Every quarter brings a new figure for stablecoin remittance volume, usually large and usually growing. Having spent the past year following individual transfers from sender to spend, I have concluded the number describes almost nothing useful.

A transfer that arrives as a dollar-denominated token and then requires the recipient to find a local exchange, pass verification, sell at a spread and withdraw to a bank account has not replaced the remittance company. It has moved the friction to the least equipped person in the chain.

The corridors that genuinely work share one property: a local partner that converts and settles into a familiar rail, so the recipient sees local currency in an account they already had. Where that partner exists, adoption is quiet and durable.

So measure that. Count corridors with a functioning last mile, and report the all-in cost the recipient actually pays. Both numbers are smaller and far more honest than the headline volume figure, and both would tell the industry where to build next.

This column reflects the author's views and is labelled Opinion under MyBunnyFarm's editorial policy.