Stablecoins won’t unseat incumbent payment platforms, including Visa and Mastercard, until the blockchain tokens feature robust consumer protections, according to Guillaume Poncin, chief technology officer of payment company Alchemy. Stablecoin projects must integrate these features to attract the everyday person, Poncin told. Consumer protection features can be embedded directly in smart contracts, while stablecoin issuers and payment platforms can fund their own insurance pools for payouts in cases of fraud, Poncin said. He said traditional payment rails and stablecoins will merge: “I expect every major payment processor will integrate stablecoins, and every bank will issue its own. The future is one where traditional rails are enhanced by blockchain’s efficiency and new use cases. For cross-border payments and emerging markets, stablecoins are already winning. “For domestic retail, we will see hybrid models combining instant settlement with consumer protections,” he said.