Stablecoins: From Niche Cryptocurrency to Mainstream Financial Tool

Stablecoins are moving from niche cryptocurrency assets to mainstream financial tools, with major banks, credit card companies, and Fortune 500 companies launching their own digital tokens. These changes could reshape payment infrastructure and fund transfers in the United States and worldwide. According to Catena on the 6th (local time), PayPal's blockchain head Jose Fernandez da Ponte called stablecoins an emerging infrastructure layer designed to move value efficiently. Companies view stablecoins as a way to reduce transaction fees and enable instant payments, which benefits merchants facing annual payment processing costs of $187 billion. Circle, the issuer of USDC, recently gained attention with a stock price surge of 750% in June. Partnerships quickly followed, including Shopify and Coinbase enabling USDC payments, and Fiserv launching its own stablecoin to complement annual transactions of 900 billion. Mastercard currently supports four stablecoins for institutional customers targeting 24-hour payments on its Multi-Token Network. Visa's CEO confirmed the company is upgrading infrastructure with stablecoin technology. JPMorgan launched JPMD, a commercial bank deposit-backed token for faster and cheaper institutional payments connected to traditional banking systems. Policy developments are supporting this trend. The US Senate passed the bipartisan GENIUS Act to regulate stablecoins with consumer protection, reserve rules, and anti-money laundering standards. However, some lawmakers criticize the bill for not addressing conflicts of interest, citing stablecoins connected to former President Donald Trump. Industry experts say stablecoins have matured as usable payment tools, and companies are competing to adopt the technology ahead of disruptive changes.