Original Title: "Cobo Stablecoin Weekly Report NO.13 | Payment Giants' Transformation: Why Mastercard, Fiserv Embrace Stablecoins, How Traditional Card Networks Will Be Rewritten?"
In highly mature financial systems like the United States, stablecoins struggle to bring significant efficiency gains; while in underserved financial markets like Nigeria, Argentina, the Philippines, stablecoins have become a practical solution for cross-border payments and asset preservation. Tether has achieved breakthrough success in such "market failures," with profits exceeding $13 billion in 2024. Today, Tether has voluntarily abandoned replicating the Southern Strategy in the U.S. and shifted towards building an AI wallet, IoT interfaces, and programmable payment SDKs, exploring a new generation of the "digital operating system."
If Tether's strategy reflects stablecoins' adaptive approach to different financial ecosystems, then Mastercard and Fiserv's actions signify that traditional institutions are strategically integrating stablecoin capabilities in response to the structural trend of stablecoin annual transaction volume surpassing $27.6 trillion, exceeding the sum of Visa and Mastercard. Meanwhile, regulatory risks are escalating: a SlowMist report revealed that "Huion Pay" on the TRON network is suspected of being involved in over 500 billion USDT of illegal fund flows, exposing its systemic risk; Russia is accelerating the establishment of a domestic stablecoin and an independent exchange cross-border payment network, aiming to bypass the SWIFT and USD system.
Stablecoins are becoming a nexus of industrial opportunities, geopolitical competition, and regulatory reshaping.
Total stablecoin market cap reached $252.937 billion, with a weekly increase of $1.165 billion. In terms of market share, USDT continues to maintain its dominance at 62.57%; USDC ranks second with a market cap of $61.37 billion, representing 24.26%.
Stablecoin Market Cap Distribution by Blockchain Networks Top Three Networks:
Ethereum: $125.685 billion
Tron: $80.794 billion
BSC: $10.474 billion
Top 3 Fastest-Growing Networks of the Week:
Movement: +25.43% (USDC accounts for 64.15%)
Algorand: +17.44% (USDC Dominance 96.55%)
Sei: +16.34% (USDC Dominance 83.30%)
Data Source: DefiLlama
As regulatory frameworks around stablecoins such as the "GENIUS Act" become clearer, traditional financial institutions are adjusting their digital asset strategies. In our previous weekly report, we focused on the possible outcomes for Tether, Circle, and banks under the new regulations. This week, we shift our attention to card network giant Mastercard, analyzing how it is leveraging a stablecoin strategy to transform from a traditional "network orchestrator" to a core coordinator of on-chain value transfer.
In 2024, the annual transaction volume of stablecoins surpassed the combined total of Visa and Mastercard for the first time, significantly shaking the moat of traditional card networks. Mastercard clearly recognizes that relying solely on clearing rules and fees is no longer sustainable for maintaining a monopoly position in the long term. Mastercard's latest strategic move is shifting itself from the "consumer mid-segment" to the starting point of the user's on-chain journey. By partnering with Chainlink, Shift4, Zerohash, and Uniswap, Mastercard is integrating bank card payments with on-chain settlement, bypassing the cumbersome coin purchase process of centralized exchanges and directly bridging the conversion loop between fiat and on-chain assets.
If Mastercard's previous launches of crypto debit cards with Kraken and collaborations with MoonPay to support merchant stablecoin payments penetrated the "mid-segment" of the crypto payment flow, focusing on the circulation and consumption of existing assets, this partnership signifies that Mastercard is now involved in the initial stage of fiat-to-crypto asset conversion, i.e., the construction of an on-ramp for on-chain assets. This is a more aggressive step aimed at achieving conversion at the starting point of the user journey.
Mastercard's greater ambition is to penetrate the "final settlement layer" of funds. In the traditional fiat system, final fund transfers are led by commercial banks and central banks, with Mastercard only controlling instructions and clearing logic. However, in a stablecoin-driven payment network, it is attempting to take over more underlying processes. Through the Mastercard Move platform, it provides stablecoin minting and redemption services to enterprises and financial institutions. By partnering with Paxos (USDG), Fiserv (FIUSD), and PayPal (PYUSD), it is establishing an on-chain wholesale settlement network to gain coordination and revenue-sharing rights in the institutional stablecoin circulation.
