Finance is becoming "invisible": How stablecoins are becoming the new lifeline of the digital economy

Author: Cobo

The highlights of this issue are as follows:

This week, Coinbase held a system-level product upgrade conference with the scale of WWDC, releasing updates on trading, derivatives, stablecoins, AI, and payment protocols. Coinbase's vision of an "Everything Exchange" not only reflects its ambition to become a super app but also points to a new path for the crypto era: a fundamental financial structure centered on stablecoins, asset issuance, and on-chain clearing. Financial capabilities, like internet bandwidth, become a basic resource that can be natively invoked by software and AI and automatically scheduled in the background. Stablecoins also evolve from investment products into the infrastructure supporting the digital economy. In this context, we can say that Coinbase's boundaries have exceeded those of traditional internet super apps; finance is beginning to move beyond apps and towards ubiquitous "invisible finance."

Meanwhile, the mainstream adoption of stablecoins continues to accelerate. On one hand, this is reflected in everyday scenarios that users can perceive: ADNOC, the UAE's largest gas retailer, supports stablecoin payments at nearly a thousand gas stations; Interactive Brokers supports stablecoin deposits; Ramp, a fintech company targeting businesses, enables direct stablecoin payments for paper checks; and YouTube allows creators to receive payments using PayPal's stablecoin PYUSD. Stablecoins are rapidly entering corporate finance and consumption systems. On the other hand, a more profound change is occurring at a level almost imperceptible to users. Visa has launched USDC settlement within the US banking system, allowing some banks to fulfill settlement obligations directly in USDC on VisaNet. This signifies a structural restructuring of the settlement layer, occurring deep within the banking system, with a more subtle yet far-reaching impact.

Market Overview and Growth Highlights

The total market capitalization of stablecoins reached $308.606 billion (approximately US$308.606 billion), a decrease of $1.456 billion (approximately US$1.456 billion) week-on-week. In terms of market share, USDT continues to dominate with a 60.32% market share; USDC ranks second with a market capitalization of $77.336 billion (approximately US$77.336 billion), accounting for 25.06%.

Blockchain network distribution

Top three stablecoin networks by market capitalization:

1. Ethereum: $166.19 billion ($166.19 billion)
2. Tron: $80.993 billion (US$80.993 billion)
3. Solana: $16.048 billion ($16.048 billion)

Top 3 fastest-growing networks in a week:

1. USDD (USDD): +20.29%
2. Resolv USD (USR): +16.97%
3. First Digital USD (FDUSD) : +16.35%

Data from DefiLlama

Coinbase's system upgrade: How crypto is reshaping internet super apps

This week, Coinbase hosted a "system upgrade conference" similar to Apple's WWDC, releasing updates to stock trading, derivatives, prediction markets, Solana DEX integration, enterprise-grade stablecoins, AI investment advisors, and payment protocols. This is Coinbase's most comprehensive upgrade in terms of asset classes and structural changes since its inception, marking its transition from a single asset platform to a unified financial gateway.

If the early stages of cryptocurrency focused on the assets themselves, then as stablecoins, tokenized assets, and on-chain clearing have matured, the new focus of competition has shifted to how assets are organized, settled, and managed. Coinbase's answer is to integrate stocks, stablecoins, derivatives, and on-chain assets under a single account and wallet identity, summarizing this direction as "Everything Exchange."

On the traditional asset side, US users can already trade thousands of stocks and ETFs through Coinbase Capital Markets, settled in USD or USDC, with some stocks supporting 24-hour trading on weekdays. While currently using a traditional market structure, Coinbase has explicitly identified it as a transitional form towards tokenized stocks and plans to promote on-chain issuance of real-world assets through Coinbase Tokenize. For non-US users, perpetual stock contracts offer US stock exposure without relying on the transfer of security ownership, enabling compliant, continuous, and capital-efficient cross-border participation by simply transmitting price signals. This type of structure is forming a new synthetic market, allowing global liquidity to aggregate around price and risk before the underlying assets are on-chain. Related products are expected to launch next year.

As account capabilities expand, Coinbase is unifying different types of risk into a single trading and settlement framework.

