Stablecoins Poised to Transform Gaming Into a Real-World Economic Engine

The report points out that gaming, with over three billion gamers worldwide and a market to grow to more than $350 billion in 2030, is already the global largest digital asset testing ground. Gamers are used to in-game currency and virtual items, but traditional blockchain tokens have traditionally bound gameplay to speculating markets. Stablecoins position BGA's work as the "missing link," an asset that can bridge play and real-world use without evading the risks of speculation.

Henry Chang, former WEMADE CEO and currently at NEXUS, labels this shift "Play-to-Pay," a system where the fruits of gaming can move freely into real economies. Stablecoins, he says, "extend into commerce, remittances, and subscription services," transforming gaming from leisure activity to a means of financial inclusion and cross-border engagement.

The report analysis begins with a cautionary tale: the story of Axie Infinity, whose play-to-earn economy blew and deflated as token prices wildly fluctuated. The report indicates that the game facilitated record local engagement, as Philippine players spent earnings on everyday items, but its speculative model collapsed when market conditions turned around. BGA concludes that volatile token economies are attracted to extraction-incentivizing users but cannot retain real players once profitability vanishes.

Conversely, the report cites Roblox and Fortnite as examples of how stability is conducive to scale. Both games' in-game currencies, Robux and V-Bucks, have settled exchange rates against fiat money so that there is stable value between creators and players. The most lucrative Roblox programmers are reported to earn a mean of $38.5 million annually, while Fortnite's predictable pricing model enabled over $350 million of third-party remuneration in 2024. These kinds of schemes, BGA claimed, demonstrate how "predictable pricing reduces cognitive load" and builds long-term trust, ideals which stablecoins could replicate on open blockchain rails.

The document describes a trend of "token-light monetization," in which game design is supported by stability instead of speculation. Executive interviews such as those with Exclusible's Olivier Moingeon and Hermit Crab's Matheus Vivian show that content creators prefer predictable payouts and low-volatility settings increasingly. In emerging markets such as Brazil, banking fees and currency friction trim revenue, and dollar-pegged stablecoins might make payments globally easier and more compliance-friendly.

BGA also notes that stablecoins can legitimize secondary markets that were once "black markets." In traditional games, unapproved resales of products or skins will often lead to fraud, chargebacks, and regulator issues. On-chain stablecoin settlement, however, allows the studio to receive royalties and validate trades in the open.

The infrastructure problem remains. Current payment rails, from credit cards to app-store gateways, are costly in fees and slow to settle, creating friction for micro-transactions. The report outlines how platform commissions and foreign exchange charges eat into studio margins, with Apple's 30% slice and cross-border card surcharges rendering small digital sales unsustainable. Stablecoins, with near-instant settlement and zero cost of transaction, could render these inefficiencies obsolete while allowing compliant cross-border flows.

Polygon Labs Gaming Head, Sergio Varona, told researchers that stablecoins "cut processing costs to fractions of a percent" to fractions of a percent, allowing developers to reinvest cost savings on game content and incentive models for the ecosystem. Treasury management is also a benefit: studios can hold fiat-pegged stablecoins to maintain value without exposure to crypto-market volatility, potentially earning low returns with tokenized cash stand-ins.

WalletConnect and Polygon point out that such technology does not necessarily require change in user behavior. Stablecoins can operate in the background, enabling "programmable money" for shared revenue, immediate payments, and networked rewards between titles. "When your unit of value is stable and moves freely between apps, what you pay is what it’s worth," WalletConnect's CEO penned in the study, a concept BGA calls "the foundation of durable digital economies."

The report further points out that compliance frameworks such as the U.S. GENIUS Act of 2025 and Europe's MiCA Regulation are facilitators, not barriers. The GENIUS Act, adopted in July 2025, has "payment stablecoins" as redeemable digital money issued by properly regulated entities, offering gaming platforms a clear path to accept digitally approved legal money. The introduction of MiCA within the EU, conversely, has replaced non-licensed issuers while allowing licensed e-money tokens to serve as settlement tools within compliant gaming platforms.

Beyond the U.S. and Europe, regulatory clarity is emerging in Asia. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan each rolled out licensing regimes for fiat-backed stablecoins, although countries such as India and China are waiting to follow. The report states these incidents are "the creation of international best practices," a global recognition stablecoins are becoming a trusted instrument for digital trade.

The BGA's bottom line is that the future of gaming isn't volatility but velocity, the ability to transfer value swiftly, fairly, and openly between players, creators, and the actual economy. Stablecoins, it argues, are now not an experiment anymore but the infrastructure for a fresh epoch of digital capitalism: borderless, compliant, and inclusive.