Mastercard's core proposition is: the closer one is to settlement, the more one can determine the direction of value flow and distribution. In the era of blockchain, there is more of a rekindling of the struggle for payment governance and technical standard-setting. From the information flow instruction layer to the value flow settlement layer, Mastercard's stablecoin strategy is a restructuring of its "platform power."
In the previous Stablecoin Weekly Report, we mentioned that the "GENIUS Act" set a "orderly delisting" timeline for USDT in the United States, forcing Tether to either withdraw from compliant platforms and instead focus on the "Global South." This week, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino's remarks on the Bankless podcast further confirmed the strategic logic of this shift. He pointed out that in the United States, where financial efficiency is already at 90%, the marginal improvement stablecoins can bring is limited and cannot support a profitable model, ultimately leading to price wars and "burnout." Conversely, in emerging markets where financial efficiency is only about 20% (e.g., Nigeria), if stablecoins can increase efficiency to 50%, the 30% structural gain can support a stablecoin premium. In extreme cases (facing issues such as severe local currency fluctuations), local users may even be willing to let Tether retain their interest income.
Therefore, Tether has abandoned the idea of replicating its "Global South" business model in the United States and instead shifted to a new path focusing on yield returns (similar to a tokenized money market fund) and programmability at its core: including building an AI agent wallet, integrating IoT devices, open cross-chain wallet SDKs, and restructuring distribution networks through channels like Rumble.
Behind Tether's "two different strategies" lies the divergence of the stablecoin business model's destiny in different financial landscapes. In the highly efficient financial environment of the United States, the widespread adoption of stablecoins may need to transcend the traditional narrative of "cost and speed" and instead focus on profit sharing, programmability, and deep integration into new economic scenarios. Its continued expansion in Global South markets confirms that "solving market failures" is the eternal rule for stablecoins to achieve product-market fit. This game about the future of money is just beginning.
In the latest analysis by the on-chain anti-money laundering platform SlowMist, an encrypted platform named "HuionePay" was revealed to be involved in large-scale illicit fund flow, having processed over 500 billion USDT through the TRON chain in the past year and a half, displaying multiple typical high-risk characteristics.
On-chain data shows that the platform experienced a massive net outflow of 27.71 billion USDT, with withdrawal transactions peaking at 150,000 transactions per day in May 2025, far exceeding the deposit frequency during the same period. This reflects a pattern of rapid fund transfer in a "high-frequency withdrawal" mode. Such behavior is highly consistent with illegal purposes such as scam fund laundering and fund flight.
Despite doubts about the platform's nature, the number of active deposit addresses continues to grow steadily, exceeding 80,000 in total, indicating its continued appeal to a specific user base. Multiple core withdrawal addresses processed amounts totaling billions of USDT and have on-chain interactions with entities on the OFAC sanction list and known actors (such as the BingX hacker). The concentration of funds and traceable pathways suggest a direct link to an underground fraud network.
Of note, the report indicates that several key addresses may be controlled by "Hao Wang Guarantee" (formerly "Hui Wang Guarantee"), revealing a broader Southeast Asian fraud network connection. Fund activities are concentrated between UTC 03:00–13:00, aligning with the region's operating hours, further confirming the alignment of its geographic location and behavioral patterns.
On-chain intelligence also revealed the critical role of regulatory coordinated efforts in combating the situation, including Tether freezing assets, FinCEN intervention, Telegram channel bans, a joint report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Elliptic, among others. These actions eventually led to Hui Wang's announcement of ceasing operations, becoming a typical case of "multilateral containment" in the stablecoin space.
This event once again highlights the systemic risk exposure of USDT on the TRON network and reinforces the strategic value of on-chain tracking tools (like MistTrack) in identifying illegal fund flows and law enforcement collaboration.