Prediction Markets: Through a partnership with Kalshi, users can trade election, sports, and economic event results in USD or USDC, with regulated real-world risks beginning to be directly integrated into the stablecoin settlement system.

On-chain assets and DEX: Jupiter, Solana's largest DEX aggregator, has been integrated into the Coinbase App, making a large number of assets on the Base and Solana networks accessible in the same interface, reducing operational barriers between chains.

Derivatives and AI Investment Advisors: Futures and perpetual contracts are integrated into the main applications and combined with AI investment advisory capabilities, making the construction of cross-asset risk exposures more intuitive.

From an overall structural perspective, Coinbase has established a clear two-pronged approach: a Base App for individual users, integrating trading, wallet, payments, and content discovery; and Coinbase Business for businesses, providing stablecoins, enterprise accounts, payment APIs, and financial automation services. The common ground between these two platforms is stablecoin liquidity.

Of all the updates, Custom Stablecoins and the x402 Open Payments Protocol have strategic significance over a longer period.

Custom Stablecoins allow businesses to issue their own branded digital dollars, with 1:1 collateral consisting of USDC and other regulated USD stablecoins, rather than fiat currency deposits. This design places the collateral layer entirely on-chain, reducing direct reliance on the banking system while expanding the use cases and circulation of USDC. For Coinbase and Circle, this represents a clear business increment; on a broader level, it drives the dollar into cross-border payments, the on-chain economy, and emerging markets through stablecoins. The x402 protocol further extends this direction by embedding stablecoin payments into HTTP requests, enabling payments to be automated by software and AI agents. Within 30 days of its launch, its annualized transaction volume exceeded $200 million, demonstrating a real demand for machine-to-machine payments.

Coinbase isn't betting on a traditional financial super app, but rather on a financial structure for the crypto era: the user portal is just one layer, with another layer being a supply network comprised of stablecoins, corporate issuance, and clearing capabilities. While Revolut and Cash App are also moving towards a unified portal, Coinbase differs in that it attempts to control both the demand and asset generation sides, coupling them together through on-chain clearing.

If the ultimate goal of traditional fintech is to cram all financial functions into a single app, then the ultimate goal of crypto-native platforms is more like enabling any application to natively use finance. Under this trend, stablecoins are becoming a fundamental capability, and crypto finance built upon them is transforming from an app-based model into a system service that can be directly invoked by software and AI agents.

Visa supports USDC settlement: a key step for stablecoins to enter the banking settlement layer.

This week, Visa launched USDC settlement within the US banking system. After completing a pilot program with an annualized scale of approximately $3.5 billion, Visa began allowing some US banks to directly use Circle's USDC to fulfill settlement obligations on VisaNet.

The initial participants included Cross River Bank and Lead Bank, with settlements running on the Solana network. For cardholders and merchants, this was virtually imperceptible: the payment process remained unchanged, the billing format remained unchanged, and merchants' payment methods remained unchanged. However, funds began to flow in different ways between banks.

In recent years, the "mainstream adoption" of stablecoins has often occurred at the payment interface layer. Users can use stablecoins to make payments, and merchants can receive funds through fintech platforms. However, before actually entering the banking system, these stablecoins are usually exchanged back into fiat currency and then settled through traditional clearing channels. Stablecoins are more like a front-end tool, always remaining outside the core financial system.

Visa has now integrated stablecoins directly into the settlement process. Issuing banks no longer need to convert funds back to USD before settlement; instead, they can directly clear with VisaNet using USDC. This means settlements are no longer restricted by weekdays, batch processing, or holiday windows, and interbank fund transfers operate 24/7.

The significance of this change lies in settlement. In the modern payment system, the real economic responsibility rests not with consumers, but with banks. Every credit card transaction ultimately ends up on the balance sheets of two banks. Visa's network is essentially a settlement coordination system connecting banks. When stablecoins are allowed to serve as settlement assets, their role shifts from a means of payment to a tool for bank operations.

