Stablecoins hit $50 trillion in transaction volume, surpassing Visa and MasterCard combined. Tedd Huff, CEO of fintech advisory firm Voalyre and founder of Fintech Confidential, sits down with Keith VanderLeast, General Manager of Americas at BVNK, at FinTech Nerd Con in Miami to unpack what's really happening as blockchain-based payments reshape cross-border infrastructure.

The numbers tell a story that's hard to ignore. By the end of October 2025, stablecoin transaction volumes hit somewhere between $46 trillion and $50 trillion. BVNK alone processes about $20 billion in total volume, with the Americas business making up roughly a third of that amount. This isn't about speculative crypto trading anymore. The conversation has shifted to real payment infrastructure that moves money across borders 24/7 without the friction that's plagued traditional rails for decades.

Stablecoins offer instant settlement around the clock, transparency that traditional banking can't match, and costs that make high-ticket cross-border transactions actually viable. Banks and payment companies are moving from pilot programs to actual implementation.

Payouts have gained more traction early on because companies prefer to test the waters by pushing payments out rather than accepting them in. The gig economy has become a major beneficiary. Companies can now pay workers anywhere in the world without routing through legacy banking systems that charge hefty fees and take days to settle.

The compliance conversation gets interesting when you compare on-chain monitoring to traditional banking. With blockchain-based payments, every transaction leaves a permanent record. You can see where funds originated, every wallet they touched along the way, and where they end up.

Visa and MasterCard have been testing stablecoin settlements for their issuers and acquirers, primarily in European markets where regulatory clarity arrived sooner. For companies doing high volumes of original credit transactions on weekends, the ability to pre-fund with stablecoins eliminates the need for expensive lines of credit.

One surprise in the market comes from the reverse flow. Manufacturers in Latin America want to pay their US suppliers using stablecoins. BVNK converts those stablecoin payments to dollars and pays out through traditional rails.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1️⃣ Train compliance teams on blockchain monitoring tools before piloting stablecoin payments because BSA-AML frameworks work differently on-chain.

2️⃣ Calculate what you spend on lines of credit just to pre-fund weekend settlement accounts and compare that against stablecoin settlement costs.

3️⃣ Set up ongoing monitoring using tools that track transactions after they exit your custody to catch compliance issues before they become problems.

4️⃣ Build infrastructure to accept payments from unexpected directions like Latin America to US and convert to traditional rails on the receiving end.

5️⃣ Use smart contracts to handle escrow requirements in lending situations instead of relying on intermediaries.

LINKS

Guest

Keith VanderLeast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithvanderleest/

BVNK Profile: https://bvnk.com/about-us

Company

BVNK

Website: https://bvnk.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bvnk/

Host

Fintech Confidential

Podcast: https://fintechconfidential.com/listen

Notifications: https://fintechconfidential.com/access

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintechconfidential

X: https://x.com/FTconfidential

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fintechconfidential

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fintechconfidential

SUPPORTERS

Dfns - Wallets as a service offering API-first, multi-chain infrastructure with security, compliance, and blockchain integration for fintech platforms - https://fintechconfidential.com/dfns

Sky Flow - Zero trust data privacy vault for collecting, securing, and tokenizing personal information with PCI, CCPA, GDPR, and SOC 2 compliance - https://skyflowsecure.com

Hawk AI - Real-time payment screening, AML transaction monitoring, and dynamic customer risk rating tools for fighting fraud and financial crime - https://gethawkai.com

ABOUT

Keith VanderLeast is General Manager of Americas at BVNK, leading strategy and customer success across the U.S. market for stablecoin-powered payment solutions. With over 20 years in payment infrastructure across Western Union, First Data, American Express, and Cross River Bank, Keith specializes in instant payments, compliance, and helping traditional institutions bridge fiat and blockchain-based payment systems.

BVNK is a London-based stablecoin infrastructure platform founded in 2021 that provides enterprise-grade payment services bridging traditional banking and blockchain networks. With over 25 regulatory licenses and processing over $30 billion in annualized payment volume, BVNK offers managed and self-managed payment solutions supporting SWIFT, ACH, SEPA, and major blockchains for fintechs, payment providers, and financial institutions.

Tedd Huff is CEO of fintech advisory firm Voalyre and host of Fintech Confidential. Fintech Confidential delivers insights, trends, and stories from fintech leaders.

Diamond D3 Media is a multimedia agency founded by Tedd Huff specializing in content creation and production for the fintech industry, producing podcasts, live streams, and video content that simplify complex financial technology topics.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Episode Highlights

01:08 Dfns: Wallets as a Service (sponsor)

02:29 Interview with Keith: FinTech Journey

04:41 Cross-Border Payments and Stable Coins

09:23 Stable Coins in the Gig Economy

10:40 Managed vs. Self-Managed Solutions

13:41 Sky Flow: Building Fast and Secure (sponsor)

21:21 Future of Stable Coins and Tokenized Deposits

23:43 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

24:19 Hawk AI (sponsor)