Original Title: "Cobo Stablecoin Weekly NO.11: The Summer of Stablecoins Heats Up, Airwallex Sparks Debate on the Efficiency Advantages of Stablecoins"
The summer of stablecoins is heating up, and the excitement comes not only from growth data but also from two distinctly different market voices. This week's report will explore the momentum of stablecoin development from these two perspectives.
On one side is the cautious wait-and-see attitude from the traditional fintech sector. Airwallex's founder recently raised discussions about the "efficiency advantages" of stablecoins, arguing that modern payment systems are already quite efficient. This perspective may underestimate the innovative nature of stablecoins—their value lies not only in transaction speed or cost but also in their characteristics as programmable money, allowing settlement, profit sharing, and permission control to be directly embedded within the asset itself. Such discussions reflect the signals that new technologies are beginning to touch the boundaries of traditional systems, which is a natural phenomenon in the innovation cycle.
On the other side, there are visible actions on the ground. Stripe is bridging the last mile of stablecoin payments by acquiring Privy; Shopify has started integrating USDC payments for merchants; and the collaboration between the X platform and Polymarket has brought crypto assets into the internal economic cycle of a "super app." The focus is no longer just on issuing stablecoins but on building the strongest ecosystem and distribution system around them.
In emerging markets, this competition is even more direct and brutal. Tether has launched a dedicated chain, Plasma, hoping to reduce its reliance on Tron. However, Tron has already become the de facto standard for "street dollars," with over 50% of USDT circulation and extremely low costs. The question then becomes a pure startup dilemma: how do you convince a user base that is already deeply reliant on the existing network to migrate to a new, unproven system? This is less about technology and more about the trust barrier, which is also where the real opportunity for crypto payments lies.
It can be said that stablecoins, as an emerging product, are still in the development stage, and their current state exhibits the typical characteristics of most new technologies in their early stages: some are using it to build the future, while others feel it is not yet perfect. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, it is unexpectedly solving the most basic problems. This is a huge "schlep" and also a tremendous opportunity.
Market Overview and Growth Highlights
The total market capitalization of stablecoins has reached $251.08 billion, with a week-on-week increase of $1.42 billion. In terms of market structure, USDT continues to dominate with a share of 62.14%; USDC ranks second with a market cap of $60.8 billion, accounting for 24.22%.
Blockchain Network Distribution
Top three networks by stablecoin market cap:
· Ethereum: $124.632 billion
· Tron: $79.039 billion
· Solana: $11.113 billion
Top 3 networks with the fastest weekly growth:
· XRPL: +37.82% (RLUSD accounts for 94.32%)
· Unichain: +24.84% (USDC accounts for 49.8%)
· Filecoin: +20.19% (USDFC accounts for 99.45%)
Data from DefiLlama
Stripe Acquires Privy, Bridging the Last Mile of Stablecoin Implementation
Global payment giant Stripe has confirmed the acquisition of crypto wallet provider Privy, marking not just a simple merger but the culmination of its years of strategic planning, clearly revealing Stripe's endgame strategy in the stablecoin space. When looking at the steps from Stripe's acquisition of Bridge, launching stablecoin accounts, to now acquiring Privy, a vertically integrated payment ecosystem blueprint has already taken shape. From the underlying settlement engine to the enterprise accounts in the middle, and the user wallets at the front end, Stripe has gathered all the key components.
The core of this series of actions is to leverage its extensive global network of millions of merchants to solve the "last mile" implementation challenge of stablecoins. Imagine when any user holding USDC can seamlessly spend at a vast number of Stripe merchants, while the merchants receive their familiar local fiat currency; the true value of stablecoins as a payment method is finally realized. The key to achieving this "frictionless" experience lies in the "invisible" technology represented by Privy.
Privy's "Wallet-as-a-Service" product feature allows developers to easily integrate non-custodial wallets, enabling users to avoid managing complex operations like mnemonic phrases, providing an experience indistinguishable from traditional network accounts. This perfectly aligns with Stripe's mission to simplify complexity for developers.
Looking back at the history of human technology, the widespread adoption of new technologies often requires a powerful "bridge" to simplify complexity. Stripe is playing a key bridging role for stablecoins to enter the mainstream market. When a massive commercial network opens its doors to stablecoins, a powerful flywheel effect will be initiated: more application scenarios attract more users to hold stablecoins, and a large user base encourages more businesses to integrate.