This shift leads to a redistribution of efficiency. 24/7 settlement reduces the time funds are in transit, improves liquidity predictability, and reduces redundant positions held for uncertainty. For banks, this directly impacts asset and liability management: the same amount of capital can be turned over faster and allocated more precisely.

This is why we say that stablecoins may not "destroy banks," but they will change the way banks behave. As settlement speed increases, the space gained by relying on time differences and procedural inertia is constantly being squeezed, and the differences between banks are gradually reflected in their liquidity management capabilities and capital utilization efficiency. Settlement efficiency itself is becoming a product capability.

For Visa, this means moving from a card organization towards a multi-asset settlement network. When VisaNet supports both fiat and stablecoin settlements, its network value is no longer just reflected in payment coverage, but also in the scalability of settlement methods and continuity over time. And once stablecoin settlement becomes a standard capability, banks following suit is more like a natural result driven by network effects.

Regulatory compliance

Ripple, Circle, and BitGo receive conditional approval for U.S. banking licenses; several crypto institutions move toward Federal Trust Bank.

Key Takeaways

• The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted conditional approval to the federal trust banking license applications of Ripple, Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos, allowing them to hold customer assets but prohibiting them from accepting deposits or making loans.
• Circle's new entity, First National Digital Currency Bank, and Ripple's Ripple National Trust Bank are both under review; the licenses will provide a clear path for the compliant issuance of stablecoins such as RLUSD.
• Coinbase, Bridge (owned by Stripe), and Crypto.com are still in the application process; with the new government relaxing regulations, the industry is accelerating its integration with the traditional US banking system.

Why it is important

• The entry of crypto companies into the federal banking system will deeply integrate stablecoins, custody, and traditional financial regulation, laying the institutional foundation for institutional-level capital inflows and the expansion of compliant stablecoins, and potentially reshaping the competitive landscape of US crypto finance.

PayPal has applied for a Utah Industrial Bank license and plans to establish PayPal Bank to expand lending and savings.

Key Takeaways

• PayPal has applied for an industrial banking license in Utah and simultaneously applied for federal deposit insurance, with plans to establish PayPal Bank.
• The new bank will offer loan services to small businesses and launch interest-bearing savings accounts for users, while also connecting to credit card networks;
• PayPal is also one of the issuers of the PYUSD stablecoin and has been continuously expanding its crypto transfer and "crypto payment" merchant services in recent years.

Why it is important

• This signifies that large payment platforms are leveraging relatively flexible banking structures to penetrate core traditional financial businesses, providing a more robust compliance and funding foundation for their stablecoin and crypto payment ecosystems, potentially accelerating the integration of crypto with mainstream finance.

The US FDIC has launched its first stablecoin rule, implementing the GENIUS Act.

Key Takeaways

• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) of the United States has proposed its first draft of regulations for stablecoin regulation, opening a 60-day comment period.
• The rules focus on the application process for banks to issue dollar stablecoins through subsidiaries, and establish a 120-day review and appeal mechanism;
• This is the first stablecoin regulatory measure to formally enter the rule-making stage since the GENIUS Act came into effect.

Why it is important

• This marks a shift in US stablecoin regulation from legislation to an operational administrative level. The FDIC has taken the lead in clarifying "how banks can issue stablecoins in compliance with regulations," clearing procedural uncertainties for bank-issued stablecoins and paving the way for subsequent capital, liquidity, and risk rules. Stablecoins are now being formally incorporated into the US banking regulatory system.

The UK is pushing forward with crypto regulation in line with the US; the European Central Bank is accelerating legislation for a digital euro.

Key Takeaways

• The UK plans to integrate crypto companies into the existing financial regulatory system from 2027. The draft law covers crypto exchanges and stablecoin issuance, and the regulatory path is clearly aligned with the US, rather than the EU's MiCA "special legislation" model.
• The European Central Bank has completed all the technical and preparatory work for the digital euro and is urging the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament to accelerate legislation. The digital euro is expected to be launched in the second half of 2026.
• The UK opted for an integrated regulatory approach based on "functional equivalence and principles," while the EU pursued a dual-track approach through central bank digital currencies and MiCA.

