The online travel platform Trip.com recently announced a move—opening USDT and USDC stablecoin payments, covering public blockchains such as Ethereum, Tron, Solana, Polygon, Arbitrum One, and TON. The technological support behind this comes from the Singapore-licensed crypto payment provider Triple-A. At first glance, it might seem like a small move in the crypto world, but in reality, it reflects a larger trend shift.

The evolution of stablecoins over the past few years has been quite interesting. From initially serving as a USD substitute on exchanges to gradually penetrating real consumer scenarios—this transformation is accelerating. Travel payments are a great entry point because they are essentially a cross-border settlement issue. Under traditional methods, using credit cards to buy tickets or book hotels involves complex processes like currency exchange, bank clearing, and high fees. Sometimes, exchange rate losses combined with various miscellaneous charges make the costs exorbitant.

The advantages of stablecoin payments are obvious. First, settlement is fast—no need for bank intermediaries, and transactions can be done anytime within 24 hours. Second, regarding fee rates, USDT and USDC are essentially pegged 1:1 to USD, avoiding exchange rate losses. Third, they naturally align with Web3 users' operational habits—these users already use wallets and on-chain assets, making the payment experience more seamless.

Trip.com’s move isn’t exactly sudden. The number of global crypto asset holders is continuously growing, and these users need real consumption scenarios to use their assets. Travel demand is a high-frequency cross-border payment application with a large user base. From the platform’s perspective, integrating stablecoin payments is actually about exploring new user groups and payment channels, reducing risk exposure while also increasing transaction speed.

What does this case demonstrate? Web3 is no longer just pure financial innovation; it is beginning to deeply integrate with traditional consumer services. Stablecoins are shifting from being merely trading tools to everyday payment tools. This process may seem slow, but every application that is implemented is gradually changing the infrastructure of the entire ecosystem.