Interlace Highlights Stablecoin ‘Spending Gap’ and Merchant Infrastructure Opportunity

According to a recent LinkedIn post from Interlace, the company is drawing attention to what it describes as a “Spending Gap” in stablecoin usage at the point of sale. Citing BVNK’s Stablecoin Utility Report 2026, the post notes that while 42% of users express interest in using stablecoins for major purchases, only 28% actually do so.

The post suggests that this 14 percentage-point gap reflects a shortfall in merchant infrastructure rather than consumer demand, implying that checkout integration is a key constraint. Interlace frames this mismatch as a structural friction that the digital payments and crypto sectors need to address for stablecoins to function more like a mainstream global currency.

For investors, the focus on merchant readiness underscores a potential growth vector for payment processors, gateways, and infrastructure providers that can simplify stablecoin acceptance. If merchant tools become as straightforward as traditional card processing, companies positioned in this segment could benefit from increased transaction volumes and broader adoption of stablecoin rails.

The LinkedIn commentary also poses questions about how merchants across sectors are preparing for this shift, hinting at uneven adoption and possible first-mover advantages. Firms that invest early in stablecoin-compatible systems may capture incremental revenue from crypto-native consumers, while laggards could face competitive pressure if stablecoin spending scales.

More broadly, the emphasis on stablecoins over volatile cryptocurrencies aligns with an industry narrative around reducing price risk while preserving digital asset utility. If the reported demand trend holds, it could support the case for regulatory clarity and infrastructure investment around stablecoin payment networks, potentially influencing capital allocation within the fintech and digital asset ecosystem.