Stablecoins and IT: What CIOs should know and do
Summary
- Stablecoins are moving quickly from concept to commerce, with regulatory clarity and real-world use cases driving growth.
- IT leaders play a central role in adoption, from payments and ERP integration to cybersecurity, APIs and workflows.
- Preparing now positions CIOs to help shape strategy and enable faster settlements, greater efficiency and improved customer experiences.
Across each sector of the US economy, stablecoins are gaining momentum. Even if your business — like many other companies — will never issue its own stablecoins, it may still soon be part of your everyday operations. If you’re a chief information officer (CIO) or other tech leader, you can either make a few proactive moves today or risk missing the opportunity to shape how your company implements stablecoins.
Stablecoins are digital assets designed to help maintain a stable value. They’re usually pegged to government-backed currencies, like the dollar. They enable faster settlements, greater ability to automate and govern transactions and more automated financial workflows. That can add up to significant cost savings, enhanced customer experience and less friction for the business. Stablecoins have been growing rapidly with the GENIUS Act signed into law and guidance issued by the American Institute of CPAs providing increased regulatory and reporting clarity.
And with that, your company’s customers may soon want to pay you in stablecoins. Your company may want to use them to pay vendors. Your finance team may want to use them for core processes like liquidity management. And you, as an IT leader, will be responsible for enabling and securing it all.
Why should CIOs care about stablecoin?
Between modernizing core systems and rolling out AI, you’ve already got a lot on your plate. Stablecoins are a currency. Shouldn't your CFO be handling this?
Yes, CFOs have a big role with stablecoins. But IT leaders do too. When your company starts accepting payments in stablecoins, for example, technology and tech processes can be affected. Your ERP and treasury systems, payment rails and data governance, cybersecurity and identity management, even cloud and API strategy might feel the impact. Effective operations depend on system interoperability, integration with existing middleware and shared workflow orchestration.
As for issuing stablecoins, that’s not where companies usually start — or even end up. Instead, many are enabling stablecoin payments for new growth and enhanced experiences. Or they’re using stablecoins to help drive internal efficiencies such as smart contracts that can auto-trigger vendor payments or digitized letters of credit in trade finance.
One way or another, stablecoins are likely going to enter your company’s day-to-day. Because IT preparations can take time, it makes sense to take a few no-regrets, value-creating steps right now.
What stablecoin steps should CIOs take today to prepare for adoption?
Stablecoins could land on your agenda sooner than you think. Here’s how to get ready.
- Find the gaps. Whether your company uses stablecoins for payments or internal operations, your tech environment and vendor management should keep up. Assess what systems and processes (like controls) you might need to update. A proof of concept (PoC) can help both pinpoint the changes needed and align stakeholders.
- Advise and orchestrate. Should your company build stablecoin solutions, buy them or work with external providers? If so, which ones? Based on your PoC and your insights into the stablecoin ecosystem, be ready to advise your colleagues. Also prepare to be an orchestrator across the lines of business that use stablecoins so you can avoid siloed systems and new technical debt.
- Enhance security and add new value. Stablecoins come with built-in, programmable security and auditability. That can make managing cybersecurity more straightforward. It can also add value to compliance, risk, assurance and tax processes by reducing manual efforts. But this value requires IT to embed the right controls from the start.
- Start integrating. Interoperability with stablecoin blockchains requires not just an API but also new ways of handling messaging, identity and transaction flows. The good news is that you can do this integration in phases. Lay the groundwork now for low-friction use cases like treasury operations or internal settlements.
Depending on your industry, large-scale stablecoin adoption may still feel distant — but in fact, it’s already begun. Whether it’s updating architecture, embedding controls or aligning teams, stablecoin preparations can take months, so it’s not too soon to get started. A few proactive moves can position you and your organization to enable and help drive value creation from stablecoins in the near future.
Technology strategy
Unlock your tech's potential with next-gen architectures and a proven delivery engine
Matthew Blumenfeld
Partner, FS Regulatory Partner and Bank Charter Lead, PwC US
Aditi Lyall
Principal, Digital Product Management and Blockchain, PwC US
Robbie Voigtmann
Principal, Digital Product Management and Blockchain, PwC US
Kurt Fields
Director, Blockchain Lead, PwC US
Next and previous component will go here
