Coinbase and Better Launch Crypto-Backed Mortgages to the Public
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and U.S. mortgage company Better Mortgage announced on the 26th that they have begun offering a mortgage product backed by cryptocurrency to the general public. The product is available to Coinbase One members and will be usable from August 12, 2026. It allows borrowers to use their cryptocurrency holdings as collateral to raise a down payment for a home purchase without selling their assets. Better will originate and manage the mortgages, while Coinbase provides the crypto-collateral mechanism. The first-lien mortgages comply with Fannie Mae's conforming loan standards. Coinbase One members who receive loan approval through eligible Better mortgage products will be offered a lender-paid credit equal to 1% of the loan amount, up to $10,000. Better Mortgage's Chief Technology Officer, Ziggy Yonson, commented, "By allowing crypto assets to be used as collateral without selling them, we open a new path to homeownership for a new generation of borrowers who hold assets on-chain." The two companies announced in June that they would allow Bitcoin and USD Coin to be used as collateral for down payment loans under this mortgage product. Better has originated over $110 billion in loans to date, and notes that 41% of its pre-approved customers meet income and credit requirements but lack sufficient down payment savings for a traditional mortgage.
Crypto card spending has topped $1 billion as stablecoins move into everyday purchases, with tracked card volume more than tripling in a year. USDC and USDT funded over 70% of spending, with USDC at 50.8% and USDT at 20.3%, as users increasingly paid for groceries, rides and subscriptions. More than 10 million purchases were recorded in the last month, and average transaction volume increased from $59 to approximately $86. Stablecoins are now funding traditional Visa and Mastercard networks rather than replacing them, with consumers using familiar card frameworks backed by stablecoins.
X Eyes Paying Creators with USDC Stablecoin, Following Meta
Elon Musk's X is in talks to use stablecoins such as Circle Internet's USDC to pay creators, according to a CoinDesk report citing sources familiar with the plan. The idea aligns with the Everything App goal and the X Money payment system under development, while Meta began paying some creator rewards in USDC on Solana and Polygon through Stripe in April and plans to expand to more than 160 countries by the end of this year. On-chain data shows XRP trading is active during banking hours, with the share of transactions on the XRP Ledger between 13:00 and 16:00 UTC jumping from 14% to 23%, according to analysis by Evernorth shared with CoinDesk.
Circle Targets Trillions in USDC Growth as Arc Mainnet Nears
Circle Internet Group outlined its strategy for expanding USDC, payment infrastructure, and its planned Arc blockchain during an earnings-related Q&A session. The company sees USDC's long-term market opportunity reaching trillions of dollars, expanding beyond crypto trading into cross-border payments, capital markets, corporate treasury operations, and AI-agent transactions. Arc's public mainnet is scheduled to launch on September 16 as a stablecoin-native blockchain with transaction fees paid in USDC. Circle reported that EURC circulation has exceeded €400 million and said its Circle Payments Network now has more than 175 financial-institution members. Reserve income is expected to remain a significant revenue driver while payments and infrastructure create additional monetization streams.
USDC Transactions Jump 209% as Tether Keeps Stablecoin Lead
Tether's USDT remains the world's dominant stablecoin despite rising competition, according to data from crypto payment firm NOWPayments. Circle Internet Group's USDC stablecoin is gaining momentum, with transactions up 209% year-over-year and transaction volume up 101% in the first half of this year. Tether's USDT transaction activity declined over the same period, though it remains the market leader. NOWPayments said USDT continues to offer the scale and liquidity businesses rely on, while USDC is emerging as a popular alternative. Circle's stock has declined 43% over the last 12 months to trade at $76.53 per share.
JCB to pilot USDC payments at Lawson stores in partnership with Digital Garage
JCB will conduct a pilot test of payments using the US dollar-denominated stablecoin USDC at Lawson stores on August 20, Nikkei reported on August 18. The pilot will be limited to selected participants at the Lawson Gate City Osaki Atrium store in Osaki, Tokyo. Users will display JCB's web payment screen on their smartphones, and store staff will scan the barcode with existing POS registers. A key feature is that no dedicated terminals are needed, allowing standard registers to handle stablecoin payments. The test uses USDC issued by Circle. JCB sees potential inbound demand, believing that if foreign visitors to Japan can use stablecoins they hold in their home countries directly in Japan, it would reduce the hassle of currency exchange. Digital Garage, which operates a stablecoin payment infrastructure, is also participating in the pilot and plans to provide its DG Stablecoin Payment Service, launched commercially on August 10, to JCB and others on a priority basis.
Binance announced it will delist eight USDC margin trading pairs from its Cross and Isolated Margin platforms. The exchange issued a notice of removal for the selected pairs, which will be removed as applicable. The announcement did not specify the exact pairs or the effective date of the delisting.
Cashi launches public beta for stablecoin spending app and Visa card
Cashi has launched a public beta of its stablecoin spending app and Visa card, allowing users to deposit USDT or USDC and receive a virtual Visa card that can be used wherever Visa is accepted, including online and in-store via Google Pay. The company expects a full launch before the end of the year, with Apple Pay support and physical cards planned. More than 1,100 people joined the waitlist ahead of the beta release. Issuer processing platform Thredd has been selected to power the programme, which is live in Hong Kong with expansion into Mexico planned for late 2026.
