Opinion: Stablecoins and the new fight for monetary influence
Stablecoins have quietly turned the U.S. dollar into 24/7 software. With Washington now writing a rulebook for âdigital dollars,â the stakes go far beyond crypto prices. The way the U.S. regulates stablecoins could decide who sets the standards for the next phase of global financeâand who benefits from the fees, the data, and the network effects.
Why Washingtonâs new rulebook matters
On July 18, 2025, the United States signed the GENIUS Act into law. The statute requires payment stablecoins to be fully backed by highâquality liquid assets, with regular public disclosures and compliance obligations that look and feel like mainstream finance. In blunt terms: if you want to issue a dollar stablecoin to Americans, you need bankâgrade reserves, transparency, and controls. Lawmakers framed it as both consumer protection and a way to protect the dollarâs reach in the digital era. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-signs-stablecoin-law-crypto-industry-aims-mainstream-adoption-2025-07-18/?utm_source=openai))
What the law changes on the ground
- Clear federal standards for backing and redemption should reduce âwho can I trust?â risk for users and merchants.
- Monthly reserve reporting and supervisory oversight push issuers toward Treasuries, cash, and reposâassets that settle cleanly and can be audited.
- Wider eligibility for issuers (banks and nonâbanks) opens the door for payments firms and fintechs to plug stablecoins into everyday commerce and payroll.
For crypto investors, that clarity matters. Compliance costs rise, but so does the chance that large enterprises, card networks, and banks integrate stablecoins directly into their systems. In other words, fewer gray areas and more realâworld pipes.
The dollarâs digital export
Most active stablecoins are still pegged to the U.S. dollar, and their total market value recently topped $300 billion. That makes stablecoins one of the largest digital asset categories by far and a bigger âdollar channelâ than many correspondentâbanking corridors. According to coverage of DeFiLlama data, the combined stablecoin market cap crossed the $300 billion mark in October 2025. ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stablecoin-market-cap-surpasses-300-123818109.?utm_source=openai))
Utility is catching up to market value. A report cited by CryptoSlate estimated stablecoin transfers hit $27.6 trillion in 2024âoutpacing Visa and Mastercard combined on transfer value. Even if a chunk of that is marketâmaking and arbitrage, it shows how âtokenized dollarsâ are becoming the default settlement asset across crypto and bleeding into commerce. ([cryptoslate.com](https://cryptoslate.com/stablecoins-surpass-visa-and-mastercard-with-27-6-trillion-transfer-volume-in-2024/?utm_source=openai))
Treasuries, reserves, and the demand loop
Ruleâdriven reserves create a feedback loop. If wellâregulated issuers must hold safe, shortâdated assets, every dollar of stablecoin supply tends to pull demand toward U.S. Treasury bills and cashâlike instruments. Tetherâs own disclosures showed roughly $97â98 billion of Tâbills on its balance sheet in 2024â2025, placing it among the largest nonâsovereign holders. That kind of demand can matter at the margin for funding costs and liquidity in the front end of the curve. ([investopedia.com](https://www.investopedia.com/stablecoin-issuer-tether-reports-us-treasury-stash-first-half-of-2024-8686758?utm_source=openai))
Regulated issuers such as Circle structure reserves through a registered government money market fund that holds shortâdated Treasuries and overnight repo, with daily transparency. That setâup aligns neatly with the GENIUS Actâs push for predictable collateral, and itâs easier for banks and corporates to plug into. Circleâs public reserve page explains the approach. ([circle.com](https://www.circle.com/transparency?utm_source=openai))
Europe is building its own pipes
Across the Atlantic, MiCAâthe EUâs framework for crypto assetsâalready applies to stablecoins (classed as eâmoney tokens and assetâreferenced tokens). From June 30, 2024, issuers seeking public offering or trading in the EU must meet MiCAâs authorization and reserve requirements, with supervisors phasing in oversight and reporting. That means any âglobalâ stablecoin strategy now has to think in terms of both U.S. law and EU eâmoney rules. ([eba.europa.eu](https://www.eba.europa.eu/publications-and-media/press-releases/eba-encourages-timely-preparatory-steps-towards-application?utm_source=openai))
The euro answer: bankâbacked and regulated
In September 2025, nine major European banksâincluding ING, UniCredit, CaixaBank and othersâannounced a consortium to issue a MiCAâcompliant euro stablecoin, targeting first issuance in the second half of 2026. The plan: a supervised eâmoney institution in the Netherlands and bankâgrade controls from day one. This is Europe saying, âwe want our own onâchain money, and we want it to behave like bank money.â ([ing.com](https://www.ing.com/Newsroom/News/Nine-major-European-banks-join-forces-to-issue-stablecoin.htm?utm_source=openai))
Asiaâs play: licensing and CBDCâadjacent experiments
Hong Kong passed a licensing regime for fiatâreferenced stablecoins in May 2025, with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority signaling that the first licenses are likely early next year. Several joint venturesâsome involving global banksâare already queuing up. The cityâs central bank is also experimenting with eâHKD and tokenized deposits to standardize interoperability. The takeaway: Asia is not waiting for Washington or Brussels to define everything. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hong-kong-passes-stablecoin-bill-one-step-closer-issuance-2025-05-21/?utm_source=openai))
So who sets the standards?
