Which blockchain network should you use for stablecoin payins? Base, Arbitrum, Solana, Stellar or Ethereum

Choose the network by four things: fees, how fast a payment is final, whether your recipients' wallets support it, and which stablecoin you need. For payins, the recipient's wallet usually settles the question. Many teams avoid the choice by using a provider that reads the network from the wallet.

A blockchain network (or chain) is the ledger a stablecoin moves on. The same token, such as USDC, exists on several chains, and a wallet lives on one chain at a time.

Key takeaways

• The recipient's wallet network decides where a payin lands. Pick the network your recipients already use.
• Token availability differs by chain. In BlindPay payin delivery, USDT is available on Ethereum, Polygon and Solana. Base, Arbitrum and Stellar carry USDC.
• Fees and finality change over time. Use each network's official documentation and your provider's live quote, not a fixed number from a blog.
• On a BlindPay payin you never pass a network. It is detected from the destination wallet.
• Cross-chain moves exist for USDC, but they add a step. Avoid them by choosing the right chain first.

This guide is for the payin side. It builds on what a stablecoin payin API is and on USDC vs USDT for payins.

Why does the network matter for payins?

The network decides which wallets can receive the payin, which tokens are available, what the on-chain transfer costs and how quickly the recipient can use the funds. A payin sends stablecoins to one address on one network, so a wrong match means a failed or stranded delivery.

There is a second reason: the fiat leg comes first. A payin waits for a bank transfer, a Pix code or a card payment before any stablecoin moves. Network speed shortens only the last step.

How do the main networks compare?

The table compares the six networks BlindPay delivers payins to. Token columns come from BlindPay's payins docs. Fee and finality columns are qualitative on purpose, because exact figures change and should come from the network's current documentation, linked in the last column.

Fee and finality descriptions were checked against each network's documentation on October 25, 2026. They are general, not guarantees. Token availability: BlindPay payins docs.

BlindPay's supported chains reference lists additional networks beyond these six, and the table above follows the payin delivery table. For how Tempo and Arc differ from general-purpose chains, see payment blockchains: Tempo and Arc.

Which network fits which business?

Match the network to your recipients first, then to your token. Use this illustrative guide:

1. Recipients use mainstream self-custody wallets and want USDT or USDC. Ethereum, Polygon or Solana, because they carry both tokens in BlindPay payin delivery.
2. Recipients only need USDC and cost matters. Base, Arbitrum, Stellar or Solana.
3. Recipients are payment or remittance businesses on Stellar. Stellar, with USDC.
4. Recipients are large institutions that standardize on Ethereum. Ethereum, and accept higher fees.
5. Recipients hold managed wallets. Use the networks a managed wallet supports. See the managed wallets reference in the docs.

The payout side has its own trade-offs, covered in the best network to off-ramp stablecoins and whether the network changes an off-ramp quote.

Do I need to choose at all?

Not on the payin call. In BlindPay, the payin quote takes a wallet, either blockchain_wallet_id (bw_...) or wallet_id (bl_...), and BlindPay detects the delivery network from that wallet record. The same POST /payins/evm call works for every supported chain. The evm in the path is historical and does not limit the payin to EVM chains.

So the decision moves to the wallet: which network does each customer's wallet live on, and which token do they want? Once that is set, the payin needs no network field. For custody differences between the two wallet types, see custodial vs non-custodial payin APIs.

What is cross-chain transfer?

Cross-chain transfer moves a stablecoin from one network to another. For USDC, Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) v2 burns USDC on one chain and mints native USDC on another. You can read Circle's description in its developer docs.

In BlindPay, Transfers can move USDC between Ethereum, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum and Arc using CCTP v2. Every other token must stay on the network of the source wallet, and there is no token conversion. See the transfers reference. If you hit a network mismatch before a payout, move USDC between chains before a payout shows the options.

Where does BlindPay fit?

BlindPay delivers payin stablecoins on a fixed set of networks and detects the network from the destination wallet.

• Source: the Stablecoin delivery table in the payins docs. The supported chains reference is the source of truth for the current enums.
• Development instances use testnets and BlindPay's test stablecoin, USDB, with payins completing automatically about 30 seconds after creation.
• Stellar reconciliation: mainnet deliveries originate from a published BlindPay treasury address, documented in the payins docs.
• Fees: per-transaction fees vary by rail and network and appear in the live quote before you create the payin. See pricing.

Sources

• BlindPay docs: Payins, Supported chains and Transfers, checked on October 25, 2026.
• Ethereum developer docs: ethereum.org, checked on October 25, 2026.
• Polygon: polygon.technology, checked on October 25, 2026.
• Base docs: docs.base.org, checked on October 25, 2026.
• Arbitrum docs: docs.arbitrum.io, checked on October 25, 2026.
• Stellar developer docs: developers.stellar.org, checked on October 25, 2026.
• Solana docs: solana.com/docs, checked on October 25, 2026.
• Circle developer docs (CCTP): developers.circle.com, checked on October 25, 2026.

This article is for general information only and is not legal, tax, or financial advice.