Stablecoins Surge: Traditional Finance Jumps into the Stablecoin Arena

Stablecoins have seen rising popularity in news headlines this fall. Unlike volatile altcoins, like bitcoin, stablecoins' values are pegged to a traditional asset, such as fiat currency or gold.

With a total market capitalization of $168 billion, the stablecoin market is led by two players-- Tether USDT and Circle USDC, which hold 66% and 20% of the market share, respectively. There is a shakeup underway, however, as more mainstream financial services players have shown interest in both leveraging existing stablecoins, as well as launching their own stablecoins.

Perhaps one of the largest moves, Stripe acquired stablecoin platform Bridge to facilitate payment acceptance in October. The week prior, Ripple announced the launch of its own stablecoin, RLUSD.

Today, we learned that Robinhood, Kraken, and Paxos have teamed up to launch a stablecoin network called Global Dollar Network. The consortium serves as an open network to support the global adoption of Paxos’ USDG stablecoin and accelerate the adoption and use of stablecoins across the globe. 

In the U.S., where the reception of crypto development has been relatively chilly, it is encouraging to see more traditional U.S. fintechs such as Robinhood and Stripe make large investments in the stablecoin space. While there is still a lot of progress to be made before U.S. banks embrace stablecoins and crypto in general, the recent increase in stablecoin activity will heat up competition. This is especially true in the cross-border payments space, where stablecoins stand to increase speed and decrease cost.

As banks contend with this competitive pressure, fintechs involved in stablecoin development will most certainly have to contend with the regulators, who have been slow to define concrete rules when it comes to crypto.

I'm Julie Muhn, avoiding writing about today's largest news topic by changing the topic to stablecoins.

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I am, of course, talking about Money20/20, the mega fintech and banking event that has been taking place in Las Vegas since 2012. With over 10,000 attendees and 300+ vendors, this year’s U.S. event was just as brilliant as in years past.

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Pause Button: Calm's Creative Advertising Brings Silence that Speaks Volumes

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Calm has also made a small library of content available for free on its website.

I love this idea, and not just because I'm a big fan of silence. Using unexpected moments to stand out is a strategy that can work across sectors, even for banks and fintechs.

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