Why it is important

• This signifies that Europe is simultaneously responding to the expansion of stablecoins from both the regulatory framework and monetary sovereignty ends: the UK is prioritizing the integration of crypto into the financial system to promote institutional adoption, while the EU is consolidating the anchor of public payments with a digital euro. Behind these different paths lies a shared vigilance and rebalancing regarding the influence of private stablecoins.

Capital Layout

Anchorage Digital acquires Securitize investment advisory platform SFA to strengthen its crypto wealth management business.

Key Takeaways

• Federally chartered crypto bank Anchorage Digital acquired Securitize For Advisors (SFA), integrating its crypto wealth management platform for Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) into its own system;
• 99% of SFA's existing assets were already custodied by Anchorage. This acquisition unifies custody, trading, and investment advisory front-end into a single platform; Securitize will focus on its core asset tokenization business.
• SFA's net new deposits and assets under management grew by over 4,500% in the past year, far exceeding the overall RIA industry growth rate of 16%, highlighting that investment advisory channels are accelerating the adoption of crypto asset allocation.

Why it is important

• As RIAs become a key entry point for the institutional adoption of crypto assets, Anchorage consolidates its core position in the custody and compliant wealth management chain by integrating investment advisory platforms, and also promotes further integration of tokenization and asset allocation scenarios.

Moto completes $1.8 million pre-seed funding round and launches Solana on-chain credit card.

Key Takeaways

• Crypto finance startup Moto has completed a $1.8 million pre-seed funding round, led by Eterna Capital and cyberFund, with participation from several angel investors in the crypto and finance sectors.
• The project is positioned as "the first truly on-chain credit card," built on the Solana network, emphasizing that settlement, ledger, and risk control logic are natively on-chain, rather than traditional card-based external encrypted payments;
• The product is still in its early stages, the shortlist is open, and it is partnering with crypto payment infrastructures such as Privy, Crossmint, and Rain.

Why it is important

• Moto's move of credit cards, a traditional core financial product, directly onto the blockchain reflects the shift in the payment industry from stablecoin debit cards to on-chain credit and programmable liabilities. If successful, this could reshape the risk control, clearing, and profit distribution models of credit cards.

Kontigo, a new stablecoin bank, has completed a $20 million seed round, with annual revenue exceeding $30 million.

Key Takeaways

• Kontigo, a new stablecoin bank, has completed a $20 million seed funding round and aims to achieve annual revenue of $30 million, payment volume of $1 billion, and 1 million users within 12 months.
• Kontigo offers services such as 10% stablecoin deposit interest, card payments (with BTC back), USDT credit lines, tokenized US stocks, and free international accounts, covering the entire financial needs of savings, payments, credit, and investment.
• With a team of only 7 people, they cover global cross-border fund flows and focus on a blockchain financial architecture that "does not require a local banking license".

Why it is important

• The Kontigo case demonstrates the scale effect of stablecoins + blockchain as underlying financial infrastructure, bypassing the traditional banking licensing system and providing emerging markets with a financial gateway that allows for both the US dollar and Bitcoin, challenging the expansion model of traditional new banks.

Tether leads $8 million investment in Bitcoin Lightning Network payment provider Speed.

Key Takeaways

• Tether, together with Ego Death Capital, led an $8 million funding round for Lightning Network payment processor Speed.
• Speed has built a payment settlement channel based on the Bitcoin Lightning Network, with an annualized payment volume of over $1.5 billion, serving over 1 million users and merchants, covering consumers, content creators, platforms and enterprise merchants, demonstrating that the Lightning Network has achieved actual commercial scale.
• Tether stated that this investment aims to strengthen Bitcoin payment infrastructure and expand the use cases for USDT.

Why it is important

• This indicates that Tether, as a stablecoin issuer, is investing in payment infrastructure, driving the evolution of stablecoins from "funds storage" to high-frequency payment and settlement layers.

RedotPay completes $107 million Series B funding round to accelerate stablecoin payment expansion.