By completely "hiding" the complexity of the crypto track behind familiar APIs, Stripe signifies a fundamental shift in the adoption model of stablecoins—from a "technology-driven" approach led by crypto-native companies to a "market-driven" approach led by mature payment service providers.
This time, mainstream adoption of crypto may truly be on the horizon.
Stablecoin-Specific Blockchain Plasma: USDT's Independent Declaration
Although stablecoins have been validated as the "killer application" with the highest product-market fit in the crypto industry, dedicated chain-level infrastructure built around core assets like USDT remains scarce. Plasma is one of the few exceptions—a high-performance blockchain designed specifically for stablecoin payment scenarios.
The architecture of Plasma revolves around a core goal: to push the stablecoin payment experience to the limit—zero fees, no additional token requirements, allowing users to complete payments and transfers solely with USDT. This design makes USDT a "first-class citizen" on the chain. Behind this is the backing of Tether and Bitfinex's funds and resources: exclusive channels, custom protocols, Bitcoin-level security anchoring mechanisms, and a unified native stablecoin USDT₀ on the entire chain—an on-chain asset that achieves underlying abstraction around USDT.
In contrast, Circle's path involves supporting USDC's cross-chain flow through the CCTP protocol across multiple chains like Ethereum, Solana, and Arbitrum. However, the user experience after each bridging is still limited by the performance, cost, and interaction barriers of the target chain. Circle acts more like an "adapter" in the crypto multi-chain ecosystem.
Tron's Moat: Deeper Than Expected
However, the biggest challenge facing Plasma is not from Circle but rather an unequal direct confrontation with Tron.
Over 50% of the globally circulating USDT operates on the Tron network. In the world of "street dollars," TRC20-USDT is the de facto standard. This dominance stems from Tron's extreme low-cost strategy during its critical development phase: by staking a small amount of TRX to gain "energy," it has almost achieved free transfers. For small, high-frequency payment scenarios in emerging markets, this is a rational choice. This strategy has cultivated a massive user base and deep-rooted usage habits over several years, making Tron the default network for OTC traders, P2P merchants, and small traders in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe.
Over 50% of the globally circulating USDT operates on the Tron network.
The Harsh Reality of "Good Enough"
Tron's core users are not DeFi farmers seeking the latest technology but rather "street dollar" users who need simple, reliable, and cheap tools. For this demand, Tron's technology is already good enough—fast enough, low-cost enough, and user-friendly enough.
Many of these business networks are built on offline interpersonal trust. A new blockchain wanting to replace Tron must not only provide better technology but also replace the already complex social and commercial trust networks that have formed. Users have little motivation to bear the migration costs of learning new wallets, recording new mnemonic phrases, or changing receiving addresses.
Even if Plasma technically surpasses Tron, it cannot easily replicate the massive network effects, deep commercial penetration, and entrenched user habits that Tron has spent years accumulating in specific markets. Unless it can provide a comprehensive experience improvement of more than ten times, it will be difficult to make this already efficiently operating ecosystem "Move On."
The key to overcoming Tron lies in whether Plasma can establish local trust in its dominant emerging markets. Tether's attempt to break free from reliance on Tron marks a choice between "universal adaptation" and "vertical specialization" for stablecoin infrastructure. But the real test is whether it can win real users and transaction volume from this entrenched king.
When Top Fintechs Like Airwallex Start Evaluating the Value of Stablecoins
With stablecoin giant Circle ringing the bell for its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, the "stablecoin craze" is further heating up in the financial sector. Once seen as a specialized tool within the crypto circle, stablecoins are gradually penetrating core financial scenarios such as clearing, liquidity, and corporate payments. Stablecoins are not only reshaping cost structures but also beginning to challenge the intermediary model of traditional clearing systems—this naturally sparks widespread market discussion.
Recently, Airwallex's founder Jack Zhang raised thoughts on the practical application value of stablecoins. He pointed out that in the G10 mainstream currency zone, modern fintech has significantly improved cross-border payment efficiency, and the "faster, cheaper" advantages of stablecoins may not be apparent in certain scenarios. Particularly when funds need to be transferred into traditional banking systems, additional costs may offset some advantages. In his view, the advantages of stablecoins may be more evident in the "dollarization" demand of emerging markets.
This viewpoint has its merits but may underestimate the paradigm shift brought by stablecoins. What stablecoins truly aim to reshape is not just the response speed of payment interfaces but the underlying clearing system that is geographically closed, time-restricted, and layered with liquidity outsourcing. When we expand the concept of "cost" to include account management complexity, capital occupation caused by funds in transit, and operational discontinuity due to holidays, the value of a globally unified, 24/7, dollar-based clearing layer far exceeds a simple comparison of transaction fees.
