Global payments are undergoing a transformation, and stablecoins are at the heart of this revolution. They are not only reshaping cross-border transactions, but also redefining the future of payments.
Cobo is at the forefront of this revolution, committed to building the next generation of stablecoin payment solutions. This full-stack stablecoin infrastructure encompasses wallet infrastructure, risk management and compliance, and yield-generating financial solutions. This helps entrepreneurs focus on product innovation and user growth, and easily tap into the wave of stablecoin financial innovation.
This week's theme can be summed up in one word: The Stablecoin War.
The battlefields primarily focus on several fronts:
First, the banks' counterattack. As stablecoins rapidly penetrate the banking system, banks are clinging to their core deposit base while simultaneously attempting to monetize data services around access to user financial data, building new defensive defenses. Another front in the battle is fintech giant Stripe. After integrating its backend (by acquiring Bridge) and strengthening its front-end distribution (by acquiring Privy), Stripe is now directly building its own Layer 1 platform from scratch. This has sparked debate about centralization and decentralization and challenged the narrative that "TradFi transactions will happen on Ethereum." However, judging by the competitive landscape, Stripe's true target is the market share of Visa and SWIFT—effectively, it's seizing market share within payment networks. On an optimistic note, this is still an incremental positive for the crypto industry. After all, this is a multi-billion dollar market, and every additional on-chain user bolsters the entire crypto ecosystem's market capitalization.
The total stablecoin market capitalization reached $273.463 billion (approximately US$273.5 billion), a weekly increase of $3.759 billion (approximately US$3.76 billion). In terms of market structure, USDT continued to maintain its dominant position, accounting for 60.43%; USDC ranked second with a market capitalization of $66.793 billion (approximately US$66.8 billion), accounting for 24.42%.
Ethereum: $138.595b (US$138.6 billion)
Tron: $82.891b (US$82.9 billion)
Solana: $12.091b (US$12.1 billion)
StarkNet: +60.40% (USDC accounts for 91.91%)
XRPL: +24.88% (RLUSD accounts for 51.25%)
Hyperliquid L1: +17.59% (USDC accounts for 95.61%)
Data from DefiLlama
, challenging banks' control over value distribution and customer relationships.
The core of these two battles is that banks use their monopoly resources in the traditional system—data and deposit bases—to build new entry barriers to limit the market space of emerging competitors. Regulation has become the primary tool in this battle: banks attempt to build moats through rules, while fintech and crypto companies use regulation to promote openness and de-monopoly. If banks prevail in the data race, stablecoin companies will face higher operating costs; if banks dominate the capital battle, stablecoins' profitability will be weakened. Either outcome will directly shape the competitive landscape between on-chain and traditional finance. AI, Stablecoins, and Self-Developed Chains: Stripe's Blueprint for the Future of Payments Another battle unfolded this week over the "payment blockchain," extending beyond the debate between centralization and decentralization to the choice of underlying architecture. Stripe and Circle have successively launched their own Layer 1 blockchains, directly challenging Ethereum's Layer 2 solution, which has dominated the mainstream narrative for years. While traditional financial giants were initially expected to rely on Layer 2 solutions like Rollup to integrate into the crypto ecosystem, they have now collectively chosen to build their own underlying networks, bypassing established scaling strategies and gaining control of the fundamentals of transaction and settlement. From the outside, this move appears more like a natural extension of a giant's pursuit of profit. However, such an interpretation overlooks the deeper strategic logic behind it. Stripe's in-house blockchain development is a necessary step in its evolution from a payment channel to a data and intelligent services platform, driven by the dual trends of stablecoins and AI. Stablecoins are penetrating banks, merchants, and consumers at an unprecedented rate, driving a restructuring of payment and settlement architectures. Stripe already provides front-end and back-end stablecoin services (through the acquisitions of Privy and Bridge), and the launch of Tempo integrates issuance, distribution, and clearing, directly targeting SWIFT's cross-border clearing and Visa/Mastercard's card payment clearing systems. The goal of Tempo isn't simply to replace existing chains, but to provide Stripe's core customers—merchants—with an on-chain payment infrastructure that balances performance, cost, and compliance. As general-purpose public chains struggle to meet supply chain and cross-border settlement needs, Tempo utilizes a permissioned system and zero-knowledge proofs to achieve sub-second settlement and stable fees. This bypasses external network regulations while natively capturing full-chain transaction data. This data not only provides high-quality input for AI-powered risk management and credit modeling, but can also be transformed into value-added services, filling the gap in transaction profits left by the impact of stablecoins on the four-party model. From a higher perspective, Stripe's self-built blockchain aims to deeply integrate payment and data networks, elevating payments from a low-margin, basic function to programmable enterprise operational infrastructure. Control over the underlying chain allows for flexible adjustments to performance and regulatory rules. Furthermore, combining on-chain settlement with AI-powered value-added services creates a closed-loop advantage for operations and data. This strategy is not only about cost efficiency, but also about the future of business relationships and data dominance. Despite concerns about centralized "walled gardens," the optimistic outlook is that this will attract more compliant capital and real users, migrating funds and businesses previously residing in the traditional financial system to crypto infrastructure. For Ethereum, this isn't a zero-sum competition, but rather an expansion of overall capacity, providing a more stable liquidity and asset base for native applications like DeFi.