Key Takeaways

• Hong Kong-based stablecoin payment platform RedotPay has completed a $107 million Series B funding round, led by Goodwater, with participation from Pantera, Circle Ventures, and others. The round was oversubscribed and consisted entirely of equity financing.
• The platform has an annualized payment volume exceeding US$10 billion and an annualized revenue exceeding US$150 million, and has already achieved profitability; it covers more than 100 markets and 6 million users, and the funds will be used for product development, compliance licenses, and mergers and acquisitions expansion;
• RedotPay offers stablecoin payment cards, cross-border payment channels, multi-currency wallet accounts, and a self-built P2P marketplace, targeting both crypto-native and non-crypto users, and emphasizing an instant, predictable, and cross-border fund transfer experience.

Why it is important

• RedotPay's achievement of profitability while maintaining high growth demonstrates the scalable commercial viability of stablecoin payments. Continued capital investment indicates that stablecoins are evolving from a "cross-border alternative" into a global payment infrastructure. RedotPay's growth illustrates the strong demand and scalability potential of the "USD stablecoin + local consumption" model in emerging markets.

Tether's acquisition of Juventus was rejected, causing the fan token JUV to plummet by over 13%.

Key Takeaways

• After Tether's €1.1 billion all-cash takeover bid was rejected, Juventus fan token JUV fell more than 13% from its high, while Juventus' listed shares rose about 14%, showing a clear divergence in performance.
• JUV's decline reflects more the retracement of sentiment and expectations, while the rise in stock price reflects the traditional market's positive pricing of the 21% premium acquisition signal;
• Tether already owns 11.53% of Juventus and planned to acquire Exor's 65.4% controlling stake, promising an additional €1 billion investment, but this was explicitly rejected.

Why it is important

• This incident highlights that fan tokens are not equity assets; their value has limited correlation with corporate governance and acquisition outcomes, and is more volatile. For Tether, acquiring Juventus would have strengthened its institutional image and global brand reach; however, this setback shows that the financial strength of crypto capital does not equate to institutional recognition within the European football system.

New Product Delivery

StraitsX will introduce Singapore dollar and US dollar stablecoins into Solana, enabling instant foreign exchange conversion.

Key Takeaways

• Crypto infrastructure company StraitsX plans to launch the Singapore dollar stablecoin XSGD and the US dollar stablecoin XUSD on Solana in early 2026, enabling on-chain instant exchange of SGD ↔ USD and creating an on-chain foreign exchange trading scenario.
• XSGD will become Solana's first Singapore dollar stablecoin, filling the gap in mainstream fiat currencies in Asia;
• Combining Solana's high speed and low cost features with its x402 payment standard, XSGD/XUSD is particularly suitable for machine-driven economic scenarios such as AI-powered automated payments, micropayments, DeFi, and cross-border settlements.

Why it is important

• This initiative advances stablecoins from "single currency settlement" to "on-chain foreign exchange layer," enabling Solana to exchange multiple fiat currencies in real time. This is beneficial for cross-border payments, DeFi and AI-driven economic development, and also strengthens its position as a global payment infrastructure.

Exodus partners with MoonPay to issue a USD stablecoin, expanding its self-custodied payments strategy.

Key Takeaways

• Crypto wallet company Exodus will launch a fully-reserve USD stablecoin with MoonPay, expected to go live in January 2026, through its in-wallet payment feature, Exodus Pay.
• The stablecoin is issued and managed by MoonPay and supported by stablecoin infrastructure provider M0; Exodus focuses on distribution, user experience, and self-custodied wallet scenarios.
• Stablecoin issuers are expanding further to wallet companies, forming a similar camp with Circle, PayPal, and Fiserv, indicating that stablecoins are moving towards the front-end application layer.

Why it is important

• The focus of competition in the stablecoin market is shifting from the issuance stage to user access and payment experience. The combination of wallets and stablecoins is enabling stablecoins to gradually move towards wider everyday consumption applications.

Tempo launches native transaction types, on-chain stablecoin payments and enterprise-grade transaction capabilities.

