Traditional finance is testing blockchain rails, and a new “banking boom” in crypto is starting to take shape. The fastest-growing corner of that shift is cross-border payments — a trillion-dollar industry now being rebuilt on-chain.
The projects leading it aren’t meme coins or hype tokens; they look and feel like next-generation payment apps with cards, instant transfers, and low fees baked in. This shortlist highlights four altcoins racing to create a PayPal-style experience for the crypto era: Digitap ($TAP), Ripple (XRP), Stellar (XLM), and Celo (CELO).
Digitap Leads the Banking Boom With Real Utility
Digitap is an innovative startup that blends traditional banking functions with crypto through a Visa-backed card, allowing users to spend digital assets instantly at over 70 million merchants worldwide.
The card is fully integrated with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and supports unlimited virtual cards for online spending. Each transaction triggers an automatic $TAP buyback and burn, reducing supply and rewarding users with cashback.
Privacy and control are built in. Users can create accounts without mandatory KYC, manage funds through offshore-secured accounts, and hold multiple fiat and crypto assets in one mobile app. This balance between utility and freedom sets Digitap apart from most presales.
The second presale stage is currently live at $0.0159, with more than 53 million tokens sold and $670,000 raised so far. The next tier, priced at $0.0194, goes live within days — giving early participants a 22% gain even before listings begin.
Digitap’s combination of functionality, scarcity, and timing has many analysts calling it one of the best cheap cryptos to buy now. In a market still searching for the next PayPal moment, Digitap already has the rails in place.
XRP Still Sets the Standard for Bank-to-Bank Payments
XRP remains the standard bearer for bank-to-bank payments. Designed by Ripple Labs to facilitate instant global transfers, it has become a trusted tool among financial institutions seeking speed and settlement certainty. XRP consistently ranks among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap and processes billions in cross-border volume.
Currently trading around $2.80, XRP’s technology is still respected, but market sentiment has cooled in recent months. Whale wallets have reportedly been selling large amounts of XRP, putting pressure on price and raising questions about short-term momentum.
Still, XRP’s role in institutional finance is hard to dispute — it built the foundation that retail-focused projects like Digitap are now evolving for everyday users.
Stellar’s Remittance Model Inspires New Payment Projects
Stellar (XLM) was built for inclusion. Its open network lets fintechs and remittance companies connect easily with banks and payment providers. Stellar also powers MoneyGram’s cash-to-crypto service, bridging fiat and digital assets in developing markets.
Trading near $0.40, XLM has seen renewed interest as remittance costs remain high worldwide. Its lightweight, scalable design continues to attract developers building solutions for faster, cheaper transfers — especially in regions where banking infrastructure is limited.
Stellar’s long-standing partnerships keep it relevant, but its focus remains institutional. In contrast, Digitap brings the same efficiency to individual users and small businesses.
Celo’s Phone-Based Wallets Bring Banking to the Unbanked
Celo is tackling a different corner of the payments world — the mobile economy. Built around stablecoins like cUSD and cEUR, it lets users send money using phone numbers instead of wallet addresses. After migrating to Ethereum’s Layer 2 in 2025, Celo gained stronger security and access to the wider DeFi ecosystem.
Now trading around $0.33, CELO has benefited from this shift, with developers integrating its mobile-first wallets into regional fintech apps.
Celo’s strength is accessibility — but its growth still depends on third-party adoption. Digitap’s direct Visa connection gives it a more immediate path to everyday users.
Early Access to Digitap May Be 2025’s Smartest Move
XRP built the rails for banks. Stellar made cross-border remittances faster. Celo put crypto in the hands of mobile users. Digitap connects all of that — but for everyone. Its Visa-backed ecosystem, deflationary token model, and no-KYC approach bridge the gap between decentralized finance and real-world banking.
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What makes it stand out is timing. While the market debates regulation and waits for major upgrades, Digitap’s presale gives investors a chance to enter at the ground floor of a live product. Each new user increases transaction volume — and with it, $TAP token burns. That link between adoption and scarcity is what turns Digitap from another presale into a potential 100× fintech breakout.
Therefore, if the next PayPal is going to be blockchain-based, $TAP has the best shot at leading it — already operational, affordable to enter, and designed to scale fast.
Discover how Digitap is unifying cash and crypto by checking out their project here:
Presale: https://presale.digitap.app
Website: https://digitap.app
Social: https://linktr.ee/digitap.app