Key Points
The EU MiCA, the US GENIUS, and the Hong Kong Stablecoin Ordinance differ significantly in terms of issuers, reserve requirements, and licensing systems.
Different regulatory frameworks force issuers to establish parallel compliance systems, increasing costs and operational friction, making them unsustainable for smaller stablecoin companies.
Experts say regulatory fragmentation will concentrate market power on large, well-capitalized issuers and may drive global regulatory convergence in the long term.
Why it matters
In the short term, regulatory competition will continue and stablecoins may be restricted to specific jurisdictions; in the long term, risks and the growth of cross-border transaction volumes will drive international coordination.
Quick Summary
ETH has risen 80% since June 5, driven by Circle's listing and the minting of stablecoin Ethereum; Coinbase obtains ETH income through its L2 Base chain and staking business;
Base processes more than 9 million transactions per day, with an annualized revenue of approximately US$75 million, and has become a major token issuance platform; Coinbase will integrate all Base tokens into the main exchange to increase ETH-denominated transaction fee income;
Coinbase holds approximately 136,800 Base tokens ETH (worth $590 million) and launched the Base App wallet to strengthen its ecosystem layout.
Why it matters
Coinbase benefits from multiple aspects of Ethereum's infrastructure, transactions, and asset holdings, and is directly tied to the growth dividend of the ETH ecosystem.
Key Points at a Glance
Nobel Prize-winning economist Simon Johnson criticized the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act for overly catering to the interests of the crypto industry, weakening supervision, and failing to effectively prevent stablecoin runs, capital and liquidity risks;
The bill allows foreign issuers to hold high-risk non-U.S. dollar-denominated assets as reserves, which may trigger a liquidity crisis and market panic when the U.S. dollar appreciates;
Relaxing restrictions on conflicts of interest and self-dealing may recreate 1920s-style financial risks and increase the use of stablecoins in illegal transactions.
Why it matters
Loose regulation may push the United States into the "crypto capital", but at the same time it will sow the seeds of financial panic and systemic collapse.
Key points at a glance
Starting October 29th, Google Play will require crypto wallet applications to be licensed and comply with industry standards in more than 15 regions including the US and Europe;
In the United States, developers must register as money service providers or remittance institutions; in the European Union, they must register as crypto asset service providers (CASPs);
Google clarified that non-custodial wallets are not affected by the new regulations. It had previously caused controversy by removing crypto applications.
Why it’s important
The new regulations may accelerate the compliance of custodial crypto wallets and strengthen KYC and anti-money laundering measures.
Quick Overview of Key Points
Startup company AnchorZero has launched a plan that allows crypto founders to deposit pre-released tokens into Roth IRAs and realize tax-free appreciation;
The mechanism relies on Anchorage Digital Bank for custody, similar to Peter Thiel’s early practice of putting PayPal shares into an IRA;
Critics say the plan exacerbates tax injustice and further deepens the public’s negative impression of “insider profits” in the crypto industry.
Why it matters
Although legal, this mechanism is highly controversial and may attract regulatory attention and damage the fairness and image of the crypto industry.
Key Points at a Glance
In her speech, Peirce quoted Eric Hughes, author of the Cypherpunk Manifesto, and supported anonymous technologies such as cryptocurrency mixers, privacy chains, and decentralized physical networks;
She criticized the "third party principle" for giving the government the power to obtain bank data without a warrant, and argued that bank records should enjoy the same privacy protection as the Fourth Amendment;
Peirce acknowledged that privacy tools should be allowed even if they may be used for illegal purposes, in order to reduce reliance on third parties for information.