Key Takeaways

• Tempo launches "Tempo Transactions," a native trading platform that supports stablecoin payments, batch concurrency, scheduled transactions, fee payment on behalf of clients, and biometric login.
• This transaction type incorporates batch processing and atomic execution at the protocol layer, targeting scenarios such as payroll, merchant settlement, and subscriptions.
• Infrastructure providers such as Crossmint, Fireblocks, Privy, and Turnkey have integrated their solutions, lowering the barrier for businesses to adopt blockchain-based payments.

Why it is important

• Tempo directly integrates traditional financial-grade payment capabilities into the underlying blockchain, upgrading stablecoins from transferable assets to scalable payment tools, which is expected to accelerate the adoption of on-chain payment systems by enterprises and financial institutions.

Market adoption

JPMorgan Chase has introduced JPMD into the Base chain, marking the first time bank deposits have been integrated into a public blockchain.

Key Takeaways

• JPMorgan Chase is extending its tokenized bank deposit JPMD from its own blockchain to Coinbase's Layer 2 Base, and then into a public blockchain under controlled conditions.
• JPMD is an on-chain mapping of bank deposits, earns interest, and has different regulatory attributes from stablecoins;
• Currently used for on-chain settlement, margin and collateral, meeting the compliant funding needs of institutions on public chains.

Why it is important

• This is a "defensive on-chain" approach for the banking system, extending deposits, a core form of currency, to the public blockchain before the expansion of stablecoins. In the future, on-chain funds will present a pattern of coexistence and collaboration between stablecoins and tokenized deposits.

Visa launches stablecoin advisory business to help banks and businesses develop on-chain payment strategies.

Key Takeaways

• Visa has launched a "Stablecoin Advisory Service" within its advisory division, providing training, market analysis, strategic planning, and technical support to banks, fintech companies, and merchants.
• Visa's annualized stablecoin settlement volume has reached $3.5 billion, and it supports more than 130 stablecoin-linked card issuance projects in more than 40 countries. Some customers have begun to evaluate the role of stablecoins in the payment system.
• Early clients include Navy Federal, VyStar, and Pathward, with a focus on exploring real-world scenarios such as cross-border payments and B2B settlements, rather than native crypto experiments.

Why it is important

• Payment giants are incorporating stablecoins into their formal consulting and solutions systems, marking a shift from "crypto tools" to mainstream financial infrastructure. This is expected to accelerate the on-chain transformation of banks and large enterprises and expand the scale of digital dollar circulation.

Ramp enables direct payment of paper checks with stablecoins, integrating stablecoins into corporate financial systems.

Key Takeaways

• The head of Ramp, a fintech company targeting businesses, tweeted that they have completed a real payment path from USDC to paper checks to bank accounts, possibly the first of its kind.
• Stablecoins can be used as a source of corporate funding without changing the existing habits of recipients who rely on checks;
• Connecting blockchain funds to the most traditional payment system in the United States (paper checks) is essentially a form of "reverse compatibility" between stablecoins and traditional financial infrastructure.

Why it is important

• In scenarios heavily reliant on checks, such as accounting, legal, government, and healthcare, Ramp allows stablecoins to penetrate corporate payment systems through a back-end funding layer. This indicates that stablecoins are not replacing traditional methods, but rather supplying funds for ACH, wire transfers, and checks, quietly taking over the core aspect of "where the money comes from."

Japan's SBI will partner with Startale to launch a yen-denominated stablecoin, targeting institutional settlement.

Key Takeaways

• Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings has partnered with blockchain company Startale Group to launch a yen-pegged stablecoin in Q2 2026, positioned as a compliant token for global settlement and institutional adoption.
• The stablecoin will be issued and redeemed by Shinsei Trust & Banking, a trust bank under SBI, and will circulate through the compliant trading platform SBI VC Trade, reflecting the Japanese-style compliance path of "bank custody + licensed trading";
• Startale participated in the co-construction of the Sony-backed Soneium network and has issued the US dollar stablecoin USDSC, which will form a dual-currency stablecoin stack together with the Japanese yen stablecoin in the future.

Why it is important

• This is a local currency stablecoin project led by a major Japanese financial group, showing that yen stablecoins are moving from pilot programs to the financial infrastructure layer, paving the way for Japan to take the initiative in the competition for tokenized assets and on-chain settlement.

