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Is the traditional payment system "broken"? Cryptocurrency enthusiasts might argue that, at the very least, monetary transactions within and across borders ought to be more efficient and less expensive.

This is no small matter. The collective value of global remittances is projected to reach $913 billion this year, versus an estimated $883 billion in 2023. Pricey payments can be particularly problematic, with the global average cost of remittances rising from 6.35% in 2024's first quarter to 6.65% just three months later. In sub-Saharan Africa, alarmingly, estimated remittance costs were 8.37% in Q2 2024.

Commentators can wring their hands and call it unacceptable, but who are the change agents and how are they addressing international remittance cost-efficiency issues? As it turns out, the world's most popular cryptocurrency exchange is putting the blockchain's agent-of-reform mandate into action and, in the process, leveraging the power of the blockchain to promote financial inclusion worldwide.

Cost Savings in the Billions

This year's World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, featured a slew of political and financial luminaries. Among them was Binance CEO Richard Teng who has been leading the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume and registered users for the past year.

Teng is outspoken about the blockchain's unique ability to facilitate reform, create jobs, provide aid to individuals in need, and introduce the unbanked to the benefits of savings, loans, investments, and insurance. As Teng summed it up in a recently published article, cryptocurrency is "inherently inclusive" by design.

To all of those benefits, one can add the speed, reach, and cost-efficiency of blockchain-based remittances versus those facilitated by conventional financial firms. "For families reliant on remittances, crypto slashes fees and speeds up transfers," Teng observes, while digital assets such as Bitcoin "provide a stable store of value... in the world's most inflation-riddled nations."

Meanwhile, even if Binance is often recognized as a giant among crypto exchanges, it's also known for Binance Pay, a borderless cryptocurrency payment service. Currently, Binance Pay supports remittances in more than 300 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple, as well as Tether, the dollar-pegged stablecoin.

Here's where the rubber really meets the road when it comes to remittance cost-effectiveness. Teng turned heads at the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) event in Davos, Switzerland, when he disclosed that his platform's users collectively saved approximately $1.75 billion worth of remittance fees; this figure is based on $26 billion of remittances facilitated by Binance from 2022 to 2024.

The cost savings can be crucial for individuals and families with small accounts. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), fees typically average 10% and can even run as high as 15% to 20% for "smaller remittances... under $200, say, which is often typical for poor migrants."

Binance Pay, in contrast, offers fee-free cryptocurrency remittances. This can be a financial lifeline for small account holders – many of whom use Binance, wherein the average international user-to-user cryptocurrency remittance was $470 last year.

Addressing Inefficiencies, Empowering the Disadvantaged

Eliminating $1.75 billion worth of transaction fees has had both financial and social implications, particularly for underserved demographics throughout the world. For example, Binance found that in 2024, more than 500,000 female users collectively sent upwards of $4 billion worth of domestic and international cryptocurrency remittances.

As impressive as these figures are, there remains ample room for further reform as Teng and Binance continue to pursue their quest to advance blockchain-enabled financial freedom. "Although $26 billion is still relatively small compared to global remittance volumes," Teng humbly explains, "we see this continuing to grow alongside crypto adoption as people begin to realize the ways the inefficiencies of traditional finance can be addressed by crypto."

While still a work in progress, the remittance-reform movement is undeniably making a difference. An Algerian Binance Pay user named Imed, for instance, reportedly helped facilitate emergency medical treatment for the child of a family friend in France. He did this via a cryptocurrency transfer, commenting, "While costs are nearly nonexistent when using cryptocurrencies, they can be significant with fiat. I am not just talking about monetary cost. I am talking about costs that cannot be quantified, such as someone's health and someone's life."

Imed's example is just one of many that support the case for cost-efficient blockchain-facilitated money transfers. For Teng, these remittances are an "important use case for crypto that directly serves our mission" – and for the economically challenged, the cost savings can translate to financial inclusion as well as, quite possibly, outcomes that enhance and save lives.