Why it matters
As a senior US financial regulator, Peirce's position is rarely highly consistent with the core value of privacy in the crypto community, which may influence future policies and regulatory attitudes.
Quick Overview
a16z and DeFi Education Fund wrote to SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, suggesting that NFT and DeFi applications that do not involve high risks be exempted from broker registration requirements;
The letter stated that the safe harbor can provide regulatory clarity, retain the SEC's power to supervise high-risk activities, and allow developers to build fearlessly in the United States;
a16z has previously proposed an NFT safe harbor to the SEC, and suggested establishing a similar mechanism for airdrops and network tokens.
Why it matters
If adopted, the safe harbor will lower compliance barriers and reduce the risk of traditional securities regulations being misused to target innovative applications.
Quick Overview
PayPal PYUSD issuer Paxos has applied to convert its New York limited purpose trust license into a U.S. national trust bank license and accept OCC supervision;
If approved, it can custody customer assets and settle payments across the United States, but cannot accept deposits or make loans;
This move follows the implementation of the GENIUS Act stablecoin legislation. Similar institutions such as Ripple and Circle have also recently submitted license applications.
Why it’s important
Federal licenses can help stablecoin issuers improve compliance and the trust of institutional clients.
Key Points at a Glance
The SFC issued a circular to licensed virtual asset trading platforms, clarifying the minimum standards for robust custody, covering executive responsibilities, cold wallet infrastructure, third-party wallet applications and real-time threat monitoring;
This move stems from a number of recent virtual asset custody vulnerabilities overseas and the discovery of insufficient monitoring in targeted reviews in Hong Kong;
The new standards will incorporate core regulatory requirements to promote the industry to adopt more advanced custody technologies and establish an effective custody framework.
Why it’s important
Strengthening custody and security standards can reduce the risk of platform security incidents and enhance the compliance and international credibility of Hong Kong’s virtual asset market.
Quick Summary
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctions companies and executives related to the ruble stablecoin A7A5 and the shuttered exchange Garantex, accusing them of laundering ransomware proceeds and evading sanctions;
Garantex once processed over $100 million in illegal transactions. After being shut down, its successor platform Grinex used A7A5 to restore customer funds access, and A7A5's daily trading volume reached $1 billion;
Targets of sanctions include issuer Old Vector and A7 LLC and its subsidiaries, as well as several Russian executives and their affiliated institutions, and completely ban them from accessing the US dollar settlement system.
Why it matters
The United States is cracking down on Russian financial networks that use stablecoins and crypto exchanges to circumvent sanctions.
Quick Overview
The Bankers Policy Institute (BPI) released a report urging Congress to plug the loophole in the GENIUS Act that prohibits stablecoins from paying interest;
The report cited data from the Treasury Department, saying that if the loophole is not plugged, stablecoins may cause $6.6 trillion in bank deposits to leave;
BPI pointed out that exchanges and affiliated companies can circumvent the ban through "rewards", thereby weakening the effectiveness of supervision.
Why it’s important
If loopholes are not plugged, stablecoins will impact banks’ deposit base and push up loan costs.
Key points at a glance
The CEOs of several fintech and crypto companies, including Klarna, Robinhood, Gemini, Kraken, PayPal, and Stripe, jointly wrote a letter to Trump, opposing large banks charging third parties for access to customer data;
JPMorgan Chase has announced that it will charge data aggregators, and PNC is also considering similar measures; the industry claims that this move will "stifle innovation" and force small financial instruments to close;
Industry organizations such as FTA and American Fintech Council have jointly called for maintaining an open financial ecosystem to prevent large banks from hindering competition.
Why it matters
Data access fees may weaken the competitiveness of open banking and open finance models, and limit the development space for emerging payment and encryption services.
Quick Points
Cross-border payment infrastructure company Transak received $16 million in strategic financing led by Tether and IDG Capital to expand its stablecoin payment network;
The platform has processed over $2 billion in transaction volume, approximately 30% of which came from stablecoins, covering 75 countries and 450+ applications, and serving over 10 million users in fiat currency and stablecoin conversion;
Transak With regulatory licenses in multiple regions, it plans to expand into the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Why it's important
Stablecoins are becoming the underlying network for global payments, with capital increasing investment in compliant cross-border infrastructure and accelerating their implementation in emerging markets.
