Chinese Billionaire Jack Ma to Enter the Stablecoin Race?

🌍 Jack Ma’s Ant International wants a piece of the Stablecoin pie

Ant International sets sights on Singapore and Hong Kong licenses

Jack Ma’s Ant International is making a comeback but not through lending or IPOs. This time, it’s crypto’s turn.

According to insiders, the overseas arm of Ant Group is preparing to apply for stablecoin licenses in Singapore and Hong Kong, and Luxembourg could be next. A spokesperson confirmed the company will apply in Hong Kong once the city’s new Stablecoins Ordinance kicks in on August 1.

This marks a big shift in Ant’s strategy, as the company pivots toward blockchain-based infrastructure to power cross-border payments and corporate treasury tools.

Why it matters:

• Ant processed over $1 trillion in global transactions last year, with a third routed through its blockchain-based Whale platform.

• After Chinese regulators pulled the plug on its IPO and reined in its lending arms, Ant has been hunting for a new growth engine.

• Stablecoins might be it and if successful, Ant could reshape how money moves across borders.

🔗 Global ambitions backed by global banks

 Ant isn’t going at it alone. It’s already inked partnerships with over 10 international banks, including JPMorgan, HSBC, BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered, and most recently, Deutsche Bank, to co-develop blockchain-powered financial tools.

🪙 The new Stablecoin arms race

Ant is entering a much bigger game. Around the world, institutions are racing to launch their own fiat-backed digital assets as governments finally lay down clear rules:

• Societe Generale will debut its dollar-backed stablecoin USD CoinVertible this July, issued on Ethereum and Solana under Europe’s MiCA rules.

• BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are already using tokenized money market funds to tap into the same utility as stablecoins, but with regulatory clarity.

• Previous attempts like Meta’s Diem project, once poised to reinvent money, collapsed in 2021 under pressure from US lawmakers. The rules weren’t ready. Now they are.

📚Read Also: Sen. Elizabeth Warren mounts roadblocks to Meta’s renewed stablecoin efforts

Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to clarify his company’s interest in establishing stablecoin payments across its Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp apps.

📊 Market Watch:

Ripple vs. SWIFT: The liquidity wars begin

Ripple is setting its sights on the king of cross-border payments.

Speaking at the XRPL Apex conference in Singapore, CEO Brad Garlinghouse made a bold prediction: XRP could capture 14% of SWIFT’s transaction volume in the next five years. His reasoning? It all comes down to liquidity.

“SWIFT has two parts: messaging and liquidity. Banks control the liquidity. But crypto changes that. If XRP controls the liquidity, we win,” he said.

Ripple believes its blockchain-based model can make cross-border payments faster, cheaper, and far more efficient. That edge could be enough to peel away a chunk of SWIFT’s dominance.

Rumors have long circulated about a Ripple-SWIFT integration, but Garlinghouse’s comments suggest the company is preparing for a head-on challenge instead.

🔧 Big changes coming to XRPL

Ripple’s ambitions aren’t stopping at payments. CTO David Schwartz revealed that the long-anticipated XRPL EVM sidechain is expected to go live by the end of Q2—as early as this month.

• The sidechain brings Ethereum-compatible smart contracts and apps to XRPL.

• Built with Peersyst, it already hosts 80+ projects on its testnet.

This could be a game-changer for XRPL’s developer ecosystem and finally give Ripple a stronger presence in the DeFi space.

💸 DeFi and Real-World Assets enter the picture

Ripple is stacking more pieces on the board:

• Ondo Finance will launch its OUSG tokenized U.S. Treasuries on XRPL, with minting and redemption powered by Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD.

• Vivo Power, a publicly traded firm, plans to allocate $100 million in XRP to the Flare ecosystem for yield generation.

• XRPL now supports Dynamic NFTs, opening the door to more interactive digital assets.

📚Read Also: Stocks, crypto, and dollar plunge as traders brush off US inflation and trade relief

Stocks dropped again Thursday morning as traders ignored fresh inflation data and signs of trade relief between Washington and Beijing, choosing instead to exit risk across the board.

