GENIUS Becomes Reality and Wall Street Follows

July 21, 2025

Not a week goes by without stablecoins capturing the limelight. On the heels of last week’s Genius Act, we’re seeing Wall Street banks publicly commit to stablecoin development while venture capital deployment rises to unprecedented levels. 

Traditional banking sector adoption is accelerating, with institutional infrastructure investments validating long-term market potential. This is the defining moment when stablecoins go mainstream. 

Key Highlights

• The Genius Act has been signed into law: The historic bill creates a clear regulatory framework for enterprises to participate in the emerging world of digital payments. The bill includes strong KYC/AML obligations for issuers, State vs Federal oversight options for issuers under $10B, and audit requirements. Read this interview with BVNK’s General Counsel to learn more about the law. 

• Citigroup CEO Confirms Stablecoin Development: Citigroup's CEO officially confirmed the bank is "looking at the issuance of a Citi stablecoin," marking the first major Wall Street bank to publicly acknowledge active stablecoin development and potentially triggering a wave of traditional banking sector reveals.

• Interactive Brokers Leads $1B Zero Hash Funding: Interactive Brokers led a massive funding round for stablecoin startup Zero Hash, with sources reporting a valuation close to $1 billion. This represents one of the largest venture capital investments in crypto infrastructure history and further validates the institutional demand for sophisticated stablecoin trading solutions. (Recall that Zero Hash’s Competitor Bridge was acquired for $1B by Stripe in February)  

• Tether Hits Record $160B Supply: Tether's USDT supply soared to a record high $160 billion after a $2 billion mint, reinforcing its position as the dominant stablecoin while demonstrating continued massive demand for dollar-denominated digital assets globally.

Banking Sector Transformation

Traditional banking institutions now embrace stablecoin infrastructure as a core business strategy rather than an experiment. Citigroup's CEO's confirmation of “looking at the issuance of a Citi stablecoin” is a watershed moment for Wall Street adoption, building on broader institutional momentum where banks could unlock $10.1 trillion for Treasury markets through stablecoin integration. Circle's ambition to launch the first National Digital Currency Bank signals a fundamental restructuring of financial services architecture as blockchain-native institutions increasingly encroach on TradFi’s territory. It’s clear to me that banks have the most to gain by adopting stablecoins given their statutory protections for depositors, which could be a huge upgrade to the existing corporate structure for stablecoin issuers. 

HSBC is piloting e-HKD+ stablecoins across various blockchains, potentially indicating Chinese central bank digital currency development alongside private stablecoin initiatives. This follows Hong Kong's successful licensing regime implementation, where over 40 firms competed for regulatory approval in previous weeks.

Corporate adoption extends beyond traditional banking, with companies like Snail experiencing stock price surges after announcing the exploration of a stablecoin initiative. Stripe's stablecoin strategy targets global expansion, while Amaze launched comprehensive blockchain payment strategies with stablecoin integration as phase one, demonstrating mainstream business recognition of the necessity of digital payment infrastructure. Week after week you can expect to see more corporate developments like this as the race is on to integrate stablecoins for enterprises. 

Infrastructure Investment Boom

Venture capital deployment reached historic proportions this week, with Interactive Brokers participating in the estimated $1 billion investment in Zero Hash. We’re seeing unprecedented institutional commitment to stablecoin trading infrastructure, following previous weeks where stablecoin startup funding surpassed 2021 peaks. Agora secured $50 million in a Paradigm-led investment, which seemed aptly timed with Bitcoin’s rapid ascendance in the past few weeks. 

Technical innovation continued accelerating, and we now see novel revenue models and compounding infrastructure development. Core introduced a unique revenue-sharing model for stablecoin issuers and developers, potentially reshaping competitive dynamics across the ecosystem. City View signed binding agreements for stablecoin treasury management platforms through Arkenyield, demonstrating the growing institutional demand for sophisticated asset management solutions.

Market Growth and Platform Expansion

Market performance metrics continue showing explosive growth trajectories, with Tether recording a record $160 billion supply. Non-USD stablecoins are also gaining traction amid global market shifts, though Europe's stablecoin adoption continues failing to derail dollar dominance. (Spoiler alert: it won’t be happening anytime soon). 

Platform integration expanded significantly across multiple blockchain networks. PayPal appears to be adding Arbitrum support for PYUSD alongside existing Ethereum and Solana capabilities, while Bitrue launched USD1 as a base trading pair on its spot exchange. Fiserv's new FIUSD stablecoin represents is another entry into digital asset infrastructure that should be closely studied.

Plasma launched testnet infrastructure for global stablecoin payments, building on technical developments where banks increasingly eye Ethereum for stablecoin infrastructure, with 51% of stablecoins operating on the network.

Technical Innovation and Regulatory Evolution

Product development continues to advance as technical implementations skyrocket. Falcon Finance unlocked real-world asset utility with live USDf minting using tokenized Treasuries, while zero-knowledge-powered Privacy Pools integrated Sky's USDS stablecoin in multi-asset pool expansion. ChinaAMC launched USD and RMB tokenized money market funds, demonstrating institutional adoption of yield-bearing stablecoin alternatives.

Cross-border payment infrastructure saw some maturation through Orbital and ClearBank Europe collaboration bridging real-time euro payments across SEPA and stablecoin networks. These developments complement earlier news of Mastercard and Visa accelerating crypto adoption through stablecoin integration for global payments. And Bitwave recently announced a partnership with BVNK to enable real-time stablecoin payments for enterprise finance. 

Regulatory landscapes continue evolving globally. Shanghai SASAC meetings signal softened stances on stablecoins following Hong Kong legislation success, while Chinese regulators held meetings on stablecoins amid Bitcoin rally momentum. Ripple plans RLUSD European Union entry via Luxembourg, expanding international presence following its first bank integration via AMINA.

However, central bank resistance to private stablecoins continues. The Bank of England maintains that stablecoins are no substitute for commercial bank money, while Apollo warns stablecoins could reshape yield curves with potential systemic implications for traditional deposit structures. Similar arguments were made during the Silvergate, Signature, and SVB Bank fallout of early 2023 so I’m watching this area closely. 

Strategic analysis suggests stablecoins are key to preserving dollar reserve status, according to Sygnum research, while Circle's CEO declares stablecoins are going mainstream "fast." Market dynamics show Ether rising against Bitcoin as the GENIUS Act highlights yield-bearing stablecoins, indicating broader cryptocurrency market impacts from stablecoin regulatory clarity. 

We’re seeing the convergence of Wall Street adoption, massive funding rounds, and continued technical innovation. This week's developments confirm stablecoins' evolution into essential financial infrastructure. 

Stay tuned for next week's issue as we continue tracking the evolution of digital money.

Curious to learn more about stablecoin infrastructure for your enterprise? Reply to this newsletter or send me an email at [email protected] to learn how BVNK’s payment platform can unlock faster settlement and global access with stablecoins. You can also follow me on X for more insights.