Author: Mask

A silent payment revolution is reshaping the global financial landscape.

As cross-border remittances are reduced from 3 days to 3 minutes, as Argentine workers receive their salaries in dollar-pegged stablecoins via mobile phones, and as convenience stores in Hong Kong begin accepting digital Hong Kong dollars for payments… we are witnessing a financial infrastructure transformation driven by stablecoins. In 2025, with the implementation of the U.S. "Genius Act" and Hong Kong's "Stablecoin Regulation," global stablecoins will officially enter the "compliance year."

I. The Eve of Explosion: The Global Compliance Wave of Stablecoins

Regulatory Breakthrough: Moving from Gray Areas to the Mainstream

In July 2025, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of Hong Kong, Xu Zhengyu, announced that the "Stablecoin Regulation" will officially take effect on August 1, with the first batch of licenses limited to "single digits," requiring issuers to maintain a minimum paid-up capital of 25 million Hong Kong dollars, and reserve assets must be fully backed by high-liquidity assets with isolated management.

Almost simultaneously, the U.S. Senate passed the "Genius Act," which clearly states that stablecoins must be pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar or short-term U.S. Treasury bonds, prohibiting uncollateralized algorithmic stablecoins and granting holders priority in bankruptcy repayment.

The implementation of these two major acts marks the completion of the stablecoin regulatory puzzle in the world's two major financial centers. Stablecoins, which once operated in regulatory gray areas, are now officially incorporated into national financial regulatory frameworks.

Market Landscape: A $260 Billion Ecosystem Dominated by Two Giants

By 2025, the global stablecoin market has entered a new development phase. As of mid-June, the stablecoin market size surpassed $260 billion, accounting for 8% of the entire crypto asset market, with stablecoin trading volume in 2024 reaching approximately $37 trillion, significantly exceeding Bitcoin's trading volume of $19 trillion during the same period. The two giants dominating the market are:

• USDT (Tether): Market cap of $157.6 billion, accounting for 60%

• USDC: Market cap of $61.7 billion, accounting for 23%

Together, they hold over 80% of the market share.

Behind this highly concentrated landscape is the extension of the U.S. dollar's hegemony in the digital finance sector—currently, 99% of stablecoins are pegged to the U.S. dollar, far exceeding the dollar's 50% share in global payments. This also marks the transformation of stablecoins from mere "connectors" of crypto assets to a new infrastructure for global payments.

II. Reshaping Finance: Three Major Practical Scenarios for Stablecoins

Cross-Border Payments: A Revolution from 3 Days to 3 Minutes

In Mexico, remittances received through stablecoins reached $63.3 billion in 2023, accounting for half of its total remittance volume. The fintech company Bitso processed 10% of the U.S.-Mexico remittance transactions, reducing fees from the traditional banking range of 8%-12% to below 3%, and shortening the transaction time from several days to minutes.

Essential Transformation: The traditional SWIFT system relies on multi-tiered bank intermediaries for settlement, while stablecoins enable peer-to-peer transactions through blockchain, cutting out intermediaries and achieving "remittances like sending emails."

DeFi Financial Engine: The Core Fuel for Collateralized Lending

In the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, stablecoins have become the "blood" that keeps the system running:

• On the lending platform Aave, USDC and USDT account for 90% of the total lending volume.

• By 2024, the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi reached $94.1 billion, with stablecoins accounting for over 60%.

Key Advantage: Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile, while stablecoins provide stable collateral and pricing units for DeFi, making on-chain lending and derivatives trading possible.

Real Assets on the Blockchain: The "Stablecoin Channel" for RWA

BlackRock launched the BUIDL fund based on USDC, tokenizing U.S. Treasury bonds; short-term U.S. Treasury bond tokens (STBT) achieve on-chain circulation through the stablecoin USDV.

Innovative Logic: Stablecoins serve as a bridge connecting traditional assets and blockchain. The "Malou Vineyard" in Shanghai raised $10 million by issuing digital tokens, allowing investors to exchange tokens for grape picking cards—agricultural assets have entered the public investment landscape in a fragmented form for the first time.

The application scenarios for stablecoins have expanded from crypto asset trading to cross-border payments, supply chain finance, and real asset tokenization (RWA), with traditional financial giants accelerating their layouts.