Quick Overview
Coinbase restarted the Stablecoin Bootstrap Fund through its Coinbase Asset Management, with the first batch of funds invested in Aave, Morpho, Kamino and Jupiter;
The fund provided initial USDC liquidity for protocols such as Uniswap, Compound, and dYdX in its first phase in 2019. Today, USDC's annual on-chain trading volume has reached US$2.7 trillion;
The new fund aims to provide deeper stablecoin liquidity for mature and emerging protocols, and work with early teams to promote stablecoin growth.
Why it is important
Direct investment by leading trading platforms may increase the depth of the DeFi stablecoin market and accelerate the popularization of stablecoins in on-chain finance.
Key Points
Stablecoin lending protocol USD.AI has completed a $13 million Series A funding round, led by Framework Ventures, with participation from Dragonfly, Arbitrum, and others;
The platform uses GPU hardware as collateral to issue dollar-pegged loans to small and medium-sized AI companies, and has attracted $50 million in deposits during its private beta phase;
It plans to launch an ICO and a gamified distribution model to further expand the market for the integration of AI and on-chain finance.
Why it’s important
Integrating AI hardware with stablecoin credit opens up new asset classes beyond on-chain unsecured loans.
Key Points at a Glance
Nuvei, a Montreal, Canada-based payments company, provides services in over 200 markets and is now integrating a stablecoin backend to enable same-day cross-border settlement;
Using a “stablecoin sandwich” model to bypass the bottleneck of correspondent banks and improve payment efficiency in underdeveloped regions;
The new solution focuses on emerging markets where cross-border payments are restricted and banking networks are underdeveloped.
Why it’s important
Stablecoin technology is becoming a cross-border settlement infrastructure, improving payment scenarios that traditional banks are difficult to cover.
Quick Overview
Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa, is promoting the expansion of stablecoin settlement, collaborating with banks and fintech, and considering issuing its own stablecoin in the future;
Its stablecoin settlement service now supports operations 7 days a week, with a cumulative settlement volume of over $200 million. The first batch of customers include BBVA, Rain, etc.;
Cooperating with Yellow Card, a payment company in emerging markets such as Africa, to explore the application of stablecoins in cross-border transfers, liquidity management and treasury operations.
Why it’s important
As a global payment giant, Visa is expanding its market share through its stablecoin business and competing for dominance in payment infrastructure in emerging markets and on-chain finance.
Quick Summary
Blue Origin has partnered with payment technology company Shift4 to support the use of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins such as BTC, ETH, SOL, USDT, and USDC to pay for New Shepard suborbital flight tickets;
Users can complete instant and secure payments directly through wallets such as Coinbase and MetaMask;
The new payment method supports global instant settlement in US dollars and is processed 24/7 to meet the diversified payment needs of the high-end travel market;
New Shepard has transferred 75+ Passengers have been sent to outer space beyond the Kármán Line, and tickets are now available for crypto payments on all upcoming commercial flights.
Why it matters
Opening a gateway to space tourism for high-net-worth crypto users expands Blue Origin's customer base and demonstrates the potential of crypto payments for high-value transactions.
Quick Overview
Spar has partnered with Binance Pay and DFX.swiss to launch stablecoins and crypto payments in over 300 supermarkets across Switzerland, covering more than 100 digital assets;
Currently, 100 stores have been opened, and the remaining stores will be connected in the coming months. Payments will be settled instantly in Swiss francs;
Merchants can save up to two-thirds of card fees. More than 1,000 merchants in Switzerland already support Bitcoin payments.
Why it’s important
This is the first national retail encrypted payment implementation in Switzerland, which may accelerate the popularization of digital currency in daily consumption scenarios.
Key Points
Citigroup is evaluating the launch of cryptocurrency custody and payment services, with the initial focus on high-quality assets backed by stablecoins;
The plan covers crypto-related ETF custody, benefiting from the advancement of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs and stablecoin legislation;
Citigroup has actively deployed in the blockchain and tokenization fields in recent years, participating in 18 industry investments from 2020 to 2024.
Why it’s important
The entry of large Wall Street banks will enhance the institutionalization and compliance of crypto asset custody and payment.
Key Points
Coinbase Development Platform (CDP) has added the "netUSDChange" policy to its Server Wallets security suite;
This feature calculates the total USD value of a single transaction (covering native assets, ERC20, ERC721, ERC1155) and automatically blocks or releases it based on set thresholds;
The price calculation is based on current market conditions and is designed to help developers reduce their exposure to high-risk transfers.
Why it’s important
Providing more refined risk control tools for on-chain applications will help improve the security of institutions and developers in large transactions.
