What a bank would do — and what you do instead
A bank runs your payments through card networks, ACH and wires, with business-day cut-offs, fees and the ability to dispute a charge. Stablecoin payments settle wallet to wallet in seconds, any day of the week, usually for small fees. In exchange, you take over the bank’s checks: confirming the recipient, choosing the right network, keeping records and accepting that most mistakes cannot be reversed.
Why people use stablecoins for payments
- Settlement is near-instant and runs 24/7.
- Cross-border payments avoid wire cut-offs.
- Fees on networks like Base, Arbitrum and Solana are typically small.
- The stablecoin market topped roughly $315B in Q1 2026, so liquidity is deep.
Getting paid
Paying someone
Copy-paste the address, then check the first and last several characters. Malware can swap clipboard contents, and “address-poisoning” scams send you tiny transactions from look-alike addresses hoping you copy the wrong one from your history.
Frequently asked questions
Is USDC on Base the same as USDC on Ethereum?
It is the same issuer’s token, but on a different network. You need to send and receive on the same network or use a supported bridge or exchange.
Do I need ETH to send USDC?
On Ethereum and its layer 2s you generally need a little ETH for gas; on Solana you need a little SOL.
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