More importantly, the most innovative feature of stablecoins lies in their "native programmability."
Comparing stablecoins with traditional fintech solutions in terms of "payment experience" is akin to comparing early smartphones with feature phones. The revolutionary aspect of smartphones lies not in being a "better phone," but in being a computing platform that connects to the internet, thereby giving rise to an entirely new application ecosystem. Similarly, stablecoins are not just "more efficient currency," but a "programmable value carrier." This means that settlement logic, financial profit sharing, and real-time financing can be embedded within the asset itself, simplifying intermediary processes and approval workflows. This innovative direction is something traditional fintech, despite continuous optimization, finds difficult to fully achieve.
When professionals in the financial sector begin to seriously study how to integrate with this new system, it is itself the most honest signal from the market that stablecoins are the future, the "smartphone" of the next generation of value internet. The real future lies in understanding and integrating the advantages of both new and old paradigms. Whether traditional financial institutions or innovative fintech companies, all need to consider how to find their positioning in this transformation.
Macro Trends
Analysis suggests Tether could be valued at $515 billion if listed; CEO says the growth of Bitcoin and gold reserves is "even conservative"
Key Points Overview
· Jon Ma, co-founder and CEO of Artemis, analyzed that if Tether were valued at Circle's current 69.3 times EBITDA multiple, its market cap could reach $515 billion, surpassing Coca-Cola and Costco to become the 19th largest company globally.
· Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino responded that this is a "beautiful number," but considering the company's growing Bitcoin and gold reserves, the valuation "might be a bit conservative."
· Tether's net profit for 2024 is projected to reach $13 billion (with $7 billion from government bonds and buybacks, and $5 billion from unrealized gains on Bitcoin and gold holdings), with an expected EBITDA of about $7.4 billion in 2025.
Why It Matters
Circle's successful IPO provides a market reference for the valuation of stablecoin issuers, although the current 69.3 times EBITDA multiple is considered "crazy and unsustainable." Tether's potential valuation reflects the market's high recognition of the stablecoin business model, especially the substantial interest income generated in a high-interest environment. Unlike traditional financial institutions, Tether creates additional growth potential by holding Bitcoin and gold as part of its reserves. Ardoino's response also hints that Tether may be considering an IPO path, which would bring more institutional recognition and regulatory clarity to the entire crypto industry, further promoting the mainstream adoption of stablecoins in the global financial system.
Capital Layout
Anduril founder Palmer Luckey to invest in stablecoin startup Atticus, with a minimum valuation of $1.5 billion
Key Points Overview
· The secretly operating stablecoin financial startup Atticus is negotiating a new round of financing, with a valuation between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, led by Palmer Luckey, co-founder and CEO of the U.S. defense technology company Anduril.
· Atticus was founded by Owen Rapaport and Jacob Hirschman, and currently has no official website. Existing investors include Haun Ventures, whose partner Diogo Monica is one of the founders of Anchorage Digital, the first federally licensed crypto-native bank in the U.S.
· If the financing is completed, Atticus will become the first new stablecoin "unicorn" company this year, marking the increasing integration of stablecoins with traditional finance.
Why It Matters
Investors are betting that stablecoins are about to go mainstream. Palmer Luckey's involvement, as the founder of VR giant Oculus and leader of defense technology company Anduril, demonstrates strong interest from traditional tech and defense industry capital in the stablecoin sector.
Former Adyen executive co-founds stablecoin payment company Noah, raising $22 million
Key Points Overview
· Thijn Lamers, former global sales executive vice president at Adyen, co-founded the stablecoin startup Noah and serves as president. This industry veteran has transitioned from investor to co-founder, representing traditional payment giant executives "voting with their feet" in support of stablecoin technology.
· Noah aims to build a new global payment clearing network based on stablecoins, providing enterprise-level USDC payment solutions and developer APIs, creating a 24/7 programmable value transfer network that bypasses traditional banking systems.
· The company has supported currency conversions for 50 currencies and real-time fund transfers between 70 countries, with transaction volumes exceeding $1 billion, securing $22 million in seed funding led by LocalGlobe.
