Author: Deng Tong, Golden Finance

According to data from defillama.com and artemisanalytics.com, as of August 11, the total value of the stablecoin market has exceeded $270 billion. In July this year, Trump signed the GENIUS Act, which officially established a regulatory framework for stablecoins in the United States for the first time. However, since the market began to anticipate the GENIUS Act, stablecoins have already become a battleground for competition.

Fireblocks released the "2025 Stablecoin Status" report, indicating that 49% of institutions globally have used stablecoins for payments, and 41% of institutions are piloting or planning to use stablecoins. In the race for stablecoins that giants are scrambling to enter, which stablecoin chains are worth paying attention to? Why are giants investing in stablecoin chains?

1. What stablecoin chains are worth noting?

Circle: Arc

On August 12, according to Circle's official blog, Circle announced the launch of Arc, an open Layer-1 blockchain designed specifically for stablecoin financial scenarios. Arc uses USDC as its native gas, supports low and predictable dollar-denominated transaction fees, and features an institutional-grade foreign exchange engine for 24/7 automatic settlement between stablecoins. Arc employs the Malachite high-performance consensus mechanism, supporting sub-second finality and optional privacy protection. The chain is EVM-compatible and targets applications such as cross-border payments, stablecoin derivatives, on-chain credit, and capital market settlements. Use cases that developers can implement on the chain include: cross-border payments and remittances, stablecoin forex perpetual contracts, on-chain credit and off-chain trust, capital market settlements, tokenized collateral, agency commerce, and programmatic payments. Public testing is expected to open this fall, with the mainnet launching in 2026.

With the launch of Arc, Circle reported a 53% year-on-year increase in total revenue and reserve income for the second quarter, reaching $658 million. Circle stated that the upcoming Arc is "built for stablecoin finance," marking an important milestone in the company's mission to "provide a full-stack platform for the internet financial system." "Arc will be fully integrated into Circle's platform and services and will also maintain complete availability and interoperability with dozens of other partner blockchains supported by Circle."

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire mentioned in an exclusive interview that with the U.S. Congress passing the GENIUS Act, a clear regulatory framework for stablecoin businesses has been established, making this sector one of the most vibrant in the cryptocurrency market. Circle will explore the application of blockchain payment systems in traditional financial institutions. Stablecoin technology is gaining attention from traditional financial institutions and policymakers, and it is expected to open new application scenarios in payments and commerce in the future.

Stripe, Paradigm: Tempo

On August 11, reports indicated that fintech giant Stripe is collaborating with crypto venture capital firm Paradigm to develop a high-performance, payment-focused Layer 1 blockchain named "Tempo."

Tempo uses the same programming language as Ethereum, allowing developers to directly migrate existing smart contracts, lowering the technical barrier. Its design aims to support high-frequency, low-latency payment transactions, particularly focusing on real-time settlement of stablecoins and cross-border payment scenarios, aiming to bypass traditional intermediaries like Visa and Mastercard through blockchain technology, significantly reducing transaction costs and improving efficiency. The project is currently in a low-profile development phase, with a team of five. It is unclear whether the project will issue its own native token.

The launch of Tempo marks Stripe's official transition from a payment intermediary to a foundational builder of blockchain technology. By controlling stablecoin issuance (Bridge), wallet entry (Privy), and transaction settlement (Tempo), Stripe will form a complete payment ecosystem, fundamentally changing traditional payment processes.

USDT: Plasma

In February this year, the stablecoin company Plasma raised $24 million to develop a new blockchain for Tether's USDT.

Plasma is an EVM-compatible proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain, running on top of PlasmaBFT, an improved Fast HotStuff design specifically created for high throughput and low-latency stablecoin transfers, with the execution layer built on Reth, providing full EVM compatibility. It employs a dual-validator architecture, with one validator cluster responsible for consensus security and another dedicated to gas-free USDT transfers.

Plasma offers a zero-fee transfer feature for USDT, designed for basic USDT payments, operating on a parallel block layer to avoid mainnet congestion, allowing users to choose to wait a bit longer for gas-free transfers. Additionally, users can pay transaction fees using authorized tokens (such as USDT or BTC) without needing to hold special gas tokens; the off-chain system will automatically convert them to Plasma's native gas token XPL at market price.

Plasma co-founder Paul Faecks revealed that the new blockchain will be built on the Bitcoin network and aims to attract users by providing zero-fee USDt transactions. Plasma focuses on stablecoin transactions, meaning it will be able to process and settle transactions quickly.

Tether: Stable

Stable is an EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain launched by Tether, aiming to replace general public chains in cross-border payments and institutional settlements through zero-fee transactions, high throughput, and a compliant verification node network. Its core features include: a native USDT gas mechanism, sub-second confirmations, and compliance.

