In the coming year, the majority of stablecoin launches in Asia are predicted to fail, according to recent projections from research and advisory firm Forrester. In their 2026 Payments Predictions report, they estimate that 80% of local stablecoin launches in Asia Pacific will not succeed. The report cites several reasons for this projected failure, including a lack of practical uses, high compliance costs, and competition from Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and tokenized deposits.
Forrester’s predictions suggest that stablecoins pegged to the US dollar will continue to dominate the global supply. This is anticipated to occur as regional banks and regulatory authorities prioritize the development of scalable alternatives such as mBridge, ISO 20022, and CBDCs.
However, stablecoins as a whole are not expected to find scalable use cases within the retail payments sector during 2026. This is due to several factors, including a poor user experience, complex infrastructure requirements, trust issues, and competition from existing digital payment options. The firm proposes that there may be more practical applications for stablecoins in the realms of B2B cross-border payments and the crypto-native economy.
In addition to their projections on stablecoins, Forrester has also predicted trends for artificial intelligence (AI) agents. They anticipate that “true agentic payment” – transactions executed autonomously by AI – will make its debut in the B2C space in 2026. However, this technology is expected to remain experimental due to technical challenges and issues around consumer trust. Widespread implementation is predicted to start in 2027.
In the B2B sector, AI agents are forecasted to execute one-third of all payments, as the technology can effectively address complexities in associated processes like invoicing and accounts payable.
Senior Analyst at Forrester, Meng Liu, remarked, “Agentic and stablecoin payments are set to reshape global payment ecosystems by 2026, introducing diverse standards, protocols, business models, and blockchains that will drive significant fragmentation.”
Why are most stablecoin launches in Asia projected to fail in 2026?
Forrester cites reasons such as lack of utility, high compliance costs, and competition from Central Bank Digital Currencies and tokenized deposits.
What is the future outlook for stablecoins in retail payments?
Forrester predicts that stablecoins will not find scalable use cases for retail payments in 2026 due to a range of challenges including poor user experience and trust issues.
What are the predictions around AI agents in the B2B sector?
In the B2B sector, AI agents are expected to handle one-third of all payments by resolving complexities in adjoining processes like invoicing and accounts payable.