Quick overview of key points
Ethereum's leading wallet MetaMask plans to announce the US dollar stablecoin mUSD this week and launch it at the end of the month;
The platform has over 30 million monthly active users, and has cooperated with Stripe's Bridge and M^0 to issue it, and introduced Blackstone to provide custody and fund management;
Stablecoin income will come from highly liquid assets such as short-term US Treasury bonds.
Why it is important
The self-issuance of stablecoins by leading wallets will accelerate the use and revenue circulation of stablecoins in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Key Points at a Glance
Coinbase has partnered with crypto payment platform Mercuryo to reduce USDC on-chain fees for MetaMask users on the Base network by approximately 50%;
The offer applies to both new and existing users. Base was incubated by Coinbase; MetaMask is the mainstream Ethereum wallet;
This move comes close after USDC issuer Circle announced the construction of a native Layer 1 stablecoin using USDC as gas.
Why it’s important
Reducing on-chain costs can promote the circulation of USDC in the Ethereum and Base ecosystems, and consolidate Coinbase’s position in the stablecoin competition.
Quick Overview
Circle's Q2 revenue was US$658 million, with a net loss of US$4.82 billion due to non-cash expenses related to the IPO;
Launched EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain Arc, using USDC as Gas, targeting payment, foreign exchange and capital market applications;
USDC circulation increased by 90% year-on-year to US$61.3 billion, with on-chain transaction volume reaching US$5.9 trillion, and market share rose to 28%.
Why it is important
Self-developed chains can strengthen USDC's basic position in the payment and settlement fields and directly participate in the competition for stablecoin infrastructure.
Key Points at a Glance
Binance has introduced BBVA, Spain’s third-largest bank, to provide clients with off-chain custody, allowing them to deposit their assets in U.S. Treasury bonds held by BBVA and use them as trading margin;
This arrangement isolates transactions from funds, reducing counterparty risk brought about by exchange failures;
This move continues Binance’s strategy of introducing third-party custody (such as Sygnum and FlowBank) in response to market concerns about fund security following the FTX incident.
Why it is important
Strengthening the user asset isolation mechanism will help improve the exchange's compliance and market trust.
Quick Overview
Humanity Protocol, a decentralized identity network headquartered in Hong Kong, launched its mainnet with a valuation of $1.1 billion and uses zero-knowledge transport layer security protocol (zkTLS) to connect Web2 certificates and Web3 services;
zkTLS allows users to verify frequent flyer, financial, educational and other qualifications without disclosing underlying data, avoiding biometric privacy risks;
In the future, it will expand to on-chain ticketing, decentralized governance and Sybil attack-resistant platforms.
Why it’s important
Providing a privacy-first authentication infrastructure is expected to challenge Worldcoin’s dominance in the decentralized identity and “proof of human” sectors.
Ethereum's stability teeters on a fine balance due to over-reliance on the Geth client, with Lido Finance at the forefront of this precarious situation. However, efforts towards diversification and innovation hint at a future where reliance is distributed, not centralised.
WeiliangThe PYTH token experiences a surge in staking, possibly driven by airdrop prospects, while users remain cautious in their investment.
BrianSolana's NFT sector shows mixed signals of growth and decline, with potential uplift from Magic Eden's new reward program.
WeiliangTelefónica partners with Nova Labs, deploying Helium Mobile hotspots in Mexico to enhance coverage, showcasing a pioneering blend of traditional telecom and decentralized networks.
MiyukiSouth Africa introduces FSP licenses, bolstering crypto market integrity and consumer protection.
BrianRippleX and Peersyst edge closer to launching an EVM Sidechain, fusing XRPL with Ethereum's smart contracts.
WeiliangAvalanche Foundation's strategic blueprint for embracing memecoins combines rigorous criteria with market enthusiasm, marking a new chapter in the narrative of digital assets.
MiyukiKuCoin integrates Apple Pay with KuCard, enhancing transaction security and convenience
BrianPYTH staking experiences a surge with over 109,000 users engaging in the last 30 days, propelled by guides on X linking staking to potential airdrops. However, despite the buzz, a significant 68% of stakers are cautious, committing 1,100 PYTH or less, hinting at a delicate balance between speculation and risk in the evolving decentralised finance landscape.
JoyGrayscale's Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) experienced substantial outflows, notably transferring significant BTC amounts to Coinbase Prime, impacting Bitcoin's market dynamics. These movements, part of the ETF conversion, reflect a complex interplay between institutional decisions and cryptocurrency valuations.
Joy