All roads point to a common theme: standards will follow scale and regulatory clarity. The U.S. has the dollar and a fresh federal framework; Europe has MiCA and a bankâled euro initiative; Hong Kong is formalizing a license path and testing wholesale use cases. The more compliant rails exist, the more corporates will route payments, trade settlement, and collateral through those rails. Thatâs how âdigital dollarsâ and âdigital eurosâ can become the default settlement layer for tokenized assets and crossâborder money.
Investor angle: what to watch next
1) Which issuers get licensed firstâand where
Early U.S. permit holders under the GENIUS Act and EUâauthorized EMT issuers under MiCA will set the bar for disclosures, redemption windows, and integration with banks. Expect spreads and peg stability to track issuer quality. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-signs-stablecoin-law-crypto-industry-aims-mainstream-adoption-2025-07-18/?utm_source=openai))
2) Reserve mix and yield passthrough
With rates still meaningful, the reserve mix (Tâbills, repo, cash) drives issuer earnings. Some models share yield with users (via tokenized funds or rewards), others donât. That can influence where wallets, exchanges, and merchants route flows. ([investopedia.com](https://www.investopedia.com/stablecoin-issuer-tether-reports-us-treasury-stash-first-half-of-2024-8686758?utm_source=openai))
3) Onâchain settlement rails
Watch where regulated dollars actually move: Solana, Ethereum L2s, and bankâpermissioned networks all compete on speed, cost, and uptime. The chain that processors and PSPs standardize on tends to win merchant acceptance.
4) Europeâs bank coin timeline
If the euro stablecoin ships on schedule in H2 2026 and plugs into treasury, custody, and core payments inside participating banks, youâll likely see European corporates start settling invoices and securities in a native euro tokenâless FX slippage, tighter cutoffs. If delays stack up, dollar tokens will keep filling that role. ([ing.com](https://www.ing.com/Newsroom/News/Nine-major-European-banks-join-forces-to-issue-stablecoin.htm?utm_source=openai))
5) Asiaâs licensing and CBDC pilots
Hong Kongâs first license decisions will be a signal for Singapore and others in the region. If stablecoin issuers can meet bankâlike standards and connect to tokenized deposit pilots, expect trade finance and remittances to follow quickly. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hong-kong-passes-stablecoin-bill-one-step-closer-issuance-2025-05-21/?utm_source=openai))
Risks that still matter
- Concentration risk: A few issuers dominate supply. One bad disclosure or a sanctions episode can ripple across markets.
- Chain outages and bridges: Payments donât tolerate downtime. If gateways fail, merchants and payroll providers will revert to cards and wires.
- Regulatory divergence: MiCAâs treatment of multiâjurisdiction issuance and nonâEU currency tokens is still evolving. Crossâborder fungibility could face tests as supervisors coordinate. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/eu-commission-investigates-depth-eu-safety-net-stablecoin-holders-2025-01-23/?utm_source=openai))
The bottom line
Stablecoins arenât replacing the dollar; theyâre extending it. The GENIUS Act gives the U.S. a chance to codify how digital dollars should be issued and redeemed, which increases the odds that American standards become the default for global rails. Europe and Asia are responding with bankâbacked coins and licensing regimes of their own. For investors, the practical moves are simple: favor regulated issuers with transparent reserves; track who wins early licenses; and follow where large PSPs, merchants, and banks actually settle onâchain. Thatâs where usageâand valueâtend to concentrate.
Further reading: EBA summary of MiCAâs stablecoin scope.
also read:Future of WLFI Growth Driven by Whale Accumulation and Stablecoin Expansion