> I've read anecdotes on HN that it's used quite a bit for remittances to some countries with unstable currencies

I can confirm that this aspect is absolutely massive and often underestimated by those living in the West.

It's happening all over Africa, Middle East and LATAM, since stablecoin transactions are cheaper and require no access to financial infrastructure that could be locally unavailable, but as you mentioned it's only used as an intermediate link before converting to local currency.