# The Dodo Digest: Why Is Everyone Suddenly Talking About Stablecoins? > Stablecoins are showing up in real-world trade, not just crypto. We explore why they're growing, how Polymarket is building its own, and what we shipped -- Pix, WeChat Pay, net revenue analytics, and more. - **Author**: Rishabh Goel - **Published**: 2026-04-10 - **Category**: Newsletter - **URL**: https://dodopayments.com/blogs/newsletter-april10 --- **TL;DR:** - Stablecoins are showing up in real-world trade, not just crypto. - They're growing because they make global payments faster and simpler. - Even platforms like Polymarket are building their own to control payment flows. - Payments are becoming more flexible, and systems need to adapt. - We're expanding support across regions (Pix, WeChat Pay) to make global payments work better. **Hello everyone,** I was reading the news this morning when I came across something that didn't feel like a typical crypto update. Iran is reportedly asking ships to pay in stablecoins or yuan to pass through a major trade route. Not dollars, not traditional banking systems, but stablecoins..? It's the kind of headline that makes you pause for a second, because it signals something much bigger than just a policy decision. When something like this starts appearing in real-world trade, it's no longer just a crypto narrative. It's a shift in how money is starting to move. ## What's Actually Happening If you're not very familiar with stablecoins, the idea is actually quite simple. Stablecoins are digital currencies that are typically pegged to a stable asset like the US dollar. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, their value doesn't fluctuate wildly, and one unit is designed to stay close to one dollar. That stability is what makes them useful. They combine two things that don't usually come together - the speed and programmability of crypto, with the predictability of traditional currencies. You can send them globally in seconds and settle transactions almost instantly, without relying heavily on traditional banking systems that introduce delays and intermediaries. That's why they're now being used beyond crypto, as a layer for actual payments. They've been around for a while, but their role is changing. What was once mainly used within crypto ecosystems is now being adopted for real-world transactions, because it solves practical problems around speed, cost, and cross-border movement of money. ## Why It's Picking Up Now You can see this shift more clearly when you look at how different platforms are adapting. Polymarket recently launched its own stablecoin. The decision wasn't about following a trend, but about gaining more control over how money moves within their system. Relying on external stablecoins comes with trade-offs -- dependencies, fees, and limitations in how transactions are handled. By building their own, they reduce that dependency and make their system more predictable. That pattern is becoming more common. As payments become more central to how products work, companies want more control over that layer instead of outsourcing it completely. ## What This Means for Builders If you step back, this isn't just about stablecoins. It's about how flexible your payment system is. Users don't think in terms of payment infrastructure. They just expect to be able to pay in whatever way works best for them. Different markets have different habits, and those habits don't change just because your product enters that market. So the question becomes simple -- can your system adapt to how people actually pay? Because if it doesn't, growth slows down in ways that are hard to diagnose. ## How We Think About This at Dodo This is something we've been building toward for a while. When someone uses Dodo, the expectation shouldn't be that it works for a single use case or region. It should work across different products, different markets, and different ways of paying. That's why we've been expanding support steadily. We recently added **Pix**, which dominates payments in Brazil, and **WeChat Pay**, which is essential if you want to reach users in China. Because entering a market isn't just about being available there. It's about being able to get paid there. And we'll keep adding more, so that as your product grows globally, your payment layer doesn't become the thing holding you back. We also introduced business-level control over payment methods with our latest release [v1.93.0](https://docs.dodopayments.com/changelog/v1.93.0). Instead of configuring payment options for each product or session, you can now define them once at the system level and apply that logic everywhere. This becomes especially important when your system is being used by both humans and automated workflows, where consistency matters. In addition to that, we added **net revenue analytics**, giving you a clearer picture of what your business actually earns after refunds, disputes, and fees, along with better payout visibility so you can understand how money flows through your system. Alongside these, we shipped several supporting improvements: - Visa RDR configuration for automated dispute handling - Scheduled subscription plan changes for smoother transitions - Back navigation in checkout and customer portal ## One Last Thought The example from Iran might feel like an edge case. But it's an early signal of something broader. Money is becoming more flexible, more programmable, and less tied to traditional systems. As that happens, expectations around payments will continue to evolve. The real question is not whether stablecoins will grow. It's whether your system is ready to support whatever comes next. And before we wrap -- here's the second riddle for this week's edition: _"I happen after the decision, but decide everything. I'm not the product, not the price, but I'm where most journeys end."_ Got the answer? Keep it to yourself till the last edition of this month. Get them all right, and there's a reward waiting. Also, join our loving [Discord community](https://discord.gg/dodo-payments-1305511580854779984)! Best, Rishabh Goel Co-Founder, **Dodo Payments** --- - [More Newsletter articles](https://dodopayments.com/blogs/category/newsletter) - [All articles](https://dodopayments.com/blogs)