It is in this segment that "stable coins" are expected to gain widespread use.
In February, Bank of America said it was open to the launch of stablecoin. In doing so, the bank expressed its willingness to follow Standard Chartered, PayPal, Revolut and Stripe into a business dominated by Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC).
The enthusiasm of new entrants is fueled by the growing adoption of "stable coins" by regulators around the world, the FT noted. The momentum is largely due to the return to office of US President Donald Trump. The cryptocurrency working group formed by him has prioritized developing a regulatory environment for stablecoins. Congress is already discussing a related legislative bill.
"If they make it legal, we will get into that business," Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said.
Last month, Standard Chartered said it would lead a joint venture that plans to launch a token based on the Hong Kong dollar. Payments company Stripe closed its $1.1 billion acquisition of infrastructure platform Bridge.
"Stablecoins and more advanced networks are really interesting for use in payments, which is what our business is built on," said Stripe co-founder and president John Colison.
PayPal, which has already released PYUSD, plans to expand the coin's use cases in 2025. The company is counting on increased demand from U.S. importers paying for shipments to foreign counterparties.
New entrants face stiff competition in the sector. According to Visa, PYUSD transaction volume this month totaled $163 million, while Tether's figure exceeded $131 billion.
The total capitalization of the stablecoin segment is approaching $236 billion, of which USDT accounts for ~$143 billion and USDC (CoinGecko) for ~$58 billion.
Crypto trading remains the most common use case for stablecoins. However, the assets have gained popularity in some emerging markets as a substitute for hard currency. In some cases, they are used for cross-border transfers. For example, SpaceX thus withdraws funds from the sale of Starlink services in Argentina and Nigeria.
Index Ventures partner Martin Mignot noted that stablecoins are "attractive" for markets with a lack of "developed infrastructure or large liquidity", as well as the presence of high currency risks. However, for the leading economies, the scenarios for their use "do not look so obvious," the expert believes.
Analysts warn that the market "may not be able to tolerate" dozens of new coins as consumers begin to scrutinize the quality of the companies behind the assets.
Simon Taylor, co-founder of fintech consulting firm 11:FS, pointed out that stablecoins are quasi-money, so reflect the issuer's credit risk.
As a reminder, bitcoin exchange Crypto.com scheduled the launch of its own "stable coin" for the third quarter of 2025.
