Ross Freiman-Mendel of Persona said on April 8 that compliance teams need to rethink anti-money laundering (AML) practices for instant cross-border transactions as stablecoins become a core payments infrastructure. The statement arrives as stablecoins transition into practical tools for global payments professionals seeking efficiency in cross-border flows and treasury operations while regulatory frameworks continue to evolve worldwide.
Freiman-Mendel made the statement in a LinkedIn post issued by the Persona account. The post was published shortly after The Paypers released its Global Stablecoins Report 2026, a 73-page document exploring fundamentals, use cases, regulation, fraud, and compliance in the sector. It was directed toward compliance and product teams at financial institutions and fintech companies evaluating stablecoin integration strategies, according to The Paypers.
“Stablecoins are no longer a DeFi experiment. They’re becoming a core payments infrastructure, which means compliance teams need to rethink AML for instant cross-border transactions,” Freiman-Mendel said according to the Persona LinkedIn post.
Stablecoin real economic volume reached 28 trillion dollars in 2025, according to on-chain analytics. This figure reflects genuine usage in payments, remittances, and treasury management rather than speculative trading alone. Adoption is accelerating in emerging markets where traditional banking rails remain slow or costly. Cross-border payment volumes continue to shift toward stablecoin rails as businesses seek faster settlement and lower fees, according to Chainalysis.
The total addressable market for stablecoin-enabled cross-border payments stands at roughly 17.9 trillion dollars per year. Industry estimates project the overall stablecoin market capitalization to surpass 2 trillion dollars as regulatory clarity improves in major jurisdictions. Merchants and payment service providers report measurable cost savings and improved liquidity when incorporating stablecoins into existing checkout flows. Global remittances and business-to-business transfers represent the fastest-growing segments, according to Forbes.
Regulatory developments across the European Union, United States, and Asia-Pacific continue to shape stablecoin frameworks with an emphasis on risk-based oversight. Financial institutions increasingly view stablecoins as complementary infrastructure rather than competitive threats to traditional payment systems. This environment supports innovation in compliance technology while maintaining security standards for instant transactions, according to Boston Consulting Group.
Freiman-Mendel serves as Head of Product Growth at Persona, a provider of identity verification and compliance infrastructure for fintech, crypto, and digital asset platforms. His work focuses on reusable identities, risk-based verification, and solutions that reduce friction without compromising security. He regularly contributes to industry reports on adapting legacy AML processes for modern payment technologies, according to Persona.