Key Highlights
Mastercard announced the integration of PayPal's PYUSD, Paxos-led USDG, and Fiserv's newly launched FIUSD into its global payment network, expanding its supported Circle USDC ecosystem;
The payment giant will collaborate with Fiserv to introduce FIUSD into card products, on-chain and off-chain channels, and merchant settlement systems, and join the Global Dollar Alliance behind the USDG stablecoin;
Mastercard will support cross-border stablecoin transactions through the Move service, and enable consumers to use both fiat and stablecoin balances in a single interface through One Credential technology.
Why It Matters
This series of initiatives represents global banks and payment giants accelerating their embrace of stablecoins, a $2.6 trillion value and rapidly growing asset class. With the U.S. Senate passing the GENIUS Act to provide a regulatory framework for the stablecoin industry, institutional adoption is picking up speed. Mastercard's Chief Product Officer Jorn Lambert stated, "While most scenarios consumers will continue to use fiat and Mastercard, regulated stablecoins are undoubtedly part of the digital payment evolution." Mastercard's moves mean that financial institutions and businesses will soon be able to mint, redeem, and settle specific stablecoin transactions, while consumers can use stablecoins for transfers and payments just like traditional currency, including at 1.5 billion global merchant locations. These integrations will bring stablecoin payments closer to mainstream financial services, significantly enhancing their utility and adoption.
Key Takeaways
Chainlink and Mastercard announced a collaboration to connect networks, allowing over 3 billion Mastercard cardholders to directly purchase cryptocurrency on-chain; the service integrates multiple participants: Shift4 handles card payments, zerohash custodies fiat and provides crypto liquidity, XSwap and Uniswap execute final token swaps in decentralized markets; Chainlink's interoperability protocol links these steps together, passing transaction data between the card network and multiple blockchains.
Why It Matters
This collaboration is the latest move in Mastercard's deepening cryptocurrency initiatives, following its partnerships with MoonPay and Kraken. Mastercard's Blockchain Head Raj Dhamodharan stated that the company aims to "bridge the gap between on-chain commerce and off-chain transactions." Chainlink Co-founder Sergey Nazarov emphasized that this partnership establishes a "crucial connection between the traditional payment world and Mastercard's user base of over 3 billion cardholders." This step will greatly simplify the process for mainstream users to buy cryptocurrency, eliminate barriers of traditional exchange registration and verification, bring a potential massive new user base to the cryptocurrency market, and also signify a significant increase in the acceptance of blockchain technology by traditional payment giants.
Key Highlights
Fiserv plans to launch the USD-pegged stablecoin FIUSD and digital asset platform by the end of 2025, aiming to provide digital asset services to its 3,000 regional and community banks and 6 million merchants;
FIUSD will be deployed on the high-performance Solana blockchain and will achieve deep integration with industry leaders such as Mastercard, Circle, Paxos, and PayPal. Fiserv's banking clients will be able to access it at "zero additional cost" and reach over 1.5 billion merchants globally instantly through Mastercard's multi-rail network;
FIUSD will empower smart contracts, automated compliance, and 24/7 operation, capabilities that traditional banking systems find hard to match. Fiserv is shifting from relying on high transaction fees to a new revenue model based on reserve asset yield, micropayment revenue sharing, and customer retention. This heralds a transition for the entire payment industry from high-profit transactions to a low-margin, high-volume model.
Why It Matters
This move marks a strategic "embrace" of stablecoins by a traditional financial giant. In the face of stablecoin transaction volumes surpassing $27.6 trillion in 2024 (surpassing the sum of Visa and Mastercard), Fiserv's actions are seen as a "damage control" to the traditional high-profit payment model. By offering stablecoin services, it aims to retain customer deposits and establish a presence in the digital asset ecosystem. This aligns with the market's demand for instant, composable financial services, forcing traditional giants to adapt.
