Financial giants are flocking to issue stablecoins, and the duopoly of Tether and Circle will be broken

Original article: Pedro Solimano , DLNews

Compiled by: Yuliya, PANews

Traditional financial institutions continue to pour into the $238 billion stablecoin market, accelerating the restructuring of the industry's competitive landscape. Fidelity Digital Assets recently joined this track, marking a substantial layout of mainstream asset management institutions in this field. The following are the strategic dynamics and product progress of the current major market players:

Fidelity

According to people familiar with the matter, Fidelity Digital Assets, the crypto business unit of Fidelity Investments, has started stablecoin research and development testing. The institution manages $5 trillion in assets, and its entry into the market verifies the recognition of the stablecoin market by traditional asset management giants. This move comes at a time when the U.S. Senate is deliberating on a landmark regulatory bill, and policy breakthroughs may further activate market potential.

PayPal

PayPal launched its stablecoin PYUSD in 2023, taking the lead in integrating stablecoins into its platform. Users can buy, transfer or use PYUSD through the company's app or website, just like using a regular PayPal balance. The stablecoin currently has a market value of $791 million.

Robinhood

Thanks to the rapid growth of crypto asset trading, Robinhood achieved profitability in the fourth quarter, with cryptocurrency sales increasing by 700%. In November 2024, Robinhood partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken and research firm Galaxy Digital to launch a stablecoin called USDG, which runs on the "Global Dollar Network" and provides returns to holders. Its market value has grown rapidly from $29 million at the beginning of the year to $166 million.

Ripple

Ripple launched its stablecoin RLUSD in December last year. Ripple, which has long used XRP for cross-border payments, plans to use this new currency to "provide stability and liquidity to its ecosystem." Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said at the launch of RLUSD that as U.S. regulation becomes clearer, stablecoins like RLUSD are expected to gain wider adoption. The market value of the stablecoin has grown to $176 million, just a fraction of XRP's $140 billion market value.

World Liberty Financial

Trump's cryptocurrency empire has also set its sights on the stablecoin field. On March 25, World Liberty Financial, a DeFi platform under his family, released details of its stablecoin USD1. The stablecoin will be backed by short-term U.S. Treasury bonds, U.S. dollar deposits and other cash equivalents, and will initially be issued on the Ethereum and BNB chains.

Standard Chartered Bank

Standard Chartered, a British bank with a deep presence in Asia, is developing a stablecoin pegged to the Hong Kong dollar. In February, the bank announced that it was working with Hong Kong Web3 company Animoca Brands and telecommunications provider HKT to develop the stablecoin. The stablecoin has not yet been officially launched on the market.

The scale may double within this year

Market data shows that stablecoins will process $16 trillion in transactions in 2024, with a total market value of $238 billion. Although Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC) still account for 85% of the market share, Bernstein analysts predict that the market size will double this year. In addition, a special report by researchers at the Atlanta Federal Reserve pointed out that such digital tools are playing an increasingly important infrastructure role in the trillion-dollar payment system. With the improvement of the regulatory framework and the establishment of technical standards, the stablecoin market may usher in a new round of explosive growth.