SoFi launches bank-issued stablecoin SoFiUSD, targeting institutional settlement infrastructure.

Key Takeaways

• SoFi issues its USD stablecoin, SoFiUSD, through its licensed national bank, SoFi Bank. SoFi Bank is regulated by the OCC and insured by the FDIC. SoFiUSD is fully backed by cash reserves at a 1:1 ratio, and funds can be directly deposited in the Federal Reserve account, reducing liquidity and credit risk. A portion of the profits can also be shared with partners or token holders.
• SoFiUSD is deployed on Ethereum, providing near real-time settlement 24/7 for banks, fintech companies, and enterprises.
• SoFi allows partners to use SoFiUSD directly or issue white-label stablecoins to access its settlement system.

Why it is important

• This marks the first time a national bank in the United States has issued a stablecoin on a public blockchain, signifying that stablecoins are evolving from "crypto products" into regulated financial infrastructure and accelerating the migration of the traditional banking system to on-chain settlement.

JPMorgan launches Ethereum on-chain tokenized money market fund, investing $100 million of its own funds.

Key Takeaways

• JPMorgan Asset Management launched the tokenized money market fund MONY (My OnChain Net Yield Fund), which runs on Ethereum. JPMorgan has invested $100 million in the initial offering, and the minimum investment for accredited investors is $1 million.
• MONY allows subscription and redemption with cash or USDC. Investors hold tokenized fund shares in their "wallet" and returns are accrued daily. The underlying assets are short-term, low-risk bonds.
• Following financial institutions such as BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase's entry signifies an acceleration of tokenization on Wall Street. This model shortens settlement time, reduces operating costs, and can be used as on-chain collateral.

Why it is important

• With the implementation of the Genius Act stablecoin regulatory framework, it is evident that mainstream financial institutions are incorporating "interest rates + on-chain settlement" into their core product systems, which is expected to reshape the way funds flow in the crypto ecosystem and promote the formation of institutional-grade on-chain financial infrastructure.

Interactive Brokers supports stablecoin deposits to address increasing competition in retail trading.

Key Takeaways

• Interactive Brokers allows US retail investors to deposit stablecoins into their brokerage accounts;
• The feature will be rolled out to eligible users in phases, and funds can come directly from crypto wallets instead of banks;
• The company has invested in stablecoin infrastructure provider ZeroHash and is considering issuing its own stablecoin.

Why it is important

• Traditional brokerages are incorporating stablecoins into their core funding channels to reduce transaction friction and counter competition from native crypto platforms. This signifies that stablecoins are moving beyond payment and settlement tools and further penetrating the mainstream securities trading system.

ADNOC, the UAE's largest petrol retailer, supports stablecoin payments at nearly a thousand locations.

Key Takeaways

• Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's retail arm, ADNOC Distribution, will accept the UAE stablecoin AE Coin, covering nearly 980 gas stations in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, and can be used for refueling, convenience stores, and car wash services.
• Users can make payments at gas stations, convenience stores, and car washes through Al Maryah Community Bank's AEC Wallet;
• AE Coin is the first stablecoin authorized by the Central Bank of the UAE, pegged 1:1 to the UAE Dirham.

Why it is important

• This is an important case of sovereign-backed digital assets entering high-frequency, offline daily consumption scenarios, verifying the feasibility of blockchain payments in physical retail, and potentially promoting the adoption of compliant stablecoins in the Middle East, accelerating the integration of digital payments with traditional energy retail.

YouTube supports US creators receiving payments via the PayPal stablecoin PYUSD.

Key Takeaways

• US YouTube creators can choose to receive their earnings in PYUSD, a stablecoin issued by PayPal.
• This feature builds on the existing partnership between YouTube and PayPal, with PayPal already offering stablecoin settlement for some bulk payment recipients;
• PYUSD has a market capitalization of approximately $3.9 billion, while YouTube has paid out over $100 billion to creators in the past four years.

Why it is important

• YouTube's introduction of stablecoin settlements signifies the first large-scale entry of stablecoins into the creator payment system of a mainstream content platform, strengthening their "payment tool" attributes and opening up new possibilities for the application of stablecoins in the global platform economy.