Key Highlights
PwC and Web3 Harbour jointly released the "Hong Kong Web3 Blueprint," focusing on five key driving factors: talent, market infrastructure, standards, regulation, and funding contribution;
PwC Hong Kong partner Peter Brewin announced the establishment of five special action task forces in August, focusing on stablecoins, fund management, Virtual Asset Trading Platforms (VATPs), legal compliance, and custody of OTC trading;
The blueprint emphasizes decentralized transparency, security, and user empowerment, aiming to provide systematic guidance and support for the development of the Web3 industry in Hong Kong.
Why It Matters
The "Big Four" accounting firms actively participate in Hong Kong's Web3 strategic planning, indicating that professional service firms are accelerating their presence in the digital asset ecosystem to drive industry standardization.
Key Takeaways
Kakao Pay has submitted 18 trademark applications related to "KRWKP" to the Korean Intellectual Property Office, covering stablecoin names, payment settlement, and cryptocurrency wallet services categories;
Market analysis suggests that this move may be in preparation for Kakao Pay to launch its own Korean won stablecoin, demonstrating its intent to enter the crypto payment space;
The company's official response stated that the trademark registration is merely a precautionary measure to protect against future business possibilities, and there is currently no specific stablecoin issuance plan.
Why It Matters
Major South Korean payment platforms showing interest in stablecoins indicate that South Korean fintech giants are actively positioning themselves in the digital asset payment space.
Key Takeaways
The Cenoa platform provides blockchain-based financial infrastructure for entrepreneurs in emerging markets (such as Turkey, Nigeria), addressing global payment needs that traditional banking systems cannot meet;
Through the partnership with Bridge, Cenoa users can instantly access a virtual USD account, with funds automatically converted to USDC and deposited into their wallets, bypassing delays, high exchange rate markups, and restrictions of traditional banking systems;
Compared to traditional services like PayPal, Wise, etc., Cenoa offers an 80% lower cross-border payment fee, reducing total costs by nearly 10 times, attracting over 10,000 users in Turkey within six months, with a monthly transaction volume exceeding $5 million.
Why It Matters
E-commerce sellers and freelancers in emerging markets need USD accounts to participate in global trade (such as selling on Amazon or receiving payments through Upwork), but the account opening process for traditional services is slow and costly. Cenoa addresses this pain point using stablecoin infrastructure, reducing customer onboarding time to under 3 minutes and increasing transaction volume by 30 times. This partnership demonstrates the practical application value of stablecoins as an economic inclusion tool, not only solving the up to 8% forex fee issue but also providing fair access to the global economy for emerging market users. Leveraging blockchain technology and stablecoins, Cenoa is helping millions of emerging market entrepreneurs overcome systemic barriers, lifting them out of poverty and putting them on an equal footing with their Western counterparts.
Key Highlights
The weekly active users of major stablecoins on the Ethereum network, such as USDT, USDC, BUSD, and DAI, have exceeded 750,000, reaching a historic high. This demonstrates that stablecoins have shifted from speculation to utility-driven adoption;
The supply of USDT on the Ethereum network has reached $73 billion, while USDC stands at $41 billion, together constituting the vast majority of the $134 billion stablecoin market on the network;
Competition among stablecoin issuers is intensifying, attracting users through reducing transaction fees, enhancing yield opportunities, and holder incentives, with the potential to drive service improvement and innovation.
Why It Matters
The growth of stablecoin users reflects the trend of digital dollar adoption. As traditional financial institutions integrate stablecoin infrastructure, it will become a key component of digital commerce.
Key Highlights
The stablecoin payment platform Rain and compliance service provider Toku have jointly launched a cross-border stablecoin payroll system, allowing enterprises to settle employee salaries in real-time in the form of stablecoins;
The system supports stablecoins such as Circle's USDC, Ripple's RLUSD, and Global Dollar's USDG, and will gradually add more options based on customer demands and compliance assessments;
The platform seamlessly integrates with mainstream payroll systems like ADP, Workday, and Gusto, enabling enterprises to deploy within a week while meeting labor and tax compliance requirements of over 100 countries.
Why It Matters
Stablecoins are rapidly expanding into real-world business use cases. The GENIUS Act advances regulatory clarity for the industry, and blockchain payroll payments can completely transform traditional payroll methods, enabling instant settlement upon work completion.
