Stablecoins Take Aim at SWIFT

August 18, 2025

It's a new week, meaning new heights for stablecoins, with market capitalization exceeding $270 billion. Regulation is showing immediate market impacts as institutional adoption accelerates across multiple sectors. The displacement of traditional international payment systems is on the horizon!

Key Highlights

• Stablecoins Projected to Settle $5 Trillion, Challenge SWIFT: Industry projections indicate stablecoins will settle $5 trillion in 2026, directly challenging SWIFT's dominance in global payments following $3.3 trillion in July volume alone, marking a potential paradigm shift in international financial infrastructure.

• Global Stablecoin Market Surpasses $270 Billion: The stablecoin market exceeded $270 billion valuation while gaining $9.11 billion post-GENIUS Act implementation, demonstrating continued explosive growth and regulatory validation driving institutional adoption.

• Hong Kong OTC Market Drops 33% After Regulation: One week after regulations took effect requiring stricter rules on the issuance of stablecoins, Hong Kong's over-the-counter market size decreased by 33%, highlighting the immediate regulatory impact on trading dynamics and market structure.

Market Growth and Infrastructure Competition

The stablecoin market's growth trajectory marks a fundamental disruption of today’s financial infrastructure. Now eclipsing a $270 billion valuation, with $9.11 billion gains post-GENIUS Act, this growth demonstrates regulatory clarity driving institutional confidence. July's $3.3 trillion volume positions stablecoins to settle $5 trillion annually by 2026, directly challenging SWIFT's international payment dominance.

Market liquidity surged with 250 million USDC minted, while USDf stablecoin surpassed $1.1 billion circulating supply, and USDe reached $10 billion total value locked within 500 days. The rise of stablecoins is fundamentally reshaping the global currency regime as institutional adoption accelerates. 

Workplace adoption accelerated dramatically, with crypto salaries tripling in 2024 as stablecoins dominate payroll systems. This reflects both employee preference and employer recognition of payment efficiency advantages over traditional banking infrastructure. I expect stablecoin payouts to be more interesting for non-US employees and contractors who are seeking a proxy for the US financial system than for your average US employee. 

Corporate Strategy and Banking Evolution

Major platforms are adapting business models around stablecoin infrastructure. Coinbase introduced 0.1% fees for USDC-to-dollar swaps over $5 million while relaunching stablecoin bootstrap funds to supercharge DeFi liquidity. Circle prepares to release its first quarterly earnings post-IPO amid sustained growth, while Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial plans loyalty programs for USD1 stablecoin users. Keep your eye on loyalty programs like this because with the ability to offer yield-like services in the form of “rewards”, stablecoins can now aggressively compete with one another to earn market share from increasingly picky customers. 

Traditional banking faces fundamental questions about stablecoins, digitized bank deposits, and future risk profiles. Banking Circle enhanced compliance through Elliptic partnerships, and Custodia's patent for bank stablecoins raises competitive questions about excluding major banks from stablecoin issuance.

Polygon announced a focus shift toward stablecoins amid rising institutional interest, while MetaComp will distribute RLUSD stablecoins and supercharge StableX for cross-border payments. Technical innovation continues with Cardano's DJED stablecoin transitioning to private and open-source development and USD1 expanding on TRON with a $23 million minting following landmark U.S. legislation.

AI + Liquidity Management featuring BVNK

BVNK launched Smart Treasury for automated real-time stablecoin operations. This breakthrough in AI-powered liquidity management leverages machine learning to anticipate liquidity needs, such as venue funding, gas wallet rebalancing, and withdrawal flow management, and executes these tasks in real time without manual intervention. The result: far greater capital efficiency, reduced operational friction, and treasury teams that can focus on strategy and risk rather than routine execution.

Regional Expansion and Regulatory Impact

African markets represent significant expansion opportunities with stablecoins and over-the-counter trading taking center stage in foreign exchange operations. ViFi Labs acquired OneRamp to expand stablecoin payments across Africa and Latin America, while Transak secured $16 million in funding for payment infrastructure expansion globally.

Regulatory implementation showed immediate market effects across jurisdictions. Hong Kong's 33% OTC market decrease one week after stablecoin regulations demonstrates the impact of regulatory clarity - legitimizing markets while constraining certain activities. China instructed brokers to stop endorsing stablecoins to avoid financial instability, indicating continued resistance despite growing global adoption. Reminds me of this meme: 

IVD Medical officially launched U.S. stablecoin license applications while accelerating exchange ecosystem development, demonstrating continued corporate interest in regulated operations despite compliance complexity. The regulatory landscape continues evolving with jurisdictions taking divergent approaches, creating geographic arbitrage opportunities while fragmenting global markets.

Stay tuned for next week's issue as we track this transformative landscape.

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.