The Stablecoin Remittance Cost Index — October 2026

2026-10-01 methodology update: Earlier editions of this index measured traditional providers on transfer fees only, which understated their true cost by omitting the exchange-rate markup (often the larger component). The index now measures all-in cost — fees plus FX markup vs mid-market — for both provider types, making crypto and traditional figures directly comparable. See the methodology changelog and the Q3 2026 Cost Index study for detail.

According to RemitRoutes data for October 2026, crypto and stablecoin rails were cheaper than banks and fintechs on 361 of 362 measured corridors (100%). Crypto rails averaged -1.80% of the transfer amount in total cost versus 1.87% for traditional providers (median -0.29% versus 2.00%).

For context, the World Bank's Remittance Prices Worldwide puts the global average remittance cost at roughly 6.4%, and the UN Sustainable Development Goal target is 3% by 2030 — crypto rails already beat that target on most corridors measured here, though, as the second table shows, not everywhere.

Where crypto wins biggest

CorridorCrypto costTraditional costCrypto saves
SEK → PLN Poland -11.60% 2.53% +14.13 pp
EUR → PLN Poland -11.21% 2.91% +14.12 pp
CAD → PLN Poland -11.24% 2.85% +14.10 pp
NOK → PLN Poland -11.65% 2.42% +14.07 pp
SGD → PLN Poland -11.26% 2.81% +14.06 pp
AUD → PLN Poland -11.21% 2.79% +14.00 pp
DKK → PLN Poland -11.56% 2.38% +13.94 pp
CHF → PLN Poland -11.25% 2.63% +13.88 pp
GBP → PLN Poland -11.28% 2.60% +13.88 pp
USD → PLN Poland -11.49% 2.38% +13.86 pp

Where crypto loses

CorridorCrypto costTraditional costCrypto costs more
AED → PHP Philippines 1.12% 0.84% -0.28 pp
MYR → TRY Turkey 0.23% 0.53% +0.30 pp
EUR → EUR France 0.04% 0.50% +0.45 pp
MYR → CLP Chile -0.37% 0.21% +0.58 pp
AED → THB Thailand 0.74% 1.38% +0.64 pp
AED → NGN Nigeria -1.93% -1.28% +0.64 pp
AED → TRY Turkey 0.25% 0.96% +0.71 pp
DKK → TRY Turkey 0.16% 0.88% +0.71 pp
NZD → CLP Chile -0.44% 0.28% +0.72 pp
GBP → NGN Nigeria -1.83% -0.99% +0.84 pp

All-in cost = transfer fee + FX markup, measured from live provider data and updated every 6 hours. Each monthly report is a frozen snapshot (data captured 2026-10-31). Download CSV · full league table · methodology.

See how individual providers compare: Wise's all-in fee breakdown or Remitly vs Wise head-to-head.