Our biggest takeaway from Money20/20 Middle East in Riyadh: the region has the ambition, the demand, strong and trusted financial systems, and an emerging generation of fintechs that could accelerate the adoption of stablecoin-powered payments.
And the opportunity is enormous.
A multi-trillion-dollar market ready for change
Global cross-border B2B payments represent tens of trillions of dollars annually. Yet stablecoin-powered B2B payments still account for only a fraction of that market.
The gap between the size of the opportunity and current adoption is striking.
MENA is particularly well positioned to close it.
The region sits at the intersection of some of the world’s most important trade and payment corridors, connecting the Gulf with Africa, South Asia, Europe, and increasingly the wider Global South.
Several forces are accelerating demand:
- Cross-border commerce: Gulf economies are expanding international trade, diversifying supply chains, and strengthening economic relationships with Asia and Africa.
- Remittances: The region includes major remittance-sending economies, with significant payment flows to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, and other emerging markets.
- South-South trade: Growing commercial relationships between emerging economies are creating new payment corridors and reducing dependence on traditional Western financial hubs.
- Economic diversification: Saudi Vision 2030 and similar initiatives across the Gulf are supporting new businesses, international investment, and financial innovation.
All these developments have one thing in common: they require money to move across borders faster, more reliably, and at lower cost.
Yet cross-border settlement has not evolved at the same pace.e pace.
Why traditional cross-border banking is holding the market back
For many businesses operating across MENA, international payments remain unnecessarily complex. Not because of domestic infrastructure: the Gulf, and Saudi Arabia in particular, already has advanced and trusted payment systems. The friction sits in the cross-border leg, while other parts of MENA, including North Africa, face different challenges.
Multiple correspondent banks, limited banking hours, unpredictable settlement times, FX spreads, and fragmented local payment systems create friction.
A payment that can technically move across a blockchain network in minutes may still take days through traditional banking channels.
And for businesses managing international suppliers, collections, and liquidity, this is more than an inconvenience.
It is a working capital problem.
SWIFT and correspondent banking have supported international payments for decades. But expanding coverage to new markets and establishing new banking relationships can be expensive and time-consuming.
MENA has an opportunity to build on its trusted systems rather than replicate that complexity.
Stablecoins introduce a fundamentally different settlement model: 24/7 infrastructure, faster movement of value, and the ability to connect markets through local fiat gateways.
The opportunity is not necessarily to replace banks.
It is to enable banks, fintechs, and payment providers to offer better cross-border services without depending exclusively on legacy correspondent banking chains.
What we saw in Riyadh: a new generation of fintechs
At Money20/20 Middle East, we met an impressive generation of fintech entrepreneurs building payment infrastructure for the region.
Some are developing cross-border payment services connecting the Gulf with Africa and Asia. Others are addressing remittances, international commerce, and underserved payment corridors.
We encountered companies reporting triple-digit annual growth, expanding rapidly into markets where traditional banking infrastructure has historically been difficult to access.
What stood out was not just their growth.
It was their ambition to build regional and international payment networks from day one.
For these companies, stablecoins are not a speculative asset class.
They are an infrastructure opportunity.
Instead of negotiating and maintaining a different correspondent banking arrangement for every corridor, fintechs can use stablecoin settlement infrastructure alongside regulated local banking and payment partners.
This can significantly shorten the time needed to launch new corridors.
And in markets where cross-border fintech infrastructure remains fragmented or underserved, the potential is particularly significant.
The opportunity to leapfrog
We believe some MENA payment corridors could move from predominantly correspondent-bank-based settlement to stablecoin-powered settlement in a matter of months, rather than years.
Not every market. Not every payment flow. And not without regulatory clarity, trusted banking partnerships, and appropriate safeguards.
But the underlying technology is already available.
The remaining challenge is making it commercially and operationally usable.
Two things are essential.
1. Regulation that enables innovation
The UAE and Bahrain have already introduced dedicated regulatory frameworks addressing payment tokens and stablecoins.
These are important steps toward providing the clarity that financial institutions, fintechs, and enterprises need.
Other markets are developing their own approaches.
The objective is not regulation-free payments. It is compliant, transparent, and reliable infrastructure that can support institutional adoption.
2. Fintech infrastructure that eliminates stablecoin complexity
Businesses do not want to manage blockchain wallets, private keys, custody, token selection, or multiple liquidity providers.
Banks do not want to rebuild their entire infrastructure around crypto.
Corporate treasurers do not want another disconnected payment system.
They want faster, cheaper, and more reliable international payments, integrated with the systems they already use.
This requires an orchestration layer that connects regulated fiat gateways, stablecoin settlement networks, banking partners, and enterprise financial systems.
Fiat in → Stablecoin settlement → Fiat out.
The customer operates in fiat. The complexity remains behind the scenes.
Why we built Heron for this opportunity
At Heron, we believe the next generation of cross-border payment infrastructure will be defined by three capabilities.
Fiat-facing. Businesses can access stablecoin-powered payments without having to hold stablecoins, manage wallets, or take on direct crypto custody.
Global by design. With 65+ integrated payment, on/off-ramp, and liquidity providers, Heron orchestrates access to international payment corridors through a single integration, subject to local availability and regulatory requirements.
Treasury-native. Through integrations with enterprise ERP and Treasury Management Systems (TMS), payments can be initiated, monitored, and reconciled within existing corporate workflows.
Our goal is to help banks, fintechs, PSPs, and enterprises access stablecoin-powered settlement within the financial ecosystem they already trust, without rebuilding their payment infrastructure.
Riyadh confirmed our conviction
Saudi Arabia is becoming an important hub for financial innovation, supported by Vision 2030, investment in digital infrastructure, and an increasingly dynamic fintech ecosystem.
The conversations we had at Money20/20 reinforced our decision to expand Heron’s presence in the region.
We are launching regional operations in Riyadh, welcoming Dr. Daifallah Alsubhi as Strategic Partner & Middle East Expansion Lead, and expanding our relationships with customers and partners across MENA.
We also came away impressed by the energy of the Saudi fintech ecosystem, the quality of the entrepreneurs we met, and the hospitality of our hosts.
But our biggest takeaway goes beyond Saudi Arabia.
MENA has the potential to become one of the fastest-moving regions in the adoption of stablecoin-powered cross-border payments.
The trade corridors exist. The demand exists. The technology exists. The trusted financial systems exist. The regulatory foundations are emerging.
The next step is connecting them.
And that is exactly what we are building at Heron.
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