Why It Matters
Lamers' shift from Adyen to Noah represents a paradigm shift in the payment industry. If Adyen's mission is to "integrate and optimize the old rails" (by consolidating fragmented global payment systems through a one-stop platform), then Noah's mission is to "design and build new rails." This talent migration suggests that the optimization of traditional payment systems has reached its limits, and the new financial infrastructure based on stablecoins is the most promising growth area for the next decade. Noah not only provides technology but also brings compliance expertise and business networks, which are essential for the mainstream adoption of stablecoin payments. As the industry transitions from the early disruption phase to a mature construction phase, the addition of seasoned professionals like Lamers lends unprecedented commercial credibility to stablecoin payments, indicating that this technology is ready to become a core component of the next generation of global financial infrastructure.
Circle's stock price continues to soar, with two ETF products in preparation
Key Points Overview
· Bitwise and ProShares simultaneously submitted ETF applications related to Circle (CRCL) on June 6, seizing the opportunity in this hot asset market.
· The ETF product planned by ProShares aims to provide double the daily performance of Circle's stock, leveraging a leveraged strategy to amplify investment returns.
· Bitwise's ETF employs a covered call strategy, generating additional income by holding CRCL stock and selling call options.
Why It Matters
Circle's stock price has continued to surge post-IPO, rising another 9% on Monday, nearly quadrupling since last week's listing. The rapid submission of related product applications by two well-known ETF issuers reflects strong interest from institutional investors in mainstream stablecoin issuers. This also marks further integration of cryptocurrency companies with traditional financial products, providing ordinary investors with a new way to indirectly participate in the cryptocurrency ecosystem through familiar ETF tools. Investor enthusiasm for Circle stems not only from USDC's position as the second-largest stablecoin but also from the stablecoin business model demonstrating relatively robust revenue sources and growth potential within the cryptocurrency industry.
OpenTrade completes $7 million financing with participation from a16z crypto, providing stablecoin yield solutions for high-inflation countries
Key Points Overview
· UK fintech company OpenTrade has completed a $7 million strategic financing round, led by Notion Capital and Mercury Fund, with participation from a16z crypto, AlbionVC, and CMCC Global, bringing the total financing to $11 million within six months.
· OpenTrade operates a "yield-as-a-service" platform designed for fintech applications, trading platforms, and emerging banks, enabling its clients to offer end-users yields of up to 9% on dollar and euro stablecoins.
· Fintech companies such as Criptan in Spain and Littio in Colombia have integrated OpenTrade's backend system to provide stablecoin yield services for users in high-inflation countries in Latin America and Europe.
Why It Matters
OpenTrade provides a financial hedge for emerging markets plagued by inflation. In many high-inflation countries, local currencies continue to depreciate, eroding residents' wealth, while traditional dollar accounts are often restricted or cumbersome. OpenTrade's B2B2C model enables rapid distribution of stablecoin yield services by empowering local fintech companies. The company's ability to raise $11 million in six months demonstrates strong investor confidence in the application prospects of stablecoins in economically unstable regions. This service not only provides individuals with a means to hedge against inflation but also creates a new market for DeFi yields backed by physical assets, while offering local fintech companies a differentiated competitive advantage.
Tether invests $82 million in gold investment company Elemental Altus, strengthening its precious metal reserve strategy
Key Points Overview
· Tether's investment department has acquired approximately 33.7% of publicly listed precious metal investment company Elemental Altus for CAD 121.6 million (about $89.2 million).
· CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that this investment reflects Tether's "confidence in the fundamentals of gold and its key role in financial markets," and will provide strategic support for Tether Gold and future commodity-backed digital asset infrastructure.
· Tether's increased exposure to gold is referred to as a "dual pillar strategy," running parallel to its holdings of over 100,000 Bitcoins (valued at $10.7 billion).
Why It Matters
This investment marks Tether's active diversification of its stablecoin USDT's supporting asset portfolio, expanding into physical assets and precious metals. With the U.S. stablecoin regulatory framework set to be introduced, issuers need to ensure the compliance and diversity of their supporting assets. Earlier this year, JPMorgan hinted that Tether might need to sell part of its Bitcoin holdings to comply with the proposed regulatory requirements. By increasing its exposure to gold, Tether not only enhances the stability of its asset portfolio but also lays the groundwork for potential future commodity-backed digital assets. This move demonstrates that Tether is strategically balancing its allocation between crypto assets and traditional store-of-value assets to adapt to the evolving regulatory environment and enhance the trustworthiness of USDT.
Regulatory Compliance
Ant International plans to apply for stablecoin licenses in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Luxembourg, focusing on cross-border payments and treasury management
Key Points Overview
· Ant International plans to apply for stablecoin issuance licenses in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Luxembourg, with applications to be submitted immediately after the Hong Kong "Stablecoin Regulation" comes into effect in August.
