Written by: imToken
In the early hours of today, Beijing time, the U.S. House of Representatives passed three pieces of crypto-related legislation: the CLARITY Act, the GENIUS Act, and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance National Act, among which the GENIUS Act is expected to be signed into law by Trump on Friday local time.
This not only marks the first time the United States has established a national-level regulatory framework for stablecoins, but also sends a clear signal that stablecoins are moving out of the gray area and into the periphery of the mainstream financial system. Meanwhile, major financial centers such as Hong Kong and the European Union are also accelerating their efforts, leading to a reshaping of the global stablecoin landscape.
Looking back at the past few months, we will find that stablecoins have almost overnight transformed from a financial variable under regulatory scrutiny into a new infrastructure recognized by officials. What has happened behind this, and who is pushing stablecoins to become new protagonists on the global financial stage? How should we rationally understand this wave?
From Web3 narratives to national strategies, who is driving this?
Since the beginning of the year, stablecoins have undoubtedly ascended to the focus of global financial policy and discourse.
But this wave is not accidental, nor is it a product of natural technological evolution; it is a structural shift driven by policy forces, particularly the policy shifts during the Trump era, which played a highly disruptive 'catalyst role'.
On one hand, Trump has consistently opposed central bank digital currencies (CBDC), clearly supporting a market-driven digital dollar route; on the other hand, from the endorsement of the family business launching USD1 to promoting and soon signing the GENIUS Act, Trump is actively fulfilling his campaign promise to loosen regulations on the crypto market.
This series of signals has directly compelled global regulatory agencies to begin re-examining stablecoins. Therefore, in just a few months, stablecoins have risen from a peripheral issue in the crypto circle to a focal point of national strategic discussions. Apart from Hong Kong finalizing the timeline for the Stablecoin Regulation, major global economies have also begun to seriously consider and accelerate the establishment of clear compliance frameworks for stablecoins.
The EU's MiCA Regulation (Markets in Crypto-Assets), effective in 2024, comprehensively covers the compliance and regulation of crypto assets, providing detailed classifications for stablecoins.
The ruling party of South Korea's new president, Lee Jae-myung, has proposed a Basic Law on Digital Assets, which clearly states that as long as a South Korean company has at least 500 million Korean won (about 370,000 USD) in capital and ensures refunds through reserves, it can issue stablecoins.
Objectively speaking, the passage of the GENIUS Act is not just a loosening of regulations on stablecoins by the U.S., but a clear choice for the digital dollar route—abandoning central bank digital currency (CBDC) while supporting compliant, privately issued dollar stablecoins.
It is foreseeable that the U.S. statement will become a reference paradigm for regulatory designs in other countries, promoting stablecoins into the common discussion framework of global financial policy.
The path of stablecoins is changing
In recent years, the stablecoin market has long been dominated by Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC), representing two pathways: 'circulation efficiency' and 'compliance transparency'.
USDT focuses on cross-platform circulation and matching efficiency, dominating exchanges and gray settlement networks.
USDC emphasizes asset compliance and transparency, deeply cultivating regulatory-friendly scenarios and institutional client systems.
From an overall scale perspective, since 2025, stablecoins have continued to grow—according to CoinGecko data, as of July 18, the total market value of stablecoins across the network is approximately 262 billion USD, an increase of over 20% compared to the beginning of the year.
This also means that during the recovery of the crypto market, stablecoins remain the core 'liquidity gateway'; the dual oligopoly of USDT and USDC remains solid—USDT's total market value exceeds 160 billion USD, accounting for over 60%; USDC maintains around 65 billion USD, accounting for about 25%, with a combined share of nearly 90%.
Starting in 2024, more and more Web2 financial enterprises and traditional capital forces will enter the market, using stablecoins to build on-chain settlement tools. For example, PayPal's PYUSD and the newly politically backed USD1 are two representative signals.
PYUSD (PayPal USD) is launched by payment giant PayPal, naturally equipped with cross-border settlement scenarios and a global merchant network; USD1 aims for compliant on-chain deposits and withdrawals and cross-border business, receiving political and business resource support endorsed by Trump to enter the corporate settlement scenario.
It can be said that with the support of institutional and national power, these emerging stablecoin projects are driving the function of stablecoins from 'Web3 liquidity tools' to becoming a value bridge connecting Web3 and the real economic system. Their use cases are gradually penetrating from exchanges and wallets into various applications such as supply chain finance, cross-border trade, freelancer settlements, and OTC scenarios.
Behind the frenzy, where are the real challenges for stablecoins?
However, objectively speaking, while the GENIUS Act certainly grants institutional recognition to stablecoins, it also brings more compliance requirements and sets clearer regulatory boundaries for their development.
For example, issuers must accept KYC/AML management, funds must have custodial isolation and third-party audits, and under extreme circumstances, issuance limits or usage restrictions may be set. This means stablecoins have gained a legal identity but have also officially entered the role of 'regulated currency'.
From this perspective, whether stablecoins can break through the application limitations of the Web3 label is key to achieving incremental landing. After all, looking further, the greatest growth potential of stablecoins lies not within the Crypto inner circle, but in the broader Web2 and the global real economy.
Just like the main growth of USDT and USDC no longer comes from on-chain interactive users, but from small and medium enterprises and individual merchants with strong demand for cross-border settlements, emerging markets and financially disadvantaged areas that cannot access the SWIFT network, residents of inflationary countries wishing to escape local currency fluctuations, and content creators and freelancers who cannot use PayPal or Stripe.
In other words, its largest increment in the future will not be in Web3 but in Web2—the truly killer application of stablecoins is not 'the next DeFi protocol', but 'replacing traditional dollar accounts'.
This also means that once stablecoins become the foundational carrier of the digital dollar globally, they will inevitably affect sensitive nerves such as monetary sovereignty, financial sanctions, and geopolitical order.
Therefore, the next phase of growth for stablecoins will inevitably be closely related to the new map of dollar globalization, becoming a new battleground among governments, international institutions, and financial giants.
In conclusion
The essence of currency issuance has always been an extension of power, relying not only on asset reserves and settlement efficiency but also on national credit, regulatory approval, and international endorsement.
Stablecoins are no exception; if they want to truly penetrate the real economic system from the Crypto world, relying solely on market mechanisms or business logic is ultimately insufficient. Therefore, the compliance boost brought by the global policy shift in 2025 is undoubtedly an important driver for stablecoins to go mainstream, but it also means they must survive in a more complex game.
This is a long-cycle game, and we are currently in the stage where it truly begins.
