Venmo’s Fee Hike Has US Freelancers Eyeing Stablecoins 💸🪙

[bonk]

As Venmo rolls out higher transaction fees, the freelance community — especially 1099 workers — is asking: Is it time to ditch traditional payment apps for stablecoins?

What’s happening:

Venmo’s new fee structure has sparked backlash among gig workers, digital nomads, and creators.

Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero floated the idea of a stablecoin payments app built for US freelancers.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong pointed to USDC on Base as a potential solution — fast, cheap, and blockchain-native.

Why this matters:
Freelancers often lose up to 2.99% per transaction using traditional payment apps. Stablecoins like USDC could slash that cost to near-zero while offering instant, borderless payments.

As one X user put it:

“Why pay 2.99% on Venmo when you can pay nothing?”

️ The challenge:

Stablecoin adoption still lacks a mainstream consumer app with hundreds of millions of active users.

Most people remain more comfortable sending money via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App — even if it costs more.

The opportunity:
Whoever builds the first big, user-friendly stablecoin payment app for freelancers could disrupt the $1T+ gig economy.

Would you accept your freelance payments in stablecoins instead of USD on Venmo?

[jacson4]

The Venmo fee hike is exactly the kind of friction that drives innovation toward alternatives. For freelancers, losing nearly 3% of every invoice is a real blow — especially for those working on thin margins or juggling multiple small contracts. Stablecoins like USDC solve the cost problem and speed up settlement, but the missing piece is trust and ease of use. The average freelancer doesn’t want to manage private keys, navigate crypto wallets, or worry about on-ramp/off-ramp exchanges. If a mainstream, regulated app could make stablecoin payments as simple as sending a Venmo request — while still delivering the cost and speed benefits — we’d see adoption skyrocket. Until then, crypto-savvy freelancers will move first, and everyone else will follow when the experience is frictionless.

[Nahid10]

It’s tempting to say “just use stablecoins,” but the reality is more nuanced. Payment behavior is sticky — people use what’s familiar, and for most Americans, that’s Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App. Switching to stablecoins means not just learning new tech, but also convincing clients to pay in a format they may not understand or trust. The opportunity is massive, but so are the adoption hurdles. What we really need is a bridge: a stablecoin-powered payment app that feels like Venmo on the front end, with crypto rails on the back end. That way, freelancers can enjoy instant, low-cost payments without having to convince every client to “go crypto” from day one. Whoever cracks that formula will own a huge slice of the gig economy.