Key Highlights
The Bitkit wallet application has added a new Bitcoin direct payment feature, allowing users to now directly use Bitcoin to pay for services such as Netflix, Airbnb, groceries, mobile data, and other daily-life services;
This feature eliminates the need for a bank intermediary, removes traditional payment friction, and simplifies Bitcoin's usage in real-world scenarios;
Bitkit's move aims to promote Bitcoin as a practical daily payment tool, encouraging users to "get moving and live on Bitcoin".
Why It Matters
The expansion of Bitcoin applications into everyday consumer scenarios, lowering the practical barriers to using cryptocurrency, helps drive encrypted payments towards mainstream adoption.
Key Highlights
USDC and the Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol CCTP V2 are now live on the Codex blockchain designed specifically for B2B stablecoin transactions;
Circle Mint and its API fully support USDC on Codex, allowing eligible businesses to easily access USDC liquidity and benefit from Codex's fast, secure network advantages;
Codex is a new EVM blockchain focused on performance, compliance, and cost efficiency, aiming to bring more real-world commercial activities onto the blockchain, especially in the most challenging payment corridors.
Why It Matters
The launch of USDC on Codex will drive various enterprise-level use cases: enterprise stablecoin settlements, on-chain foreign exchange and multicurrency settlements, and cross-chain transfers. Through the CCTP V2 protocol, users can securely transfer USDC between Codex and other supported chains in seconds without relying on liquidity pools or third-party fillers. Eligible enterprises can apply for a Circle Mint account to access the USDC deposit/withdrawal channel on Codex, while small and medium enterprises and individuals can access USDC services through the Circle partner network. This integration further expands the USDC ecosystem, providing enterprises with a regulatory-compliant digital dollar to accelerate payments, global settlements, and streamline financial operations.
Key Highlights
Dynamic introduces "Stablecoin Accounts" to help fintech and global payment teams launch stablecoin-based currency applications in a matter of days (not months);
This solution aims to address stablecoin infrastructure fragmentation and crypto complexity, simplifying end-to-end wallet infrastructure, on-off chain channels, and payment processes.
The concurrently launched "Stablecoin Hub" is a free educational resource to help teams navigate the stablecoin ecosystem and become the preferred destination for stablecoin development learning.
Why It Matters
As the stablecoin market grows and institutional adoption increases, developing infrastructure has become a key pain point for the industry. Dynamic's new initiative directly addresses the technical barriers faced by fintech companies and payment teams when adopting stablecoins. By simplifying infrastructure and lowering the development threshold, it accelerates the adoption of stablecoin applications.
Key Takeaways
Joe Kinvi used his stake gains from Stripe's acquisition of Touchtech Payments to establish the Borderless platform, helping African diaspora collectively invest in hometown startups and real estate;
The UK platform has processed over $500,000 in transactions since beta testing last year, with over 100 communities in the waiting list, supporting investments in over 10 startups and 2 Kenyan real estate projects;
Borderless solves key pain points of cross-border collective investing: bank account freezes, currency mismatches, regulatory requirements, and authentication rules, by directly routing funds to verified sellers, escrow accounts, or lawyers to build trust.
Why It Matters
African diaspora remits billions of dollars to their homelands annually, yet invest very little in productive assets. Kinvi estimates that about $30 billion of immigrant savings remains unused. Borderless enables diaspora to securely engage in collective investments by offering compliant back-end infrastructure, with a minimum investment of $1,000 for startups and $5,000 for real estate. The platform operates under the UK regulatory framework, ensuring legally promoting investment opportunities to the diaspora. Unlike remittance-focused platforms (such as Zepz, LemFi, and NALA), Borderless focuses on long-term investment solutions. The company has raised $500,000 in seed funding from DFS Lab, Paystack CTO Ezra Olubi, and executives from Stripe and Google.
Key Highlights
The U.S. fintech platform SoFi has announced that it will launch an international remittance service using blockchain and stablecoins, as well as resume cryptocurrency investment functionality;
The new remittance service will allow users to send U.S. dollars and specific stablecoins around the clock via a "well-known" blockchain network, with funds quickly converted to local currency and deposited into the recipient's account;
SoFi plans to restart its cryptocurrency trading service later this year, allowing users to buy, sell, and hold major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, with potential future expansion into services like staking and crypto-backed loans.
