$USDC While cryptocurrency headlines often fixate on price swings and regulatory showdowns, a quieter revolution is happening under the surface: the rise of stablecoins as financial infrastructure.

As evidenced by Mastercard’s crypto-driven partnerships with OKX and Nuvei announced this week, digital assets are increasingly being integrated into mainstream finance. Mastercard’s “360-degree approach” to stablecoin use includes the merging of OKX’s expertise in crypto trading with Mastercard’s payment network, fostering broader adoption of stablecoins. At the same time, the company’s Nuvei initiative ensures that merchants can settle transactions in stablecoins, regardless of the payment method chosen by consumers.

Not to be outdone, crypto exchange Kraken introduced a solution Wednesday (April 30) to help financial institutions give clients access to crypto.

However, the story isn’t just about technology or economics. It’s also about design. How platforms use stablecoins — how they’re packaged, deployed and staked — is beginning to reshape how we interact with money itself.

Crypto-native users are already familiar with staking. You lock up your tokens in a protocol in exchange for yield. Now, platforms are adapting the concept for a broader audience and using it as part of their user acquisition strategies.

Read also: The Digital Asset Primer: Corporate Treasury Moves From HODL to Yield

Staking as the New Onboarding Funnel

Competition between stablecoin issuers such as Circle with USDC, Tether with USDT, PayPal with PYUSD and others is heating up, and staking helps create a financial incentive for people to hold and use a specific stablecoin instead of someone else’s.

Unlike traditional banks, stablecoin issuers don’t only rely on brand trust or regulation; they need user engagement. Staking can help provide that hook.