📜 Regulation Watch

 California eyes custody over dormant crypto. 

California just took a major step toward regulating how dormant crypto assets are handled.

In a 78-0 vote, lawmakers passed AB 1052, a bill that would allow the state to hold unclaimed crypto assets from exchange accounts after three years of inactivity. The bill now heads to the Senate for further review.

Despite the flood of concern on X, there’s no clause allowing the government to liquidate your Bitcoin. Instead, the assets would be safeguarded in kind—held in crypto, not converted to fiat—so their value can appreciate until the rightful owner reclaims them.

Why it matters:

• Under current law, exchanges might liquidate abandoned accounts after a few years.

• AB 1052 shifts that power, ensuring the state holds crypto as crypto, not cash.

• The bill applies only to centralized platforms, not self-custodied wallets.

According to Eric Peterson of the Satoshi Action Fund, the move protects users from losing out on long-term asset appreciation. “If it sits with the government as Bitcoin, it keeps growing. If it gets cashed out, that’s value lost,” he explained.

Coinbase counsel Hailey Lennon added that unclaimed property laws already exist across many states, and this bill simply brings crypto into that fold.

🧾 Meanwhile, AB 1180 adds momentum

In another move, California passed AB 1180, which pushes for more crypto integration into the state’s financial system. The bill gives the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) the power to:

• Enable state payments in digital assets under the new Digital Financial Asset Law (DFAL).

• Build regulatory and technical frameworks to track crypto payments.

• Report on crypto progress and consumer protection by 2028.

Together, AB 1052 and AB 1180 form a dual-track crypto policy shift, balancing user protection with innovation.

🌍 The bigger picture: US states & crypto

California isn’t alone:

• Louisiana began accepting crypto payments for government services last year.

• Colorado and Florida have also launched state-backed blockchain initiatives.

• Internationally, Dubai has gone a step further, integrating crypto into government fee payments via a partnership with Crypto.com.

📚Read Also: Russia halts creeping ban on crypto mining, citing drop in tax revenues

The executive power in Russia has suspended the expansion of a crypto mining ban that would have added several more regions to what’s already a long list of territories where the activity has been severely restricted.

A look back at four pivotal moments in the crypto world on this very day:

1.   Bitcoin ATM Arrives in the Middle East – 12th June 2014
   Tel Aviv made history by installing the first Bitcoin ATM in the region, tucked into the lobby of the Townhouse Hotel.
   No exchanges, no banks—just cash straight to BTC. A big step for crypto’s physical presence in everyday life.

2. The DAO Bug Is Revealed – 12th June 2016
   Ethereum co-founder Stephan Tual publicly disclosed a major vulnerability in The DAO’s code, just five days before a hacker would exploit it to drain one-third of the fund’s ETH (worth ~$50M).
   The warning said “funds are safe.” They weren’t. The incident would lead to Ethereum’s first major fork.

3.  The Flippening FOMO – 12th June 2017
   Ethereum was on fire. ETH soared near $400, and Bitcoin dominance dropped below 40% for the first time.
   The market buzzed with talk of the “flippening”—that ETH would soon overtake BTC. It didn’t, but the ICO era had officially arrived

4. Celsius Freezes Withdrawals — 12th June 2022
   In the thick of the crypto winter, Celsius halted all withdrawals, swaps, and transfers, citing “extreme market conditions.”
   It left users locked out of billions, deepening the crisis after Terra’s collapse and marking a turning point in the collapse of centralized lending.

Market-moving headlines 🔥

Join the Conversation!

We'd love to hear your thoughts and comments. Join our community and stay updated with the latest trends and discussions in crypto.

Twitter: @CPOfficialtx

Telegram Channel: @CryptopolitanOfficial 

Beehiiv: https://cryptopolitan.beehiiv.com/

Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/company/cryptopolitan

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cryptopolitan

News | Economy | Regulation | Price predictions