YouTube opens stablecoin payments, is cryptocurrency payment gaining popularity worldwide?

By the end of 2025, a seemingly simple update to the payment functionality has sparked intense discussion across the global technology and financial circles. The world’s largest video platform YouTube announced that it will allow content creators in the United States to choose to receive their earnings in PYUSD, a USD stablecoin issued by PayPal. This is not just providing creators with a new payment option but is seen as a watershed event—it marks that top tech giants like Google have finally shifted from a long-standing wait-and-see stance to taking concrete action, officially entering the cryptocurrency payment arena. This move raises a deeper question: does this mean the era of mass adoption of cryptocurrency payments is truly coming?

“Firewall” Mode

What is most notable about this partnership is not its disruptive nature but its extremely cautious and cleverly designed architecture. According to May Zabaneh, head of PayPal’s crypto business, YouTube adopts a model known in the industry as “Clean Layering” or “No Touch.”

Specifically, the process is as follows: YouTube, as the payer, still issues traditional USD payment instructions to its long-term partner PayPal. The actual operation occurs on PayPal’s backend—upon receiving USD, PayPal converts it into an equivalent amount of PYUSD stablecoin and distributes it to the digital wallets of creators who have chosen this option.

Zabaneh explained, “The beauty of the scheme we’ve built is that YouTube itself does not need to touch or hold any crypto assets at all. We help them eliminate all the complexity behind the scenes.”

This “firewall”-style architecture essentially outsources the settlement, custody, and regulatory risks of cryptocurrencies to specialized fintech companies like PayPal. For a giant like Google, this is undoubtedly a replicable and low-risk entry path. It allows them to enjoy the efficiency and innovative image brought by stablecoin payments without exposing their massive balance sheets directly to the volatility and regulatory uncertainties of crypto assets. This provides an attractive template for other large companies still hesitating.

YouTube’s decision to launch this feature at this moment is no accident. The most crucial driving force behind it is the increasingly clearer regulatory environment in the U.S.

Earlier in 2025, U.S. President Trump signed the milestone “GENIUS Act,” establishing a federal regulatory framework for USD stablecoins. The law officially recognizes stablecoins as legitimate payment tools, eliminating the long-standing legal gray area surrounding the industry. For corporate legal departments, this is undoubtedly a reassurance, significantly reducing potential legal risks and compliance pressures when adopting stablecoins.

Once policy green lights are on, the pace of tech giants accelerates markedly. YouTube’s move reflects a shift in attitude towards stablecoins from Silicon Valley to Wall Street. As Jakob Kronbichler, CEO of Clearpool, said: “Large tech companies like YouTube will only adopt stablecoins when the ‘operation on the new payment track’ is mature and low friction.” Clear regulation is the most important sign of maturity.

Global Perspective

Zooming out, the collaboration between YouTube and PayPal is actually a microcosm of the next-generation global funds flow contest. As stablecoins are gradually seen as a new form of financial infrastructure, fintech giants have already begun to position themselves to seize the initiative in this “payment railway” battleground.

PayPal is undoubtedly a pioneer. From launching crypto trading in 2020 to introducing its own stablecoin PYUSD in 2023, its ambitions are clear. Today, with a market cap approaching $4 billion, PYUSD is being integrated into PayPal wallets, its Venmo app, and payment pipelines of tens of millions of merchants, gradually building a closed financial ecosystem centered on PYUSD.

Its old rival Stripe is not willing to lag behind. Earlier this year, Stripe spent $1.1 billion acquiring stablecoin startup Bridge, also aiming to create another blockchain-based settlement network. Additionally, Jack Dorsey’s Cash App has shifted towards stablecoin payments, Sony Bank in Japan announced issuance of USD stablecoins, and even Google Cloud has begun accepting PYUSD payments from certain clients.

This series of moves indicates that from individual users, small and medium-sized enterprises, to large corporations, stablecoins are infiltrating all levels of the payments sector. The creator economy, with its vast user base and cash flow, has naturally become the first battlefield for both sides. The key to victory will no longer be coin prices but settlement speed, cross-border costs, and ecosystem breadth.

While tech giants celebrate the potential of stablecoins, global institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) view this trend from a broader and more cautious perspective. In a recent 56-page report, the IMF explicitly states: “Stablecoins are here to stay.”

The IMF recognizes the immense potential of stablecoins. First, they can enable faster, cheaper cross-border payments—especially for international remittance services characterized by high fees and delays. The blockchain’s single information source can greatly simplify processes and reduce costs. Second, stablecoins can promote financial inclusion by competing with traditional payment providers, offering more accessible digital payment options in underserved regions and populations.

However, potential and risks coexist. The IMF also issued serious warnings: Decoupling and collapse risk: If reserve assets decline in value or user confidence erodes, stablecoins could decouple or even collapse, triggering panic selling of reserves and impacting traditional financial markets. Currency substitution risk: In countries with unstable or high-inflation national currencies, people might shift massively to USD stablecoins, weakening the central bank’s monetary policy control and damaging financial sovereignty. Fragmented regulation risk: Currently, regulatory policies on stablecoins vary greatly across countries, which could lead issuers to exploit regulatory arbitrage—registering in the weakest regulatory regions—potentially triggering systemic risks.

Therefore, the IMF strongly advocates for enhanced global cooperation and the establishment of unified regulatory standards to address the macro-financial risks that stablecoins might pose, and to ensure this technology “becomes a force for good,” rather than a source of chaos.

Conclusion

YouTube’s acceptance of PYUSD as a payment method demonstrates a feasible path for large enterprises to embrace new technology while avoiding direct risks, potentially triggering a series of follow-up actions. For creators, this means greater flexibility in fund utilization; for the entire industry, it is a significant confidence boost.

But to answer the initial question—are cryptocurrency payments becoming mainstream globally? The answer is yes, but the road to widespread adoption is fraught with challenges. Currently, this feature is limited to the U.S., and global expansion will face diverse regulatory landscapes across countries. As the IMF warned, without global coordination and cooperation, a patchwork of “data silos” or “payment barriers” created by different stablecoins and platforms could replace old financial frictions, leading to new problems.

Therefore, this small step by YouTube is not a declaration of a perfect new era but the opening act of a new one. Behind this opening, a long and complex game of regulation, technology giants, financial institutions, and users will unfold. The market is holding its breath: who will be the next major player to follow? And how will this stablecoin-driven global payment system reshape the digital economy landscape we are familiar with?