PayPal announced the expansion of its dollar stablecoin PYUSD to the Stellar blockchain, enabling real-time working capital for small and medium-sized enterprises to pay suppliers, manage inventory, and meet operational needs.

Circle has partnered with payment giant Fiserv to integrate USDC infrastructure into its financial services ecosystem, allowing thousands of banks connected to Fiserv to directly use stablecoin tools without building their own crypto systems.

III. Reefs and Storms: Three Major Survival Challenges for Stablecoins

Technological Trust Crisis: The Ghost of Decoupling Events

In March 2023, USDC experienced a temporary freeze of reserves due to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, causing its price to plummet to $0.87; in 2022, the algorithmic stablecoin UST collapsed, resulting in a $40 billion market cap evaporation, triggering a thorough reflection on uncollateralized models within the industry.

Core Vulnerabilities:

• Smart contract risks (e.g., USDR decoupling due to code vulnerabilities)

• Insufficient transparency of reserve assets (Tether has long faced audit scrutiny)

• Over-reliance on the credit of centralized issuers

Global Regulatory Game: The Shadow War of Monetary Sovereignty

Countries' attitudes toward stablecoins reflect deep-seated sovereignty struggles:

• United States: Mandatory peg to the U.S. dollar, restricting the entry of foreign stablecoins

• European Union: Strict control over non-euro stablecoin circulation, setting a daily trading cap of 5 million euros

• Emerging Markets: Nigeria has seen a "local currency substitution" phenomenon, forced to balance innovation and monetary sovereignty.

Focus of Contradiction: Stablecoins may weaken the transmission of central bank monetary policy, especially when 99% of stablecoins are pegged to the U.S. dollar, effectively expanding the digital hegemony of the dollar.

The Threat of CBDC Substitution: The National Team's Counterattack

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are being accelerated:

• China's "digital yuan" has completed cross-border tests with the central banks of Thailand and the UAE, reducing transaction times to 6-9 seconds.

• Saudi Arabia has joined the mBridge cross-border payment platform, cutting costs by 50%.

Competitive Logic: CBDCs are backed by national credit, providing inherent advantages in security and anti-money laundering compliance, potentially squeezing the cross-border payment space for stablecoins.

IV. The Future Path: A Rebalance of Compliance and Innovation

Hong Kong's Testing Ground: A New Path for Renminbi Internationalization

In the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's sandbox program, Ant Group, JD Technology, Standard Chartered Bank, and three other institutions are testing stablecoin issuance. Notably:

• Offshore Renminbi stablecoins: Pegged to offshore Renminbi (CNH) to circumvent capital controls.

• Multi-currency stablecoins: Such as the mixed tokens issued by Yuan Coin Technology, pegged to the Hong Kong dollar, Renminbi, and U.S. dollar.

Strategic Value: With its robust regulatory framework and status as a financial center, Hong Kong is becoming an "innovation firewall" for Renminbi stablecoins, providing a detour for Renminbi internationalization.

Technological Evolution: From Payment Tools to Financial OS

The new generation of stablecoins is breaking through the mere payment function:

• Dynamic Reserve Management: For example, MakerDAO's DAI adjusts collateral ratios algorithmically.

• RWA Integration: Tokenizing the revenue rights of physical assets like charging stations and photovoltaic power plants, distributing dividends using stablecoins.

Ultimate Vision: Stablecoins may evolve into an open financial operating system, automatically executing complex operations such as trade settlements, supply chain financing, and derivatives hedging on-chain.

Conclusion: Moving Forward Amidst Enthusiasm and Skepticism

"In light of regulatory responsibilities, I also want to cool things down, allowing everyone to view stablecoins more objectively and calmly." This reminder from the President of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Yu Weiman, is the best footnote for the compliance year of stablecoins in 2025.

When technological innovation collides with financial regulation, and when dollar hegemony meets the awakening of monetary sovereignty, the journey of stablecoins is bound to be filled with competition. However, it is undeniable: it has opened a gap in efficiency for the global payment system, providing a low-cost dollar channel for 3 billion unbanked individuals, and has turned the ideal of "free flow of value" into reality.

This silent revolution has only just begun.

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