stablecoins

Rob Nichols, the President of the American Bankers Association, stated in an interview that the banking industry's lobbying group hopes for the passage of the CLARITY Act, but issues surrounding stablecoins still need to be resolved.The bill is about 600 pages long, and the banking industry only suggests making minor and precise modifications to two sections to prevent stablecoins from replacing bank deposits. They are referred to as payment stablecoins for a reason, not deposit stablecoins. However, he does believe that the cryptocurrency industry and the banking industry can coexist.

Circle's Senior Director of Strategy and Policy for the EU, Patrick Hansen, pointed out that since the implementation of the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), approximately 35 electronic money tokens (EMT) from 21 institutions have obtained compliance certification, with banks and electronic money institutions entering the market, showing a good momentum for local issuance.However, among the top 50 stablecoins globally, currently only USDC, USDG, and EURC meet MiCA requirements, while the rest remain outside the regulatory framework, leaving EU users facing a dual dilemma of lack of protection or being forced to cut off access. Hansen believes that for MiCA to truly become a global regulatory blueprint, it must achieve two goals simultaneously: first, to promote local EMTs to go global with competitive systems; second, to establish a recognition mechanism for compliant stablecoins from abroad, attracting global issuers into the MiCA regulatory framework, rather than making local issuance the only entry path.

According to Cointelegraph, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released a policy research report titled "Stablecoin Sprint," gathering opinions from industry participants such as banks, payment companies, and stablecoin issuers.The report points out that stablecoins have recently shown significant advantages in the field of cross-border payments, especially providing substantial assistance to emerging markets with limited access to US dollar channels; however, in the domestic retail payment scenario in the UK, the existing payment systems are already relatively fast and inexpensive, leading to a lack of motivation for consumers to switch, and the adoption speed is expected to lag behind. The findings of the above research have been incorporated into the final regulatory rules released by the FCA on June 30, which require that stablecoins issued in the UK must be fully backed by reserve assets and redeemable at face value.

According to Edaily, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea plans to jointly draft a unified government bill for the "Basic Law on Digital Assets" with the ruling Democratic Party, covering the issuance and circulation of stablecoins, business rules for digital assets, exchange admission requirements, information disclosure, internal control, and system resilience standards. Currently, there are 10 related bills pending review in the National Assembly, but there has not yet been consensus on core disputes such as whether the issuers of won-pegged stablecoins must be bank holding companies and whether to impose shareholding restrictions on major exchanges. The FSC has not yet determined the submission date for the bill.Meanwhile, the opposition party's People Power Party lawmaker Song Yeon-sik submitted a proposal to abolish the cryptocurrency income tax amendment to the National Assembly's Finance and Economy Planning Committee for review on Wednesday. Additionally, a tax abolition petition supported by over 50,000 people is also expected to be submitted to the petition subcommittee. According to the current plan, starting from January 1, 2027, cryptocurrency transfers or lending income exceeding 2.5 million won per year will face a 20% income tax plus a 2% local tax. The government and the ruling party support the timely implementation, while the opposition party believes it is unfair to tax cryptocurrencies when most ordinary stock investors remain tax-exempt.

According to the latest weekly report from Gate Ventures, global risk assets are under pressure due to adjustments in technology stocks, fluctuations in the energy market, and changes in macro expectations, with the cryptocurrency market showing a volatile recovery trend. BTC rose 1.1% over the week, ETH rose 4.4%, pushing the ETH/BTC ratio up by 2.2%, and the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies increased by 1.03%. In terms of capital flow, the net inflow for spot BTC ETFs was only $33.8 million for the week, the lowest level since their launch; the net inflow for spot ETH ETFs during the same period was $103.9 million, indicating an improvement in market sentiment, with the Fear and Greed Index rising to 30, but still in the "fear" range. Meanwhile, the price of STRC under Strategy remained around $86, trading below par for the ninth consecutive week, with the institutional holding ratio continuing to increase, and the market is paying attention to its subsequent performance.In terms of industry development, stablecoin payments and the construction of blockchain financial infrastructure are continuing to advance. KB Kookmin Bank is collaborating with Kinexys, a subsidiary of JPMorgan, to explore blockchain-based cross-border payment services, further promoting traditional financial institutions' layout in on-chain payment scenarios; Kakao and Circle are exploring the payment infrastructure for a Korean won stablecoin, accelerating the application exploration of stablecoins in retail payments and cross-border settlements. In terms of investment and financing, a total of 8 financing transactions were completed last week, with a disclosed total financing amount of $196.5 million, among which the financing scale in the infrastructure sector was the highest, reaching $193 million, and the stablecoin clearing infrastructure project Augustus completed $180 million in financing. Overall, the market's short-term risk appetite remains cautious, but stablecoin payments, on-chain clearing, and financial infrastructure construction continue to attract capital attention.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated in its financial system stability assessment report released this month that Brazil's cross-border capital flows based on cryptocurrency have continued to grow since 2017, surpassing traditional capital flows. The report indicates that these capital flows are mostly driven by stablecoins, as businesses and retail investors use stablecoins for efficiency and tax-related reasons. The flow of stablecoins is related to international and local investment indicators such as the S&P 500, VIX, and Bitcoin prices, and is also influenced by exchange rates, interest rates, policy uncertainty, and changes in tax policies.The IMF noted that the Central Bank of Brazil has taken measures to regulate the virtual asset service provider (VASP) industry, but there are still shortcomings in areas such as customer legal protection and asset segregation. Comprehensive implementation of international standards such as the travel rule for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) is still needed. The report pointed out that Brazil's cryptocurrency system is connected to the traditional financial system, and regulators need to cooperate with domestic and international regulatory bodies to establish a more robust reporting mechanism. The Brazilian Congress is preparing to review Bill 4308/2024 to regulate the status of stablecoins.

CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost stated that since 2025, the inflow of stablecoins into exchanges has been continuously declining, reaching the lowest level since that period. Currently, the monthly average inflow of stablecoins (USDT, USDC) is about $2.3 billion, with an annual average inflow of about $3.7 billion. When the price of Bitcoin reached its historical peak, the monthly average inflow was $5.6 billion, and the annual average inflow was $4.3 billion. This dynamic clearly indicates the current weak demand and lack of investor interest. However, it is important to note that when the inflow of stablecoins peaks, it is often a lagging signal. When some investors accelerate profit-taking, exchanges increase the supply of stablecoins, while new investors continue to bet that the price of Bitcoin will keep rising. Currently, market demand still needs improvement.

According to Whale Alert monitoring, USDC issuer Circle has minted an additional 250 million USDC through USDC Treasury.

According to Digital Today, Samsung Electronics announced at the Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event that Samsung Wallet plans to introduce support for stablecoins, integrating payments, rewards, and digital assets into a unified service. Samsung stated that this will be one of the first models among major smartphone brands to support stablecoins as a native feature.Samsung Wallet has expanded from a payment tool to a digital hub that can store keys, identification, and boarding passes. The event also launched the first financial service based on Samsung Wallet—the Samsung Galaxy Card, which will be launched in the United States in collaboration with Barclays and Visa. Samsung claims that its Knox security platform protects sensitive information through end-to-end encryption.

Mizuho analysts stated that if the Clarity Act, a U.S. cryptocurrency market structure bill, is passed, it may generally benefit the digital asset industry, but the long-term impact on Circle could be negative. The reasoning is that regulatory clarity will attract more large institutions into the stablecoin market, further accelerating the commodification of stablecoins and eroding the revenue space of Circle's USDC.Mizuho believes that the main pressure Circle is currently facing comes from Open USD. This stablecoin project is supported by an alliance of over 140 financial, technology, and cryptocurrency companies, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, and Coinbase. Unlike Circle's model, which retains about 38% of USDC reserve earnings, Open USD adopts a "pass-through" model, distributing nearly all reserve earnings to distributors while retaining only a small management fee. Analysts also pointed out that Coinbase, as the largest distributor of USDC, also supports Open USD, which may give it stronger bargaining power when renegotiating revenue-sharing agreements with Circle in the future. The distribution agreement between the two parties may be renegotiated as early as next month.

The UK plans to issue its first tokenized sovereign bond by early 2027, with the current key prerequisite being the resolution of on-chain cash settlement issues. This problem has limited the use of digital bonds by institutions for years.Industry experts indicate that the plan may have received sufficient support from the UK Treasury, the Bank of England, and regulators to continue advancing after recent political changes, and it could potentially increase the demand for UK debt. Current progress is constrained by the lack of standardized on-chain payment methods, mature pound stablecoins, and regulatory clarity.

Strategy President and CEO Phong Le posted that over the past 4 years, driven by factors such as Bitcoin treasury companies, ETFs, institutional funds, and support from the United States, Bitcoin's dominance has continued to rise.CoinGecko charts show that BTC's dominance has steadily increased from about 39% at the beginning of 2023 to nearly 60% by mid-2025, and as of July 2026, it remains around 55%.Phong Le further pointed out that with the adoption of stablecoins, asset tokenization, large banks, and increased global support, the digital asset economy surrounding Bitcoin will continue to expand, and Bitcoin's dominance is expected to continue growing.