· Ant Group processed over $1 trillion in global transactions last year, with one-third completed through its blockchain-based Whale platform. Ant has signed cooperation agreements with more than ten global banks, including HSBC, BNP Paribas, JPMorgan, and Standard Chartered.
· This move aims to strengthen Ant's blockchain business and support its cross-border payment and treasury management services, which show growth potential due to significant transactions from Alibaba's e-commerce platform and external clients.
Why It Matters
Ant International's active layout in the stablecoin business reflects the trend of global tech financial giants entering the digital asset space. Since its IPO was halted in 2020, Ant has been developing new businesses to drive growth, with international operations becoming a key development direction. Ant International has established an independent board to pave the way for a spin-off and potential IPO, with reports indicating that this division could generate nearly $3 billion in revenue in 2024, achieving adjusted profitability for two consecutive years. Meanwhile, the global stablecoin industry has grown to approximately $243 billion, with regulators actively formulating rules to address stablecoin collapses and money laundering risks. Ant's Whale platform supports various tokenized assets for global banks and institutions, utilizing privacy computing technologies such as homomorphic encryption and supporting multi-party verification, giving it a competitive edge in the enterprise blockchain market. Following financial giants like PayPal, Ant International's entry into the stablecoin space signifies a further deepening of the integration between traditional finance and crypto technology, potentially bringing significant changes to global payments and treasury management.
South Korean ruling party proposes allowing companies to issue stablecoins, bill submitted to the National Assembly
Key Points Overview
· The ruling Democratic Party of South Korea has proposed new policies allowing eligible companies to issue their own stablecoins, submitting the "Basic Law on Digital Assets" to the National Assembly.
· According to the proposal, companies must meet capital requirements and guarantee refunds through reserves, aiming to enhance transparency in the cryptocurrency sector and encourage competition.
· This move comes amid a surge of interest in the global stablecoin industry, partly due to progress in U.S. stablecoin regulation.
Why It Matters
The bill proposed by President Lee Jae-myung's party marks a significant shift in South Korea's crypto regulation, positioning the country as a potential innovation hub for stablecoins in Asia. Allowing companies to issue stablecoins could lead to increased competition in the payment sector, especially considering South Korea's existing advanced digital payment infrastructure. This move also reflects a global regulatory environment shifting towards acceptance rather than restriction of stablecoin development, potentially further driving institutional adoption.
New Hong Kong stablecoin regulations: How small teams can find opportunities in a market dominated by giants
Key Points Overview
· Hong Kong's stablecoin regulatory sandbox has nurtured "star" projects like JD.com and Yuanbi, which have been ahead of new entrants by two years, mastering complete system development, compliance processes, and risk control systems.
· The Hong Kong regulations set high barriers for stablecoin issuers, including a HKD 25 million registered capital, local entity requirements, ongoing profitability, and 100% equivalent reserve assets, along with strict separation of custodial institutions, effectively excluding grassroots entrepreneurs.
· Hong Kong's stablecoin policy adopts a "pilot first" strategy, potentially issuing only a few licenses each year, with policies subject to adjustment at any time, creating high entry and operational risks for SMEs and startup teams.
Why It Matters
Hong Kong's stablecoin rules are leading global regulatory trends. While license issuance will be dominated by large financial institutions and tech giants, the service ecosystem surrounding stablecoins offers rich opportunities for small teams. Entrepreneurs should pivot to a "selling shovels" strategy, focusing on five major compliance tracks: payment infrastructure (PayFi), compliance tool provision, cross-chain bridging services, stablecoin asset management, and reserve asset management. These areas require high expertise and technology but have relatively low capital thresholds, allowing small teams to share in the stablecoin market's benefits without directly competing with giants. As Hong Kong's stablecoin regulatory framework matures, these ecological niches will become key bridges connecting traditional finance with the Web3 world.
Market Adoption
Stripe in talks with banks on stablecoin applications, payment giant doubles down on stablecoin business
Key Points Overview
· Payment giant Stripe has engaged in preliminary discussions with several banks to explore potential stablecoin applications, indicating that digital assets are playing an increasingly central role in global capital flows.
· Stripe recently launched several stablecoin-related products, including a platform that allows fintech companies to quickly initiate stablecoin-linked card projects. The current global stablecoin circulation is approximately $243 billion.