On July 2, the roadmap for the USDT-based Layer 1 network Stable was released: the first phase will implement the USDT base layer, using USDT as the native gas token to achieve sub-second block times and finality, launching a stable wallet to enhance user experience; the second phase will implement the USDT experience layer, adopting optimistic parallel execution to improve transaction throughput, introducing USDT transfer aggregators and dedicated block space for enterprises to ensure efficient processing and consistent performance; the third phase will implement the USDT full-stack optimization layer, upgrading to DAG-based consensus to enhance speed and resilience, expanding developer tools and resources to facilitate dApp development.

Cosmos: Noble

Noble is a native asset issuance chain built on the Cosmos SDK. It aims to become a "world-class issuance center for interoperable digital assets," supporting not only the issuance of stablecoins but also the tokenization and issuance of real-world assets.

In September 2023, Circle chose Noble as the launch platform for the native USDC in the Cosmos ecosystem, supporting cross-chain applications through the IBC protocol. In December 2024, the Noble blockchain launched the dollar-pegged stablecoin USDN, which uses the M^0 "permissioned minting" mechanism, backed by short-term U.S. Treasury bonds, allowing holders of USDN to earn an expected annual yield of 4.2%. Additionally, fintech company Monerium also launched the euro stablecoin EURe on the Noble blockchain, marking the first native euro stablecoin in the Cosmos ecosystem.

2. Why are giants investing in stablecoin chains?

Global banks and traditional financial giants are actively integrating blockchain technology and stablecoins into their products, and the arms race for stablecoins has already begun. With the U.S. Senate passing the GENIUS Act to regulate stablecoins, this trend is accelerating.

1. Favorable Regulatory Environment

2025 has become a watershed year for stablecoin policy. The U.S. GENIUS Act and Hong Kong's Stablecoin Ordinance have established clear frameworks for stablecoin regulation, directly pushing the market from "wild growth" to "compliance competition."

Trump has pointed out that stablecoins are a revolution in the fintech sector, and the stablecoin bill is a significant recognition of cryptocurrencies; Federal Reserve Governor Waller stated that stablecoins bring competition to payment systems but do not pose a threat; Federal Reserve's Musalem believes that stablecoins are an interesting innovation in the payment field, and establishing a regulatory framework is a good thing, as stablecoins may become an important component of payments; U.S. Vice President Vance stated that once the GENIUS Act is implemented, it is expected to significantly expand the application of stablecoins as a digital payment system, providing convenience for millions of Americans. At the same time, this will also protect coin holders and enhance market transparency.

2. Growing Market Demand

Standard Chartered has predicted that stablecoins currently account for 40% of all blockchain transaction fees, while Ethereum accounts for more than half of all stablecoins. By the end of 2028, the stablecoin industry is expected to grow approximately eightfold.

Coinbase's latest research shows that stablecoins are becoming a core driving force for the future of finance. Historical monthly trading volume records were set in December 2024 and April 2025, reaching $719 billion and $717 billion, respectively. The total annual trading volume of stablecoins in 2024 is expected to reach $27.6 trillion, surpassing the total transaction volume of Visa and Mastercard by 7.68%. The rise of on-chain activity and the acceleration of global applications signify a fundamental shift in the evolution of currency, with stablecoins serving as a major catalyst driving real-world use cases.

3. Seizing Industry Discourse Power

According to GLG Research data, nearly one-fifth of Fortune 500 executives view on-chain projects as an important part of their company's strategy, a figure that has increased by 47% year-on-year. The layout of stablecoin chains is essentially a competition for "accounting rights" and "minting rights." By investing in stablecoin chains, giants can upgrade from "participants in the crypto market" to "rule-makers in crypto," ultimately occupying a core position in the reshuffled financial system.

Circle's Arc, through the "Malachite consensus mechanism" and "USDC native gas design," has established the technical standard for "low-friction settlement" on stablecoin chains. Other institutions wishing to connect to the USDC ecosystem must adhere to Arc's cross-chain interface and fee rules; Tether's Stable, with "USDT as native gas" and "zero-fee transfers" as core features, compels other stablecoin chains to adopt similar mechanisms to maintain competitiveness, indirectly embedding the usage habits of USDT into industry standards; Cosmos's Noble, relying on the IBC protocol, has become a "hub node" for cross-chain stablecoin circulation, with its established "cross-chain asset verification rules" adopted by over 20 application chains within the Cosmos ecosystem, leading the cross-chain standards for stablecoins in that ecosystem.

Conclusion

As regulatory signals become increasingly clear and market demand grows, giants' exploration in the crypto field has gone beyond issuing stablecoins, now looking towards a grander ideal—developing stablecoin chains. This competition surrounding stablecoin chains is not only a struggle for future financial discourse power among giants but also a great experiment guiding the deeper integration of crypto technology with traditional finance.

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