Large companies looking to modernize payments and artificial intelligence agents conducting autonomous transactions are emerging as the two biggest growth drivers for stablecoins, executives from Bridge and Deus X Capital said Thursday at the Consensus 2026 conference in Miami.
Lindsey Einhaus is responsible for the strategy and operations of stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge, which was acquired by Stripe for $1.1 billion. He said the next two years could bring a wave of institutional adoption of stablecoins, especially in cross-border payments and internal financial operations.
“Large institutions are looking to leverage stablecoins to manage cross-border flows and really break down a lot of their account management work into stablecoins,” Einhouse said.
She pointed to payments-focused blockchains like Tempo, backed by Stripe and Paradigm, as key enablers for wider adoption. She believes that existing blockchains have historically lacked features commonly found in traditional payment systems, such as chargebacks, chargebacks and private transactions.
The next area of growth may come from AI-driven micropayments.
Einhouse said rails, a blockchain-based stablecoin, could eventually make small-dollar internet payments economically viable by eliminating expensive intermediaries and lowering transaction fees. Historically, micropayments have failed because transaction costs often exceed the value of the transfer, and cryptocurrency payments bring price volatility that inhibits spending.
“Using a blockchain that is native to stablecoins, you will significantly reduce transaction costs,” she said.
Tim Grant, CEO of Deus
“We underestimated the boom in agency payments that was going to happen,” Grant said.
At the same time, he warned that infrastructure remains fragmented across multiple blockchains and wallets, while regulation around autonomous financial activities continues to evolve.
Grant is generally more cautious about the pace of stablecoin adoption. While he is optimistic about the long-term prospects, he believes the industry still faces obstacles in terms of regulation, consumer guidance and institutional coordination.
However, he acknowledged that there has been a meaningful shift in institutional sentiment as regulators have become more supportive.
“Before, you had to get institutions to pay attention,” Grant said. “Now they’re pulling.”
