Why Wallets Are a Critical Part of Your Payment Stack
From consumer apps to cross-border remittances, the message is clear: wallets sit at the center of the modern payment stack.
Recently, a surge of activity has reinforced this reality. Wallets are becoming the core interface for both payments and identity across the internet. This blog explores what’s driving that momentum and how developers can build secure, scalable systems with wallets at the foundation.
Market Momentum: Wallets are Taking Center Stage
For developers and product teams, the message is clear. Wallets are a critical building block in delivering global payment experiences. And the adoption of crypto wallets is accelerating quickly.
There are now more people using mobile crypto wallets than ever before. According to a16z Crypto’s mid-year metrics report, the average number of monthly active mobile wallet users in 2025 has grown to 34.4 million, up from 27.9 million in 2024. This marks a 23% year-over-year increase.
This surge includes both mainstream options like Coinbase Wallet and MetaMask, as well as mobile-first wallets such as Phantom. And it’s not just usage, it’s real economic activity.
A March 2025 report by The Coin Republic found that the number of wallet addresses holding and using stablecoins jumped by 53% over the past year, rising from 19.6 million in February 2024 to over 30 million in February 2025. This spike aligns with the growing demand for onchain payment experiences, especially for remittances and savings in emerging markets.
That growth is mirrored on the institutional side as well. Venture capital firms and major fintechs are making decisive moves around wallet infrastructure. In Q4 2024 alone, stablecoin and wallet-related projects raised $649 million across just nine deals, according to Crypto Venture Capital’s 2025 outlook. This represented nearly 18 percent of all crypto VC funding during that period. This momentum is also reflected in growing calls from investors and builders for more robust wallet and stablecoin infrastructure.
Wallets Are the Core of Your Payment Stack
These are just a few indications that wallets are not just storage mechanisms for digital assets. They are the foundation of how payments work on blockchain rails. The role of wallets goes well beyond holding funds:
- Wallets authorize and secure transactions: Every stablecoin transfer, in-app purchase, or smart contract interaction must be signed by a wallet. Without wallets, on-chain payments do not happen.
- Wallets serve as an authentication and identity layer: By signing a message, users can securely prove ownership of their wallet address and access services through their digital identity.
- Wallets build trust and reduce fraud: Embedded wallets simplify onboarding and abstract away key management. External wallets give users full control. Both models increase transparency, safety, and user confidence.
In short, your wallet setup is not just a support layer. It is your authentication system, your security model, and your payment mechanism all in one. When viewed alongside the other components powering stablecoin payments, their role becomes even more critical.
The Opportunities that Wallets Present for Payments
The integration of digital wallets into products and services is transforming the landscape of online interactions, extending far beyond simple transactions. Wallets are unlocking a new era of financial and user-centric opportunities for businesses and users alike.
Here are some of the compelling opportunities that a strong wallet foundation presents to the payments space:
- Borderless payments: Wallets enable stablecoin payments to occur instantly, bypassing traditional banking intermediaries and empowering businesses with instant global payments.
- Faster settlement and lower fees: Payments conducted through wallets avoid the delays associated with conventional bank transfers and card settlements, while also significantly reducing transaction costs.
- Programmable money: Wallets empower innovative use cases that don’t rely on user intervention including treasury management, conditional payouts, agentic use cases, and more.
- Enhanced user onboarding and monetization: Embedded wallets simplify user onboarding by leveraging familiar login methods, which significantly reduces friction for new users. This experience not only improves conversion rates but also creates new opportunities for businesses to monetize their services more effectively.
- Financial inclusion: Leveraging stablecoins and wallet technologies allows businesses to extend financial services to underserved and unbanked populations worldwide, particularly in regions with limited access to traditional banking infrastructure.
- Improving security and trust: With features like self-custody and secure key management, wallets grant users greater control over their digital assets, thereby building stronger trust in the digital platforms they interact with.
As the digital economy continues its rapid evolution, wallets are positioned to become the foundational layer for a vast array of digital services. But not all wallets are created equal.
What to Look for in a Wallet Infrastructure Provider
Importantly, developers don't need to build this infrastructure from the ground up. Solutions like Dynamic provide developer-friendly tools to easily create and manage wallets, helping teams deploy quickly without compromising on security or flexibility.
When searching for a wallet infrastructure provider, look for:
- Secure key management using technologies like MPC
- Extensive multi-chain and external wallet support
- Embedded wallets that provide social logins and familiar experiences
- Advanced tools built-in such multi-wallet linking
- Developer-friendly SDKs and fast integration times
- Flexible and trusted on and off-ramping integrations
- Support for gas sponsorship and other features to abstract away complexity
For more information, we wrote a blog covering everything you should look for when choosing a wallet provider. And when you're ready to launch wallet infrastructure in minutes, not months, Dynamic is here to help you build secure and scalable experiences right out of the box.
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