According to Gate Ventures' latest weekly report, influenced by the escalation of geopolitical risks and changes in the AI competitive landscape, all three major U.S. stock indices fell last week, energy prices rose significantly, and the trends of safe-haven assets like gold and U.S. Treasuries diverged. The cryptocurrency market continued its structural trend, with Bitcoin and Ethereum rising by 1.5% and 3.6%, respectively, while both spot BTC and ETH ETFs maintained net inflows.In terms of industry development, regulation and real-world applications continued to be the focus this week. Japanese convenience store giant Lawson, in collaboration with Netstars, is advancing a stablecoin payment pilot, further promoting the use of stablecoins in everyday consumption scenarios; South Korea plans to officially incorporate digital assets into its national asset management framework and explore the tokenization of government bonds and state-owned assets, with the construction of RWA infrastructure continuing to accelerate. In Europe, after the transition period of MiCA ended, the total number of licensed institutions increased to 294, although the number of new licenses has slowed down, institutional participation remains strong.In terms of investment and financing, the cryptocurrency industry recorded a total of 16 financing events last week, highly concentrated in the infrastructure sector: among them, Alpaca completed a $135 million financing to enhance tokenized securities and AI financial infrastructure; Flex completed a $70 million financing to further expand its stablecoin cross-border payment network, continuously confirming the capital market's long-term optimism towards digital financial infrastructure. Gate Ventures believes that as the global regulatory framework gradually improves and the integration of traditional finance and blockchain deepens, the digital asset ecosystem is expected to enter a more mature and diverse development stage.

According to Cointelegraph, researchers from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have found that dollar stablecoins are forming a new type of "digital dollarization," which is almost insensitive to capital controls in emerging markets, making it more difficult for governments to regulate such assets compared to traditional foreign currency deposits.The researchers analyzed foreign currency deposit and dollar stablecoin inflow data from over 130 economies and found that both increased during periods of macroeconomic stress. However, the flow of stablecoins showed little response to capital controls or foreign exchange restrictions, possibly because they are "partially outside the regulatory scope." The BIS pointed out that stablecoins could undermine monetary sovereignty, and policymakers need new tools to address financial stability risks.

According to Edaily, the South Korean government will hold a forum hosted by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok to officially launch the legislative discussion on the "Basic Law on Digital Assets (Phase Two)," focusing on the regulation of stablecoins. This forum is the first stablecoin legislative forum organized and hosted by the government. The South Korean government and the ruling Democratic Party plan to push for the passage of the bill within this year.In the economic growth strategy announced on July 14, 2026, the authorities stated that they plan to advance the legislation of the "Basic Law on Digital Assets" in the second half of the year, segment the digital asset industry, establish a regulatory framework for business conduct, and lay a legal foundation for the regulation of stablecoins.

The supply of non-USDC/USDT stablecoins on Solana has reached 4.81 billion USD, setting a new historical high, driven by USD 1 and USD G0.

According to ETNews, the South Korean government has released the "Korean Won Internationalization Roadmap," aiming to transform the Korean won from a regulated currency to a freely convertible currency and to establish an offshore Korean won settlement network.It is reported that the Bank of Korea will launch the "Offshore Korean Won Settlement Network" (tentative name), which is expected to undergo trial operation in September this year and officially start in January next year. At the same time, it will also build digital asset payment infrastructure to lay the foundation for the issuance, distribution, and trading of Korean won-denominated stablecoins, with plans to launch a pilot project next year to promote the tokenization of government bonds linked to the central bank digital currency (CBDC) of the Bank of Korea.In addition, South Korea will officially join the cross-border digital payment project "Agora," led by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and involving the central banks of eight countries.

New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte recently signed HB 639, the Blockchain Basic Laws, which increases legal protections for digital asset users, developers, miners, validators, and businesses, and protects the rights to use and self-custody of digital assets. The bill also authorizes the establishment of specialized case files for blockchain-related disputes.New Hampshire's 2025 law allows the state treasurer to allocate up to 5% of certain public funds to precious metals and qualified digital assets, with only Bitcoin currently meeting the market capitalization threshold. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed SB 21 in June 2025, establishing the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. State legislators allocated $10 million, and Texas subsequently made an initial investment of about $5 million through a spot Bitcoin ETF.Wyoming's 2025 proposal to allow up to 3% of state funds to be allocated to Bitcoin was not approved, but the state continues to advance its specialized banking framework and Frontier Stable Token. FRNT is set to be publicly available in January 2026 and is described as the first state-issued stablecoin in the United States.