· Earlier this year, Stripe acquired the stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion, with around 100 employees globally working on stablecoin and crypto business, and plans to expand hiring in San Francisco, New York, Dublin, and London.
Why It Matters
The payment industry is rapidly embracing stablecoins, transforming them from purely crypto trading tools into conventional payment methods. Stripe President John Collison stated, "In the future, a large number of payment transactions will be completed using stablecoins," with this technology expected to significantly reduce cross-border payment costs and time. Meanwhile, payment giants like PayPal and Visa are also advancing their stablecoin businesses, and banking technology providers like FIS, Fiserv, and Jack Henry are considering how to help clients utilize this technology. Against the backdrop of increasingly clear global regulatory attitudes, the UK, U.S., and EU are all advancing stablecoin legislation. Collison warned that if the City of London does not accelerate its regulatory framework, it will fall further behind in the race for stablecoin integration.
Deutsche Bank explores stablecoins and tokenized deposits, considering multiple solutions in parallel
Key Points Overview
· Deutsche Bank is evaluating various stablecoin solutions, including issuing its own token or joining industry joint initiatives, while also considering developing its own tokenized deposit solutions for payments.
· The EU's unified regulatory framework is in place, and U.S. stablecoin legislation is progressing in Congress, with global banks actively exploring how to leverage these tokens and underlying blockchain technology to enhance efficiency.
· Deutsche Bank has strategically invested in cross-border payment settlement company Partior, participated in the BIS and central bank-organized Agorá project, and collaborated with Swiss blockchain company Taurus to develop digital asset custody services for institutional clients.
Why It Matters
Large financial institutions are increasingly confident in expanding into the digital asset space. While many efforts have been ongoing for years, large-scale practical applications remain limited. However, early signs of customer adoption are beginning to emerge—JPMorgan's Kinexys network processes over $2 billion in transactions daily on average, with transaction volume growing tenfold last year. Santander Bank has plans to offer stablecoin and cryptocurrency services to retail customers, and Deutsche Bank's DWS Group is collaborating with Dutch market maker Flow Traders and crypto fund Galaxy Digital to issue euro tokens. ING Group's CEO also believes that "European stablecoins play an important role in digital world settlements," reflecting that traditional financial institutions are accelerating their digital asset strategic layouts.
Société Générale launches USD stablecoin USDCV, deployed on both Ethereum and Solana
Key Points Overview
· Société Générale-Forge, the crypto division of Société Générale, announced the launch of the USD stablecoin USD Coin Vertible (USDCV), issued on both the Ethereum and Solana blockchains.
· BNY Mellon will serve as the custodian for this stablecoin, with USDCV trading expected to start in July, but not open to U.S. users.
· This issuance is a natural extension following the launch of the euro stablecoin EURCV compliant with MiCA regulations in April 2023, aimed at providing seamless conversion between fiat currencies and digital dollars or euros 24/7.
Why It Matters
The issuance of stablecoins by Société Générale, a top European financial institution, marks an acceleration of the trend of traditional banking embracing blockchain financial innovation. The use cases for USDCV and EURCV cover various fields, including crypto trading, cross-border payments, on-chain settlements, foreign exchange trading, and cash management, showcasing the potential of stablecoins as multifunctional financial tools. Société Générale's choice to deploy on both Ethereum and Solana reflects institutional demand for high-performance blockchains.
Tech giants Apple, X, Airbnb, and Google explore adopting stablecoins to reduce transaction costs
Key Points Overview
· According to Fortune Crypto, Apple, X (formerly Twitter), Airbnb, and Google are in preliminary talks with crypto companies to explore integrating stablecoins to lower transaction costs and enable more economical international payments.
· These companies join the ranks of tech giants like Meta and Uber, which are already assessing the adoption of dollar-pegged assets, against the backdrop of improving regulatory environments and growing investor demand for stablecoins.
· The X platform announced on Friday that Polymarket has become its "official" prediction market partner, with this decentralized prediction platform achieving a trading volume of $1.06 billion in May and over 267,000 active traders.
Why It Matters
The interest of tech giants in stablecoins reflects a shift in traditional enterprises' attitudes towards blockchain payment solutions. The collaboration between X and Polymarket will embed prediction markets directly into the social media platform, making event-driven betting more viral and meeting the funding needs for high-frequency small bets, with crypto-native asset solutions perfectly suited for internet scenarios. With Circle's successful IPO, stablecoins are rapidly transitioning from speculative tools to mainstream payment infrastructure. Musk's plan to transform X into a WeChat-like "super app" is accelerating, and these trends indicate that stablecoins and crypto applications are expanding from specialized markets into broader social media and e-commerce fields, potentially becoming key infrastructure for the future decentralized social finance ecosystem.