Why It Matters
In 2023, SoFi temporarily suspended all cryptocurrency-related services to obtain a banking license. Its return to the crypto space signifies a reembrace of digital assets by fintech companies in a new, more crypto-friendly regulatory environment. The latest guidance from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) permits national banks to offer crypto custody and stablecoin-related services, providing regulatory support for SoFi's strategic shift. CEO Anthony Noto stated: "The future of financial services is being completely reshaped by cryptocurrency, digital assets, and broader blockchain innovation." SoFi will leverage its Galileo platform to provide blockchain technology infrastructure to third parties, demonstrating that it sees crypto services not only as a new revenue stream but also as a key part of its overall strategic transformation.
Key Highlights
The digital asset infrastructure company Taurus (with clients including Deutsche Bank and Falcon Private Bank) has launched the first privacy-enabled stablecoin contract aimed at financial institutions hesitant to use stablecoins due to privacy concerns;
The contract is built on the Aztec Network, a privacy-focused Ethereum layer-2 network supported by a16z, combining zero-knowledge proof privacy protection with compliance features similar to USDC, including minting/burning control, emergency pause, etc.;
The new system allows companies to conceal employee names and amount information in cross-border payroll payments while retaining regulatory agency access when needed. Taurus expects global stablecoin supply to reach $1-2 trillion by 2030.
Why It Matters
Privacy-enabled stablecoins address a key adoption barrier for institutions. Against the backdrop of the GENIUS Act, innovation that balances privacy protection and compliance requirements will accelerate the use of stablecoins in corporate payments and treasury management.
Key Points Summary
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced on Thursday the development of a financial services app called Krak, allowing global users to transact nearly zero-cost cross-border payments in both crypto and fiat currencies;
The app will support over 300 assets and plans to introduce physical and virtual debit cards in the coming weeks, with the company also set to offer lending and credit services;
Krak users can earn rewards of up to 10% on specific digital assets, while holding the USDG stablecoin can yield up to 4.1% returns. Kraken will not charge transaction fees and will not stake customer assets.
Why It Matters
Crypto companies are rapidly developing banking-like services, blurring the lines between digital assets and fintech. This move by Kraken will directly compete with traditional financial apps like Revolut and Cash App, diversifying its revenue streams in preparation for its planned IPO early next year.
Key Points Summary
South Korea's eight major banks, including Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank, are jointly establishing a joint venture company to issue a Korean won stablecoin. The project has entered the infrastructure discussion stage;
The project is being jointly pursued by the banks, the Blockchain & Decentralized Identifier Association, and the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute, aiming for a rollout as early as the end of the year;
The team is considering two issuance models: a trust model (issuance after customer funds are independently trusted) and a deposit token model (directly pegged to bank deposits).
Why It Matters
Traditional financial institutions entering the stablecoin space in large numbers indicate that institutional-grade stablecoin solutions are becoming a focal point of financial system innovation.
Key Points Summary
Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced the issuance of 10 virtual asset trading platform licenses, with another 8 applications currently under review, while also finalizing stablecoin legislation;
The "Stablecoin Regulations" will come into effect on August 1, making Hong Kong one of the first jurisdictions globally to establish a statutory regulatory framework for stablecoins;
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) Chief Executive Eddie Yue stated that stablecoin issuance will be subject to strict regulatory requirements, comparable to e-wallet and banking regulatory standards. In the initial phase, only a few licenses will be issued, primarily for specific use cases such as cross-border trade.
Why It Matters
By clarifying the regulatory framework, Hong Kong is advancing both exchange licensing and stablecoin regulation, showcasing its strategic positioning and competitiveness in establishing a regulated digital asset hub.
