Bank of Italy said stablecoin-based cross-border remittances showed no systematic cost advantage over traditional channels after a mystery-shopping study sent 200 USD Coin across 10 real-world corridors linking Italy with Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Japan. Total transfer costs ranged from 0.3% to nearly 9% of the amount sent, spanning the United Nations' goal of bringing remittance costs below 3% by 2030. The on-chain transfer itself averaged just 0.4% of total cost, while funding exchange accounts, currency conversion and cash withdrawal accounted for most of the expense. Compared with World Bank country benchmarks, stablecoins were cheaper than traditional remittance costs in every corridor tested except the UAE, but against Wise they were cheaper in three corridors and more expensive in four, undermining claims of a consistent pricing edge. Transfer times also depended heavily on local payment infrastructure: corridors with instant systems such as Brazil's Pix and the euro area's TARGET Instant Payment Settlement settled in under 20 minutes, while transfers involving South Africa took one to two business days. The study also said regulation shapes user behavior, citing MiCA as one of the more comprehensive regimes and noting that Japan's rules appeared to push users toward unregulated wallets rather than reduce demand.