Much of the world's money will move through stablecoins
When governments tighten the traditional arteries of money movement, capital does not stop flowing — it finds new veins. The Trump administration's May 2026 directives restricting financial access for undocumented immigrants have placed millions of Latin American families, who depend on remittances as foundational economic support, at a crossroads. What is unfolding is not merely a regulatory dispute but an acceleration of a deeper transformation: the migration of cross-border money flows from correspondent banking networks toward stablecoins and digital infrastructure. History suggests that necessity, not policy, ultimately determines how people sustain one another across borders.
- The White House ordered the Treasury to restrict financial services for undocumented immigrants, directly threatening the remittance lifelines that represent 3.5% of Mexico's GDP and fuel consumer spending across the region.
- A proposed 1% tax on certain transfers is already changing behavior — users are abandoning traditional banking channels in real time, seeking digital alternatives before restrictions fully take hold.
- Movantis, which facilitates roughly 65% of US-to-Latin America remittance flows, is watching the regulatory pressure do something unintended: compress into months a digital migration that might have taken years.
- Stablecoins like USDC are emerging as the practical answer — faster, cheaper, and operating outside the correspondent banking infrastructure that governments are attempting to squeeze.
- The deepest irony is sharpening: American policy designed to restrict and track outbound money flows is instead redirecting them toward decentralized technologies that are structurally harder to monitor, tax, or control.
In Mexico, remittances are not supplemental income — they are infrastructure, accounting for roughly 5% of consumer spending and 3.5% of GDP. When the White House issued directives on May 20th ordering the Treasury to restrict financial services access for undocumented immigrants, the policy landed not as abstraction but as a direct threat to millions of families across Latin America who depend on those flows to survive.
Salvador Yáñez, chief product officer at Movantis — a cross-border payments firm facilitating roughly 65% of US-to-Latin America remittance traffic — acknowledged the coming pressure plainly. But he also recognized something the policy's architects may not have fully weighed: the need to send money home is too fundamental to suppress. People adapt. And they were already adapting.
A proposed 1% tax on certain transfers, combined with broader access restrictions, was pushing users away from traditional banking channels toward digital alternatives in real time. Gabriela Siller, chief economist at Banco Base, framed the stakes simply: restrict remittances and you restrict consumption across an entire region.
Movantis, itself a recently consolidated entity now operating across 18 Latin American countries, is positioning stablecoins — dollar-pegged digital currencies like USDC — as the answer to what correspondent banking networks cannot efficiently provide: fast, low-cost, frictionless cross-border transfers. Yáñez was direct: much of the world's money will eventually move through stablecoins.
The sharpest irony emerging from this moment is structural. American regulatory pressure intended to slow and monitor outbound money flows is instead accelerating their migration toward decentralized technologies that sit outside traditional financial systems — harder to track, harder to tax, and harder to control than the banking rails they are replacing.
In Mexico, remittances are not a luxury—they are infrastructure. They fuel roughly five percent of all consumer spending in the country and account for 3.5 percent of GDP. This is the economic weight that makes what happened on May 20th significant. That day, the White House issued new directives to the Treasury Department, ordering restrictions on financial services access for undocumented immigrants in the United States. The intent was clear: tighten the flow of money leaving the country. For millions of families across Latin America, this was not abstract policy. It was a direct threat to their survival.
Salvador Yáñez, the chief product officer at Movantis, a cross-border payments firm, watched this unfold with the clarity of someone who sits at the center of the remittance ecosystem. His company facilitates roughly 65 percent of all money sent from the United States to Latin America through remittance networks. When he spoke to reporters, he did not minimize the coming pressure. "There will be times when the business is affected," he said. But he also understood something deeper: people will find ways to send money home. The need is too fundamental to stop.
What Yáñez and his team were already observing was a shift in behavior. A proposed one percent tax on certain transfers, combined with the threat of broader restrictions, was already pushing users away from traditional banking channels. They were moving toward digital methods, toward bank accounts, toward anything that could reduce costs and friction. The regulatory squeeze was accelerating a migration that might have taken years to happen naturally. Gabriela Siller, chief economist at Banco Base, confirmed the stakes: restrict remittances and you restrict consumption across the entire region.
Movantis itself is a relatively new entity, born from the rebranding and consolidation of several financial firms acquired over recent years. The company operates across 18 countries in Latin America and is positioning itself as the regional infrastructure for payments and remittances. But the firm is betting on something bigger than traditional banking rails. It is betting on stablecoins—cryptocurrencies pegged to the U.S. dollar, like USDC. Yáñez argued that these digital assets could do what correspondent banking networks cannot: move money faster, cheaper, and with less friction across borders.
"Much of the world's money will move through stablecoins," he said. It was not a prediction made in isolation. It was a statement rooted in immediate necessity. When governments tighten the traditional pipes, capital finds new channels. The Trump administration's regulatory pressure was not creating the demand for crypto remittances—but it was accelerating it, pushing families and payment companies alike toward solutions that sit outside the traditional financial system. For Latin America, the irony was sharp: American policy designed to restrict money flows was instead redirecting them toward technologies that would be harder to track, harder to tax, and harder to control.
Notable Quotes
There will be times when the business is affected— Salvador Yáñez, Chief Product Officer, Movantis
Much of the world's money will move through stablecoins— Salvador Yáñez, Movantis
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a one percent tax on remittances matter so much? That sounds small.
Because remittances are already thin margins for families living paycheck to paycheck. A one percent tax is money that doesn't reach a child's school fees or a parent's medicine. And it signals that the cost of sending money home is rising—so people start looking for alternatives.
And those alternatives are cryptocurrencies?
Specifically stablecoins. They're not volatile like Bitcoin. They're pegged to the dollar, so a family knows exactly what they're sending. But they move outside the traditional banking system, which means fewer intermediaries, lower fees, and faster settlement.
Does Movantis actually believe stablecoins will replace traditional remittances?
Not replace—complement. But the regulatory pressure is real. When governments make it harder for undocumented workers to access banking services, you're not stopping remittances. You're just moving them off the books.
What happens to the countries receiving the money if it all goes crypto?
They lose visibility and tax revenue in the short term. But they also gain something: a financial system that works when the traditional one is closed to their citizens. It's not ideal, but it's resilient.
Is Movantis positioned to profit from this shift?
They're betting on it. They've consolidated multiple payment firms and now operate across 18 countries. If stablecoins become the primary remittance channel, they want to be the infrastructure that moves it.