Key Highlights
The Hong Kong SAR Government announced the "LEAP" framework, designating the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) as the primary regulatory body for digital asset trading and custody services, with the stablecoin regulatory regime set to be implemented on August 1;
The government plans to normalize tokenized bond issuance (having issued HK$6.8 billion in tokenized green bonds), clarify the exemption of tokenized ETFs from stamp duty, and explore the use of stablecoins for government payments;
The policy declaration emphasizes the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) as a key factor in improving market efficiency, driving applications across various sectors such as precious metals, renewable energy, etc. The HKMA's Ensemble project will explore interbank tokenized deposit settlement.
Why It Matters
Through a unified regulatory framework and tax incentive measures, Hong Kong is constructing a comprehensive digital asset ecosystem, focusing on reshaping financial infrastructure and highlighting the tangible benefits of digital assets to the real economy rather than speculation.
Key Highlights
A BIS report highlights that stablecoins fail to pass three key tests of the monetary system: singularity, elasticity, and integrity, suggesting that they cannot become the cornerstone of future monetary systems;
The report notes that although stablecoins offer programmability, pseudo-anonymity, and cost advantages, they could undermine national currency sovereignty through "implicit dollarization" and foster illicit activities;
The stock price of USDC issuer Circle dropped by 15% following the report, after previously rising from an IPO price of $32 to $299, marking an over 600% increase.
Why It Matters
Central bank representative entities have refuted the status of stablecoins but acknowledged that the tokenization of traditional financial assets holds transformative potential, hinting at future regulatory directions and policy stances.
Key Takeaways
A Financial Times investigation has revealed that the Ruble-pegged stablecoin A7A5, launched by Moldovan oligarchs and a sanctioned Russian defense bank, has reached a trading volume of $9.3 billion since its launch in February;
A7A5 claims to be backed by reserves of Rubles held by Moscow's Promsvyazbank (a defense bank under US, UK, and EU sanctions), with $156 million worth of the token currently in circulation;
The company behind the stablecoin, A7, is owned by fugitive Moldovan businessman Ilan Șor, who has been sanctioned by the UK and is found to have ties to Russian overseas political influence activities.
Why It Matters
Russia is actively developing cryptocurrency channels to evade Western sanctions, creating its own stablecoins and building a cross-border payment alternative system with independent exchanges to circumvent Western-regulated stablecoins like USDT.
Key Takeaways
Ondo Finance CEO Nathan Allman stated that the successful listing of Circle and the passage of the GENIUS Act have sparked a new wave of enthusiasm in the blockchain space, with stablecoins being just the "tip of the iceberg" in the wave of physical asset tokenization;
Ondo plans to launch a tokenization platform next month, allowing apps and wallets to provide on-chain access to publicly traded US equities, bonds, and ETFs, similar to the tokenized government bond services already offered by BlackRock and Franklin Templeton;
Allman predicts that "the vast majority of regulated financial assets will settle on the blockchain in the future," but believes that publicly traded liquid securities are the "low-hanging fruit" of tokenization, while private market tokenization will take time to mature.
Why It Matters
With Circle's stock price rising approximately 70% in a week, opening at $250, the tokenized asset market is gaining momentum. Allman points out that while private markets like lending have enormous tokenization potential, a significant amount of automation, digitization, and document standardization work is still needed before tokenization becomes widespread. Companies like BlackRock and Apollo Global Management are working to create more liquidity for private market asset classes, which will help expand tokenization applications in the future. Allman emphasizes that tokenization itself does not make illiquid assets liquid, revealing that while physical asset tokenization has broad potential, it still faces practical challenges. The market will start with higher liquidity assets and gradually expand to the private market.
Key Takeaways
The USD stablecoin has reached 1% of the U.S. money supply (M2) and is developing at an annual growth rate of 55%, potentially reaching 10% of M1 within a decade;
Services on the blockchain are starting to resemble traditional banking services but with faster speeds and lower costs, allowing businesses to adjust their cash management frequency from every two weeks to every 6 hours;
The real-time financial flow mode will change how businesses manage cash: global cash holdings can be significantly reduced, employees can receive daily wages based on actual work hours, and utility companies can bill on a daily basis instead of monthly.