Plasma partners with Aave to create permissionless lending infrastructure
Key Points Overview
· Plasma has established a strategic partnership with DeFi leader Aave, which will be a launch partner for the Plasma network and support Aave's stablecoin GHO.
· Aave, as the largest liquidity protocol globally, has facilitated over $40 billion in loans, accounting for more than 20% of total DeFi liquidity, providing bankless, permissionless lending services to users worldwide.
· Plasma is collaborating with Aave founder Stani Kulechov and the Avara, AaveChan, and Horizon teams to distribute USD₮ financial infrastructure to global institutions and underserved users.
Why It Matters
This partnership marks an important step in expanding DeFi infrastructure to a broader range of users and institutions. By integrating Aave's permissionless lending capabilities with Plasma's scalability, both parties aim to address the lending needs of billions of people underserved by the traditional financial system. Lending, as a fundamental function of financial services, remains inaccessible to a large population globally, while Aave's decentralized protocol provides an inclusive financial solution by eliminating banks and intermediaries.
U.S. Bancorp, the fifth-largest bank in the U.S., studies stablecoin business as crypto custody services see a revival
Key Points Overview
· U.S. Bancorp CEO Gunjan Kedia stated that the bank is "researching and observing" its potential role in the stablecoin space and considering launching its own stablecoin through partnerships.
· The bank's institutional crypto custody business, launched in 2021, developed slowly during the Biden administration's strict regulations but has become active again under the pro-crypto policies of the Trump administration.
· U.S. Bancorp may provide infrastructure services for stablecoins, including holding supporting assets and offering custody services, with several pilot projects already underway.
Why It Matters
As the fifth-largest bank in the U.S., U.S. Bancorp's research into stablecoins indicates that traditional financial institutions are accelerating their layout in the digital asset space. Unlike the Biden-era SEC's strict enforcement against the crypto industry, the Trump administration has largely rolled back previous regulatory actions against the crypto sector and pledged to halt future regulatory measures, creating a favorable environment for institutional investors to re-enter the crypto market. With the market capitalization of the four major stablecoins reaching a record $223 billion and the U.S. Senate advancing the GENIUS Act for stablecoin regulation, large banks are beginning to reassess their positioning in this rapidly growing market. However, Kedia noted that while stablecoin trading volume data appears attractive, 90% of transactions are still limited to trading between cryptocurrencies, indicating that stablecoins have not yet truly penetrated the traditional financial sector. As the regulatory framework gradually clarifies, the entry of traditional financial institutions like U.S. Bancorp into the stablecoin market may mark an important milestone in the integration of digital assets with the traditional financial system.
Shopify integrates Coinbase Base network to support USDC stablecoin payments
Key Points Overview
· On June 12, Shopify launched USDC stablecoin payment functionality for its first merchants on Coinbase's Ethereum Layer 2 network, Base, with plans to roll it out to all merchants using Shopify Payments within the year.
· Merchants can accept on-chain USDC payments while receiving local currency settlements without incurring foreign exchange transaction fees. Shopify also plans to offer 1% cashback to customers using USDC payments.
· This initiative is based on a new open-source payment protocol co-developed by Coinbase and Shopify, supporting standard features such as delayed debits, tax calculations, and refund processing, and is directly integrated into merchants' existing order fulfillment systems.
Why It Matters
This integration signifies that stablecoin payments are accelerating into mainstream e-commerce. With the supply of stablecoins growing by 54% year-on-year, their application has expanded from cryptocurrency trading to payments and international remittances. By choosing the Base network's low-cost, high-speed, and secure transaction environment, Shopify provides millions of merchants worldwide with access to crypto payment infrastructure, significantly reducing cross-border business costs and improving efficiency. This move could accelerate the adoption of stablecoins in retail payments, bringing a crypto-native payment infrastructure innovation to global e-commerce.
Conduit and Braza Group launch Brazil's cross-border payment stablecoin forex swap service
Key Points Overview
· Crypto payment infrastructure provider Conduit has partnered with Brazil's Braza Group to launch a service for real-time forex swaps between the Brazilian real, U.S. dollar, and euro using stablecoins.
· This service reduces payment processing time from several days via traditional SWIFT channels to just minutes, significantly improving the efficiency of cross-border transaction settlements.