Macro trends

Bank of America: The US banking industry is moving towards a multi-year on-chain transformation

Key Takeaways

• The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has issued conditional trust banking licenses to several digital asset institutions, accelerating the integration of crypto into the banking system;
• The FDIC and the Federal Reserve will advance stablecoin capital, liquidity, and approval rules in accordance with the GENIUS Act;
• JPMorgan Chase and DBS Bank have tested tokenized deposits and on-chain settlements on public and permissioned blockchains.

Why it is important

• Bank of America believes that the shift in regulation from "discussion" to "implementation" is bringing stablecoins and tokenized deposits into the compliant banking system. Banks are no longer standing idly by in the crypto space, but are being institutionally driven towards on-chain assets and payments, initiating a long-term migration of financial infrastructure.

JPMorgan Chase: Stablecoins unlikely to break $1 trillion; market size may only reach $500 billion by 2028.

Key Takeaways

• JPMorgan predicts that the total market capitalization of stablecoins will be approximately $500 billion to $600 billion by 2028, far below the trillion-dollar forecast.
• The current demand for stablecoins is primarily driven by crypto trading, derivatives, and DeFi, rather than real-world payment scenarios. Stablecoin demand is projected to increase by approximately $100 billion by 2025, with USDT and USDC contributing the majority. This year alone, stablecoin holdings on derivatives exchanges have increased by about $20 billion; stablecoins are increasingly being used as collateral for transactions and as idle cash, rather than as payment currencies.
• Banks' push for tokenized deposits, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and SWIFT on-chain solutions (which could solidify banks' role in cross-border settlements) will divert demand for stablecoins.

Why it is important

• The future of stablecoins does not depend on how much they are used for payments, but on whether they can become a long-term depository layer for funds. If payments primarily increase the speed of circulation rather than the amount of capital held, stablecoins will face structural competition from bank tokenized deposits and CBDCs. JPMorgan Chase believes the future scenario will be a coexistence and division of labor between stablecoins, bank tokenized deposits, and CBDCs, with the size of stablecoins growing along with the overall crypto market, rather than experiencing an independent explosion.

Gold-backed stablecoins are approaching $4 billion in market capitalization, fueling demand for on-chain safe-haven assets.

Key Takeaways

• The total market capitalization of gold-pegged stablecoins has exceeded $4 billion, nearly tripling from approximately $1.3 billion at the beginning of 2025, indicating a significant increase in demand for on-chain "safe-haven assets."
• Tether Gold (XAUt) has a market capitalization of approximately $2.2 billion, accounting for half of the market, while Paxos Gold (PAXG) has a market capitalization of approximately $1.5 billion, together accounting for nearly 90% of the market.
• Gold prices rose by approximately 66% in 2025, driven by macroeconomic uncertainties, geopolitical tensions, and persistent inflation expectations, which led to a simultaneous flow of funds into both physical gold and tokenized gold.

Why it is important

• Gold-backed stablecoins demonstrate that crypto funds are actively embracing traditional safe-haven assets and choosing to "stay on-chain." This means that stablecoins are no longer solely pegged to fiat currencies and are becoming an important channel connecting macro-level safe-haven assets with on-chain finance, broadening the risk hedging dimensions of crypto assets.

The UAE has elevated asset tokenization to a national strategy to reshape its economic infrastructure.

Key Takeaways

• The UAE is not only regulating tokenization, but also embedding it into its core economic systems such as real estate, trade finance, and carbon credits;
• Dubai’s VARA has established “Asset Reference Virtual Assets (ARVA)” to bring the tokenization of real-world assets under formal financial regulation.
• Many departments have already implemented blockchain technology, such as in real estate registration, replacing lengthy traditional processes.

Why it is important

• The UAE views tokenization as "infrastructure for the digital age," rather than a financial experiment, and has taken the lead in leaping from rules to deployment. This "build the system first, then regulate in real time" approach is making it a model for the global tokenized economy and may also export a new regulatory paradigm.