Will the stablecoin $CFX experience another cold snap?

Zhou Xiaochuan warns of the threat of stablecoins to China's finance, while the global market welcomes explosive growth.

Zhou Xiaochuan, former governor of the People's Bank of China, recently spoke at a closed-door meeting in Beijing (content released by the CF40 think tank), clearly warning about the potential threat of stablecoins to China's financial stability, refuting the suggestion of 'emulating the U.S. to develop stablecoins' and believing that their advantages are overstated. He pointed out that China's existing retail payment system (Alipay, WeChat Pay, digital renminbi) is mature and efficient, and stablecoins are unlikely to add extra value, while also posing risks of becoming speculative tools and breeding fraud, which could undermine China's capital control capabilities — a core pillar of China's financial strategy. Previously, there have been reports of Chinese studies proposing a renminbi stablecoin to counter the dominance of the U.S. dollar.

In contrast to China's cautious stance, the global stablecoin market is expanding rapidly: from January 2024 to 2025, the supply is expected to double from about $130 billion to $270 billion; in the long term, usage has been continuously increasing since 2020, with a brief stagnation in 2022-2023, followed by a resurgence in demand in 2025. Based on this trend, it is predicted that by 2028, the global stablecoin market size will reach $1.8 trillion, likely becoming one of the largest categories in the cryptocurrency economy, even rivaling traditional standard financial instruments. Supporters of stablecoins believe they can enhance payment efficiency, reflecting increased institutional participation, expanded cross-border applications, and deeper integration with decentralized financial platforms, thus gaining a more significant position in mainstream finance.