A survey released Wednesday by Visa found that 56% of U.S. adults have never heard of stablecoins, and many of those familiar with the tokens assume they fluctuate in value like Bitcoin. Stablecoins, by design, are digital tokens meant to hold a steady value, typically pegged to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar — a distinction that shapes how they are used in payments and remittances.

The findings form part of Money Travels 2026, Visa's report on how technology is transforming remittances. Morning Consult conducted the poll on Visa's behalf among 2,192 U.S. adults between Feb. 24 and March 2. Globally, the research covered 45,445 people across 20 markets.

Trust hinges on the provider, not the technology

According to the survey, 64% of respondents said trust in a payment method depends more on who is offering it than on the underlying technology. When a stablecoin comes through an existing financial provider, willingness to use it rises from 36% to 45%.

Traditional commercial banks earned the trust of 61% of respondents to provide digital currency services, while global payment networks drew 60%.

Separately, when Visa introduced hypothetical bank-level fraud protection and deposit insurance into its questions, adoption intent increased from 36% to 56%. Stablecoins are not currently covered by deposit insurance such as that offered by the FDIC, Visa said in its methodology note. The regulatory landscape is shifting around that gap: the GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, created the first federal framework for payment stablecoins, requiring issuers to back tokens with reserve assets, though it does not extend FDIC-style deposit insurance to the tokens themselves.

One in three respondents hit by cross-border payment scams

More than a third of respondents — 36% — said they had encountered a scam related to sending money internationally, with fake messages, account impersonation, and bogus investment schemes at the top of the list. About 24% reported receiving AI-written messages that seemed authentic, while 44% feared AI deepfakes posing as family members.

Roughly one in five senders said they trimmed their own spending to support family abroad.

The future of the industry will be won by the providers that work hardest to earn that trust," said Vira Platonova, Global Head of Visa Direct.

Visa now has more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs in place, almost three times the number it had a year ago, as noted by Cryptopolitan. Such cards allow holders to spend stablecoin balances at merchants that accept Visa, connecting the tokens to everyday point-of-sale payments as providers push them into the mainstream.