Stablecoins and other digital asset opportunities – for the business as well as for the finance group – are compelling, lucrative, and materializing and expanding faster than many CFOs realize. Today, early adopters of digital asset innovations are discussing stablecoin fundamentals, launching pilot programs and recalibrating longstanding payments infrastructures. Going forward, nearly all business leaders will be seeking ways to leverage enhanced money movement.
Specifically, what does this mean for CFOs? They should define or support the strategy for enhanced money movement that may begin with targeted use cases, such as the use of stablecoins, and ultimately expand into smart, AI-driven, programmable finance as capabilities mature. Starting small makes sense, given a McKinsey study with a leading blockchain analytics provider that estimated the percentage of stablecoin payments made annually to be a mere fraction of global payments volumes.
Should CFOs care about digital currencies?
Stablecoins are a unique form of cryptocurrency. Unlike bitcoin and similarly volatile forms of crypto whose value is driven by market speculation, stablecoins are pegged 1:1 to fiat currencies or similar assets. For example, USD Coin (USDC) – one of many stablecoins currently in existence – is a regulated, fiat-collateralized stablecoin backed by cash (1:1 to the US dollar) and short-term U.S. Treasuries. Stablecoins, designed for price constancy, are well suited for business transactions (especially those that cross borders), payments and liquidity, as opposed to an investment. The digital, stable and secure nature of stablecoins makes them ideal enablers of instantaneous, real-time, 24/7 payment settlements; reduced transaction costs, payment processing charges and foreign exchange fees; as well as customer experience enhancement and cash flow improvements.
Stablecoin applications are recorded on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) When combined with AI, they can enable programmable finance solutions involving digital currency and financial services powered by smart contracts – automated agreements directly written into code that execute when preset conditions are met. This technology supports automated payments, escrow and decentralized finance without middlemen. DLT provides the infrastructure and tokenization needed to convert physical or financial assets into digital units that can be bought quickly and sold in a secure manner.
Consider, for example, an AI-driven, rules-based cash management solution that automatically routes, rebalances and optimizes treasury positions in real time. Or a platform company that uses stablecoin to transact with providers and users to increase the speed and security of settlements, while maximizing overnight or short-term investments.
Because stablecoin and digital asset investments offer numerous ways to advance treasury optimization, CFOs should be prepared for their customer-facing colleagues to propose digital asset initiatives centered on new products and new business lines as they transform customer experiences.
More than crypto: Enterprise tokenization and other digital asset innovations
Readiness begins with the recognition that not only have digital currencies arrived and are here to stay, but regulators’ digital asset rules books are either changing or in the process of being written.
Signed into law last summer, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act paves the way for companies in all industries to integrate stablecoins and other digital assets into their operations. Additionally, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has provided companies with more leeway in determining whether crypto assets should be recorded as liabilities. This shift results in “opening the door to major banks providing custody services,” according to The Conference Board, which reports that the SEC and other U.S. banking regulators “have also taken a more accommodating approach to the crypto sector.”
If you wince at the term “crypto,” I understand. But it is crucial to recognize that there are fundamental differences between operationalizable digital assets and speculative forms of cryptocurrencies and meme-driven non-fungible tokens of questionable intrinsic value. Enterprise tokenization initiatives can generate tangible value in a compliance-savvy, audit-ready manner. For example, The Conference Board’s policy backgrounder, “The Outlook for Digital Assets in 2026,” points out that tokenization could help a leading retailer earn yields on $1.8 billion in unredeemed gift cards.
Widespread use, continued rise of opportunities, savings and efficiencies
An expanding collection of retailers, electronic marketplaces, credit card processors, digital payments providers, e-commerce software providers, financial institutions and hospitality companies already are moving ahead with digital asset use cases or are planning to do so soon. Stablecoin applications with the highest potential value tend to involve the development of new products and revenue streams as the financial system becomes more personalized as data, digital identity and direct peer-to-peer transactions reshape the landscape. For example, a well-known retailer recently partnered with a digital assets firm to develop new revenue streams throughout its customer base. Another area of rapid expansion in digital currency usage is in capital raises.
