🚨 Stablecoins just hit $283B

They aren’t just the silent backbone of crypto anymore, they’re the headline.

The total supply just blew past $283.2B with 25.2M monthly senders, both all-time records. For reference, that’s more people sending stablecoin payments each month than the population of Australia.

And the money’s pouring into the builders as well. Stablecoin startups have taken in $622M this year versus $84M for all of 2024. The biggest check? US$300M for Hong Kong’s OSL Group, which wants to take its business global.

🏛️ Why now? The Trump effect

The GENIUS Act, signed earlier this year, gave stablecoins the regulatory clarity for which they have long begged. “A green light for corporate America,” as one chief executive described it.

Wall Street took the hint:

• Circle went public in June, raised $1B ($144 per share now).

• Stripe, Citi, Wells Fargo, BoA, are all cooking up their own coins.

• JPMorgan released JPMD on Coinbase’s Base blockchain.

• Coinbase anticipates this will grow into a $1T market by 2028.

💸 Banks vs. Crypto: Banks aren’t thrilled. They say that the GENIUS Act is simply tilting the playing field, since stablecoin issuers can provide perks that banks can’t. The fear? Banks could lose as much as $6T in deposit outflows.

Coinbase isn’t buying it. Policy chief Faryar Shirzad says banks simply want to preserve the $187B they earn annually in fees.

For retail, the math is simple:

• Coinbase pays 4.1% on USDC.

• Kraken pays 5.5%.

• Banks? But still languishing near zero on savings rates.

⚡ The next frontier: UX improvement

The front-end is clunky even as the numbers boom. Projects such as Plasma One (by Bitfinex backers) are trying to change that with zero-fee transfers, stablecoin cards and the ability for instant virtual accounts.

And client-wise, stablecoins are already more appealing to customers than Bitcoin, according to analysts at Standard Chartered. JPMorgan cautions the surge of new tokens could prompt a brutal “zero-sum race” between issuers.

Vitalik Buterin, defended Coinbases’ Base, arguing that it still counts as a “real Layer-2” as even after the shutdown, withdrawals to Ethereum remain open.

Here’s the point:

• Not custodial: Unlike FTX or Alameda, an L2 can’t seize deposits. Users have an exit strategy to Ethereum.

• Sequencer ≠ choke point: Base’s sequencer orders transactions swiftly, but if it goes offline, users can also post directly to Ethereum, though much more slowly and uncensorably.

• L2s are booming: Currently, they collectively support nearly $55B, just below their late-2024 high. Base itself has $15B, including stablecoins of $4B.

👉 A “safe L2” is not a question of fees or speed, but the answer keeps users in control of their funds.

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