Why It Matters
Paul Brody, EY Global Blockchain Leader, points out that as cross-border fund transfer costs approach zero and transactions are nearly instantaneous, businesses can significantly reduce local cash buffers. U.S. businesses currently hold around $2 trillion in cash and $2.8 trillion in working capital loans, shifting to a financial flow model could unleash trillions in capital for new investments. With transaction costs on the Ethereum layer two network already routinely below $0.01, the weekly savings in "float" value is about $0.01, making more frequent cash management economically feasible. This shift not only eliminates inefficient processes like payday loans and utility bill 60-day delays but will also change behavior through instant rewards, creating more effective incentive structures. Just as we've seen the evolution in the music industry from buying music to downloading to streaming, the payment sector will also undergo a revolutionary transformation from "cost reduction" to "speed enhancement" and then to "restructuring."
Key Takeaways
A Bloomberg industry research report analyzes the potential of the Hong Kong stablecoin market, stating that a stablecoin pegged to the Hong Kong dollar will still be influenced by the HKD's peg to the USD exchange rate mechanism;
Analysts believe that during possible adjustments to the Linked Exchange Rate System, even if the stablecoin's face value remains stable, the assets backing it may need to be revalued;
The report predicts that in the future, Hong Kong's stablecoin is likely to be pegged to real-world assets such as real estate, rather than solely relying on fiat currency reserves.
Why It Matters
As an international financial center, when a stablecoin is pegged to real-world assets, Hong Kong can create a new way of circulating value. A large and tokenizable reserve of high-quality assets can drive the widespread adoption of Hong Kong's stablecoin and facilitate the liquidity of high-value assets such as Hong Kong real estate. This trend aligns with the global wave of tokenizing physical assets, reflecting Hong Kong's forward-looking exploration of innovative financial products. As Hong Kong continues to advance its virtual asset regulatory framework, asset-backed stablecoins may become a vital bridge connecting traditional finance with the digital economy, providing new momentum for Hong Kong to solidify its position as the Asian crypto finance hub.
Key Takeaways
Paxos Chief Strategy Officer Walter Hessert stated that the company's stablecoin infrastructure demand has significantly increased, and Mastercard's joining of the Global Dollar Network is a reflection of this trend;
Traditional financial institutions are actively exploring how to leverage stablecoins for payment rails, particularly valuing their "extremely low cost and nearly free" nature, while seeking compliance-friendly technical tools;
Paxos has issued $150 billion in stablecoins, and the banking sector's interest in deposit tokenization is growing, especially after the Senate passed the GENIUS Act, with banks now focusing more on the interaction between deposit tokenization and stablecoins.
Why It Matters
Traditional financial institutions are beginning to recognize the necessity of stablecoins and actively seeking ways to participate. Although the GENIUS Act does not support interest-bearing stablecoins, banks' interest in deposit tokenization is increasing. Paxos's Global Dollar Network provides enterprises with the opportunity for "shared ownership and the sharing economy," helping institutions explore product-market fit, giving it a differentiation advantage in competition with Circle's USDC. Mastercard's joining of the Global Dollar Network indicates that the payment giant is supporting globally compliant stablecoin issuers, with Paxos as the behind-the-scenes technology provider powering these innovations to market. The current stablecoin model has not fully met market demand, and financial institutions are seeking solutions to combine stablecoin payments with traditional wire transfers or real-time payment systems.
Key Takeaways
Paolo Ardoino predicts that within 15 years, 1 trillion AI agents will settle trades using blockchain assets, believing that traditional financial institutions like JPMorgan will not open accounts for AI agents;
Tether has entered the AI field, launching the Wallet Development Kit WDK, Tether Data, and the Tether AI platform, building self-custodial wallet infrastructure;
USDT currently holds over half of the $243 billion global stablecoin market, reaching $155 billion, with the U.S. Treasury Secretary stating that clear stablecoin regulations could grow the industry's value to over $2 trillion by 2028.
Why It Matters
The rise of AI Agent Economics could provide a completely new use case for cryptocurrency, reshaping the payment infrastructure of machine-to-machine commerce.
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