Still other digital opportunities are more finance focused. Leveraging stablecoin to eliminate the traditional settlement lag on conventional payment rails gives organizations faster access to working capital while ensuring that counterparties are paid immediately. Financial institutions are creating transaction mechanisms whereby the exchange of a tokenized asset is delivered at the same time that a stablecoin payment is completed. These so-called “atomic settlements” provide for the simultaneous, instantaneous and “all-or-nothing” completion of financial transactions, ensuring that if one part of a trade fails, the entire transaction reverses to prevent risk.
Obstacles and challenges exist, of course. New transaction and payment controls are needed. New ecosystem partners must be properly vetted. And new tax treatments and financial disclosures may be warranted.
Five ways CFOs can drive digital asset initiatives
Regardless of whether CFOs are assessing digital asset innovations proposed by business partners or are designing new finance and treasury applications, they should take the following actions:
- Assess the innovation opportunity: CFOs should evaluate digital asset initiatives with the same rigor as they apply to any new business proposal. Scrutinize the risks, the upside and downside and the projected returns on the investment before moving forward. Digital asset opportunities are likely to materialize very quickly, so finance leaders should have in place a disciplined evaluation framework that’s ready to use when needed.
- Redefine the control structure: CFOs should define the control structures digital asset transactions require, which is similar to updating controls around AI solutions. Key considerations include potential impacts to the financial statements and financial disclosures as well as third-party oversight. While always crucial, internal controls may be even more important in a more permissive regulatory environment where there is subjectivity in some of the accounting interpretations.
- Know your ecosystem partners: Stablecoin adoption and other digital asset initiatives will likely introduce many organizations to new and unfamiliar third-party partners, including stablecoin custodians, digital asset platforms and non-bank counterparties. While more traditional banks will offer similar services in the coming years, finance leaders should strongly consider elevating third-party due diligence and oversight to ensure organizational readiness.
- Map the treasury lifecycle: As CFOs and treasury leaders consider how to integrate stablecoin and other digital assets into cash and liquidity management processes, it helps to have a current blueprint of the end-to-end treasury lifecycle. Based on that blueprint, CFOs and treasurers should be able to articulate the future state treasury flow, including the underlying logic for the necessary changes to the baseline flow.
- Address tax and financial planning and analysis (FP&A) implications: Instantaneous, cross-border stablecoin transactions may trigger the same nexus and tax-compliance obligations that traditional transactions create. CFOs and their tax groups must ensure that tax compliance and planning processes and supporting technologies support new payments mechanisms. From an FP&A perspective, finance teams may need to recalibrate forecasting models and financial planning processes to integrate data from new processes, products and business lines facilitated and supported by digital assets.
Money movement enhancements are here and accelerating
Technological progress is transforming money, shifting from solely cash-based and bank-centric systems to now include digital, programmable and networked-enabled forms of value exchange. These innovations are not only enabling real-time, cross-border payments outside of traditional financial intermediaries, they are also evolving money toward becoming a dynamic tool within digital platforms, applications and ecosystems. This trend promises major geopolitical, regulatory and industry implications for legacy payment infrastructures. As for the present, “the year 2026 is shaping up to be a defining moment for digital assets,” according to a recent World Economic Forum briefing: “Entire asset classes may become tradable on-chain, reshaping capital flows, investment liquidity and global finance.”
Within a few years, “stablecoin” could be redefined in the business-as-usual lexicon as “money,” a treasury-backed digital dollar that drives a new wave of innovation. To be sure, while programmable finance may be at the far end of the maturity curve for many organizations, the seeds are nonetheless being laid in the marketplace. The technology is a rapidly emerging operational reality that demands careful thought and preparation today by the organizations that will embrace it. CFOs who approach digital assets with the same analytical rigor and control mindset that they apply to other strategic business investments will be well positioned to help their organizations successfully adapt to these evolving payment ecosystems, capture new sources of value and remain relevant in the rapidly advancing digital economy.
This article originally appeared on Forbes CFO Network.
