Eric Richmond (Shakepay, mod); Sereena Boparai (Paramount Commerce); Philppe Daoust (NAventures/NBC); Jay Dorey (Visa Canada)
By Alix Moghadam · Advisor, Research & Content · Financial Technology Frontiers
Babu Nair- Founder and Head Research- Financial Technology Frontiers.
Stablecoins Are Quietly Changing Payments — And Canada Needs to Pay Attention
By Ali Moghadam, Content Advisor, and Babu Nair, Founder, Financial Technology Frontiers (FTF)
One of the most important conversations at Payments Canada Summit 2025 was not about future possibilities or distant innovation. It was about what is already beginning to happen inside the payments ecosystem today.
The session on stablecoins brought together leaders from crypto, banking, fintech infrastructure, and global payment networks — and despite coming from very different parts of the industry, the message from the panel was surprisingly aligned: stablecoins are gradually becoming part of the payments infrastructure conversation, especially in cross-border settlement and business payments.
The panel was moderated by Eric Richmond, General Counsel & Head of Business Development at Shakepay, and featured Sereena Boparai, Chief Revenue Officer at Paramount Commerce; Philippe Daoust, Managing Director at NAventures, the venture arm of National Bank of Canada; and Jay Dorey, Head of Canada Government Affairs at Visa Canada.
What made the discussion stand out was that it stayed practical throughout. There was very little hype. Instead, the speakers focused on operational realities, business friction, and where stablecoins may actually solve problems.
Canada’s Story May Be Different
One of the strongest observations from the session was that Canada may not follow the same stablecoin path seen in some international markets.
The panel repeatedly pointed toward back-end transformation rather than consumer-led adoption. Cross-border settlement, supplier payments, liquidity management, and treasury operations were discussed as the areas where stablecoins are already starting to make sense for businesses.
Jay Dorey from Visa Canada made that point very clearly when comparing Canada with other markets:
“I don’t think that’s Canada’s story.”
Instead of consumer payment adoption happening first, Dorey spoke about the growing use of stablecoins in settlement and money movement infrastructure. He also shared one of the most important data points from the session — Visa’s stablecoin settlement activity is already running at approximately a $7 billion run-rate business, largely tied to cross-border transactions.
That number alone showed how quickly stablecoins are moving from experimentation into real commercial use cases.
The Treasury Problem Nobody Talks About
Sereena Boparai brought a very grounded operational perspective to the discussion.
Paramount Commerce, as an account-to-account payment provider expecting to process more than $10 billion in payments this year across Canada, sees firsthand how businesses manage payment flows, liquidity, and settlement timing.
Boparai explained that businesses often have to pre-fund accounts and move money ahead of time to ensure payments clear successfully. Managing those balances across systems becomes operationally difficult and creates unnecessary friction.
As she explained:
“People are sending funds to us to facilitate their payments… and they want to sit on those funds from a treasury monitoring perspective for as long as possible.”
She also pointed out that even with stablecoins, Canadian businesses still face practical currency challenges because many stablecoins remain tied to the U.S. dollar.
But the most memorable part of her comments was the sense of urgency around adoption:
“I don’t think there’s really any losing from the adoption. I really just think the losing is falling behind.”
That line reflected the broader mood of the panel. The conversation is no longer about whether stablecoins will become relevant. The bigger concern is whether Canada moves quickly enough to stay competitive.
Cross-Border Payments Remain the Biggest Opportunity
Philippe Daoust from NAventures offered one of the clearest perspectives on where stablecoins are likely to gain traction first.
NAventures works closely with fintechs aligned to National Bank of Canada’s strategy, and according to Daoust, around 90% of the fintechs they invest in eventually get adopted within the bank itself.
From that lens, Daoust believes the biggest immediate use case is obvious:
“If you want to know where it’s going to go first, just follow where the biggest pain is. And the biggest pain today… is cross-border payments.”
That point resonated strongly across the discussion.
Canada’s domestic payment ecosystem is already relatively mature and efficient. But international payments still remain slower, more fragmented, and expensive for many businesses operating globally. Stablecoins, according to the panel, may help reduce some of that friction.
Daoust also raised an important strategic concern. If Canada moves too slowly, adoption may still happen — but around systems, currencies, and frameworks controlled elsewhere.
That may become one of the biggest long-term questions for the Canadian payments ecosystem.
Businesses Are Moving Faster Than Consumers
Another important theme throughout the session was the difference between business adoption and consumer adoption.
The panel agreed that business use cases are already emerging in meaningful ways — especially among companies handling international suppliers, payroll, treasury operations, and multi-market expansion.
Consumer adoption, however, is still at a very early stage.
For everyday payments in Canada, stablecoins remain “in its infancy,” as the panel described it.
And that may be perfectly fine for now.
What this session made clear is that the first major impact of stablecoins in Canada may happen quietly in the background — through infrastructure, settlement, treasury management, and business operations rather than visible consumer behaviour.
The Bigger Message From the Session
What stood out most from this discussion was the alignment across very different parts of the ecosystem.
A crypto platform, a bank-backed venture arm, a fintech infrastructure provider, and Visa Canada all pointed toward the same direction: stablecoins are increasingly becoming part of the future conversation around payments and money movement.
Not as hype.
Not as replacement for every existing payment rail.
But as a practical tool for solving some of the friction that still exists in global payments.
For Canada, the real challenge now may simply be timing.
