDC settlement for merchants, she says, marks a turning point where blockchain-based rails are being adopted within existing corporate payment flows rather than operating in parallel.

Visa Inc. is set to allow stablecoin-based settlement across its US payments network, expanding its suite of crypto-related services.$USDC #Visa https://t.co/i6vVCqWAiH

“In 2026, stablecoins will integrate with legacy financial rails and, within the next five years, become fully integrated into global payment systems,” Long said, adding that cross-border payments are likely to be the first area where stablecoins emerge as the default settlement mechanism.

B2B Payments Drive the Next Adoption Wave

While early stablecoin growth was dominated by retail trading and remittances, Long said she expects business-to-business payments to lead the next phase of adoption.

B2B payments already account for the majority of stablecoin flows, a trend she believes will accelerate as corporates seek efficiency gains.

Beyond faster settlement, Long highlighted the impact on corporate balance sheets, particularly in Europe, where she estimates €1.3 trillion remains trapped in working capital across payables, receivables, and inventory.

Stablecoins, she said, have the potential to unlock this capital by enabling real-time settlement and improved cash-flow management.

Crypto Shifts From Speculative to Structural

Long also outlines a structural shift underway across the crypto sector. She expects crypto to evolve from an alternative asset class into the operating LAYER of modern finance, with institutional balance sheets holding more than $1 trillion in tokenized and digital assets by the end of 2026.

Regulatory clarity is a key enabler of this transition. Long cites frameworks such as the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation as laying the legal groundwork for a compliant stablecoin market.

By 2027, she expects banks and financial institutions in regulated regions to issue and hold their own regulated stablecoins.

Custody and M&A to Accelerate

As institutional interest grows, Long predicts increased consolidation across crypto infrastructure, particularly in custody services.

The commoditisation of custody, she explains, is likely to drive a new wave of mergers and acquisitions as traditional banks, service providers, and crypto firms seek to accelerate their blockchain strategies.

She expects more than half of the world’s top 50 banks to formalise at least one new digital asset custody relationship in 2026.

Looking ahead, Long believes crypto M&A will increasingly extend beyond the sector itself as firms pursue usability and scale.

“To acquire the next billion users, especially institutions, crypto must get radically easier to use and MOVE outside the echo chamber,” she said.