· Stablecoins are becoming increasingly popular in the cross-border payment sector, with industry forecasts indicating significant growth in this area by 2030.
Why It Matters
This collaboration demonstrates how stablecoins can address the efficiency bottlenecks of traditional cross-border payment systems. As the largest economy in Latin America, Brazil has a vast cross-border payment market, but traditional forex systems can take days to process and incur high costs. Real-time forex swaps enabled by stablecoin technology not only greatly enhance transaction speed but may also reduce cross-border payment costs for businesses and individuals. As global stablecoin payment infrastructure continues to improve, similar solutions are expected to be promoted in more emerging markets, providing more efficient alternatives for international trade and remittances.
Financial infrastructure giant DTCC considers integrating stablecoin technology
Key Points Overview
· According to The Information, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) is developing a stablecoin project.
· DTCC recently noted in a blog that the use cases for stablecoins are increasing, including "for corporate cross-border fund management and payment systems."
· DTCC's digital asset business is led by global digital asset head Nadine Chakar, and the company has previously launched a blockchain-based AppChain tokenized collateral management platform.
Why It Matters
As an SEC-registered entity that processes hundreds of trillions of dollars in securities transactions annually, DTCC's entry into the stablecoin space will have a profound impact on the integration of traditional financial infrastructure with digital assets. This move aligns with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's predicted trend—he stated during a Senate hearing that the dollar-backed stablecoin market is expected to exceed $2 trillion within the next three years. Meanwhile, financial institutions, including Société Générale and Bank of America, are also exploring the issuance of dollar-pegged tokens, largely driven by the progress of the GENIUS Act, which aims to standardize stablecoin regulation in the U.S. DTCC's participation as a backend infrastructure provider could clear significant barriers for institutional investors adopting stablecoin technology, accelerating the integration of traditional finance with blockchain technology.
New Product Launches
Flipcash launches global zero-fee digital cash application on Solana
Key Points Overview
· Flipcash is a payment application founded by Kik founder Ted Livingston, previously known as Code, which digitizes the experience of physical cash, allowing users to complete instant transfers by displaying a virtual cash code for others to scan.
· The application supports instant transfers globally, offers automatic currency conversion with no fees or price differences, and can be used across regions via video calls or shared links.
· Livingston has shifted from using the previous Kin cryptocurrency to USDC stablecoin, with all balances held in regulated U.S. dollar stablecoins, allowing users to withdraw through trading platforms in over 190 countries.
Why It Matters
Flipcash represents an important innovative attempt for stablecoin payments in consumer scenarios, especially considering Ted Livingston's previous lessons from the Kik project. The strategic shift from using proprietary cryptocurrency to USDC stablecoin reflects the industry's maturity and pragmatic attitude. Built on the Solana blockchain, Flipcash combines the convenience and privacy of cash with the global reach of digital payments, while achieving a sustainable operating model through interest income from stablecoin assets. This seamless, borderless, and fee-free payment experience is particularly suitable for cross-border scenarios, such as travel settlements and overseas remittances. As a new project from an experienced entrepreneur, Flipcash demonstrates how stablecoins can realize a vision of frictionless global payments that traditional finance struggles to provide.
Tether launches non-custodial wallet development kit WDK, targeting autonomous AI and robotic finance needs
Key Points Overview
· Tether has released an open-source self-custody wallet development kit (WDK) aimed at building advanced mobile and desktop wallet experiences, providing fully autonomous Bitcoin and Tether token wallet solutions.
· WDK particularly emphasizes financial autonomy for AI agents and robots, enabling them to manage their own assets and execute transactions without human intervention.
· The toolkit uses P2P clustering technology to synchronize nodes and broadcast transactions, with Tether promising that the WDKv2 version is forthcoming, which will provide comprehensive documentation, support, and examples.
Why It Matters
The launch of WDK by Tether marks a key step towards a more decentralized direction for stablecoin infrastructure. As the largest stablecoin issuer by market capitalization, Tether's move could have a profound impact on the entire crypto wallet ecosystem. WDK's focus on financial autonomy for AI agents showcases Tether's forward-looking strategy in the future AI-driven economy. By providing open-source, configurable wallet infrastructure, Tether not only expands its ecosystem but also equips developers with the tools to build censorship-resistant, decentralized financial applications. The social video platform Rumble has already begun building wallets based on this architecture, indicating that this technology may gain adoption in mainstream applications. The launch of WDK further solidifies Tether's leadership position in the stablecoin market and could accelerate the adoption of non-custodial wallets in the future financial system.
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