NOWPayments: stablecoins are becoming business infrastructure

According to new data from NOWPayments, stablecoins are increasingly becoming a key element of business infrastructure. By 2026, the combined share of SaaS and e-commerce increased from 48.26% to 55.54%, while the share of trade decreased from 14.07% to 13.15%. From January 16 to July 16, 2026, SaaS and web services accounted for 27.78% of classified partners, and e-commerce platforms – 27.76%. This reflects a growth of 7.28 percentage points and 15.08% year-on-year. The data shows that SaaS, which previously had a share of 15.58%, significantly increased its market position, reaching 27.78%, closing the gap by 17.10 percentage points with e-commerce. Meanwhile, trade remains an important part of the sample, but its share has decreased. This indicates that the use of stablecoins is expanding beyond trade and penetrating the operational infrastructure of digital companies. Commercial structures can develop stablecoin infrastructure focusing on a broader set of workflows, including billing, settlements, payouts, and reconciliation. As noted by Kate Lifshitz, Chief Commercial Officer of NOWPayments: "The mistake is in asking which stablecoin is the best. The question should be: the best for what?"

Companies need to define workflows related to billing, settlements, payouts, and other areas before choosing assets and networks. This will help ensure alignment between the business model and the chosen financial instruments. More than half of the classified partners in the 2026 sample come from two sectors built around digital transactions, recurring services, and online customer relationships. In 2025, e-commerce platforms ranked first in the sample with a share of 32.68%. SaaS and web services were in second place with 15.58%, and trade closed the top three with a share of 14.07%. One year later, SaaS increased its share by 12.20 percentage points to 27.78%, while e-commerce remained at 27.76%. The connecting link between businesses became apparent: stablecoins are increasingly integrated into the operational activities of these companies.

NOWPayments data highlights that different business models require different workflows with stablecoins. For example, a SaaS company may need a stablecoin for recurring billing, account reconciliation, account activation, and other functions. Trading platforms, in turn, may focus on a broader range of assets and networks. This requires businesses to fine-tune their solutions based on the specifics of their operations and needs. Kate Lifshitz speaks about the need to understand which workflow will be relevant for a particular business. "Companies need to determine how billing, settlements, payouts, and reconciliation will occur," – she asserts. At the same time, the very definition of the "best" stablecoin depends on the uniqueness of the business and its needs, rather than the currency itself. Thus, the strategy for using stablecoins begins with understanding the tasks they need to perform, and only then are the asset and network chosen.