Visa Expands Stablecoin Settlement Through Lightspark and Zerohash Partnerships
Visa is broadening its stablecoin settlement capabilities by partnering with Lightspark and Zerohash to integrate USDC and other stablecoins for settlement and payout solutions across its network. The Lightspark partnership enables USDC settlement on Visa's network via a card program issued by Lead Bank, with stablecoin balances converted to local currency at the point of spend, while Zerohash supports Visa Direct to allow clients to prefund and send payouts in stablecoins across multiple blockchains. The move aims to support programmable payments, faster cross-border transactions, and onchain disbursements, deepening Visa's role in blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
Crypto Card Spending Tops $750 Million as Stablecoin Payments Surge, a16z Reports
Crypto card spending reached $759 million in July, a roughly 2.5-fold increase from $306 million a year earlier, according to data from a16z crypto and Paymentscan. Nearly nine million purchases were completed during the month, with an average transaction value of approximately $86. Dollar-backed stablecoins dominated, with USDC and USDT together accounting for about 84% of tracked spending. The infrastructure has diversified, with Optimism processing about 29% of volume, while Solana and Base each handled around 19%, and Gnosis's share fell to roughly 2%. The growth highlights stablecoins' expanding role as practical payment instruments, bridging onchain liquidity with existing card rails.
Digital Garage Launches Commercial Stablecoin Payment Platform, Initial Rollout to JCB and Others
Digital Garage announced on August 10 that it has begun commercial deployment of its stablecoin payment platform, DG Stablecoin Payment Service, or DG SPS. The initial rollout is planned for JCB and its subsidiary DG Financial Technology, known as DGFT. DG SPS connects to existing payment operator systems via API, enabling merchants to accept stablecoin payments, starting with US dollar-denominated USDC on the Base network. The company plans to expand support to the yen-linked stablecoin JPYC, as well as Ethereum and Polygon, and is also moving toward enabling agentic commerce, where AI agents autonomously execute payments.
SEC and Bank of Thailand to Issue Stablecoin Regulations This Year
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bank of Thailand are preparing to issue regulatory guidelines for stablecoin transactions within this year, aiming to reduce risks related to money laundering, technology-enabled crime, and cross-border transfer avoidance. They held discussions with digital asset business operators on 7 August 2026, following a significant rise in transaction volumes involving stablecoins such as USDT and USDC. The SEC stated it will use input from the discussions to determine appropriate and practical approaches. Key measures to be enforced include enhanced customer due diligence, customer profiling to set daily withdrawal limits, and additional scrutiny of high-risk customers. The Travel Rule is also being prepared, with guidelines to be issued by August 2026 and enforcement to begin by February 2027.
Coinbase launches 24/5 US stock trading for UK users using USDC as settlement rail
Coinbase launched 24/5 US stock trading for UK users on August 6, 2026, using USDC as a primary funding and settlement rail for nearly 4,000 US equities. The service, authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority in July 2026, routes orders through Coinbase Capital Markets Corporation with execution and custody by Apex Clearing, which provides SIPC protection of up to $500,000 per account. UK Advanced users gain access to TradingView charting tools and can earn up to 3.5% rewards on trade-ready USDC, while Coinbase One subscribers receive uncapped rewards on USDC trading balances. The move positions Coinbase to later introduce tokenized equities backed 1:1 by US stocks with full shareholder rights and dividends.
OSL Group Launches OSL AgentPay, a Multi-Stablecoin Payment Infrastructure for AI Agents
OSL Group has launched OSL AgentPay, a stablecoin payment infrastructure designed to enable AI agents to execute fully autonomous payment flows. The platform supports multiple stablecoins including USDT, USDC, and USDGO, as well as payment protocols such as x402, AP2, and MPP, with developer access available immediately via API. OSL AgentPay offers eight core capabilities: execution interface, multi-asset routing, multi-stablecoin abstraction, micropayment capacity, gas-fee-free on-chain transactions, multi-protocol compatibility, multi-wallet compatibility, and global fiat on/off ramps. The company aims to capture a share of the agent-to-agent commerce market, which McKinsey estimates could reach three to five trillion dollars by 2030, by integrating protocol-compatible gateways with its global settlement core, including the enterprise-grade stablecoin USDGO and fiat ramps through its Banxa unit.
Circle Internet Group Posts Mixed Q2 Results, Stock Falls 5%
Circle Internet Group reported mixed second-quarter financial results, sending its stock down 5%. The stablecoin issuer posted earnings per share of $0.18, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16, but revenue of $701 million missed forecasts of $712 million. Circulation of its dollar-backed stablecoin USDC reached $73.3 billion, up 19% year-over-year, though down from a peak of nearly $80 billion earlier this year amid growing competition. Circle also provided an update on its Arc blockchain network, which is set to launch a public mainnet on September 16, with more than 100 ecosystem and institutional builders developing on it and validators including BlackRock, Mastercard, Visa, and Standard Chartered. The Circle Payments Network reached $14.7 billion in annualized transaction volume during the quarter, up 76% from the previous quarter.
Analysts predict Samsung poised to become a major stablecoin distributor after paving the way to 800 million Galaxy devices
Analysts predict that Samsung is on track to become a major global stablecoin distributor, after the company laid the groundwork for access through more than 800 million Galaxy devices worldwide. This move comes amid the enforcement of South Korea's Digital Asset Basic Act and partnerships with major digital asset platforms such as Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, as well as the development of Samsung Wallet and the issuance of a Samsung stablecoin on Samsung SDS infrastructure, which will allow users to transact directly with USDC and other stablecoins via smartphones.
Coinbase and Circle renew USDC partnership on unchanged terms
Coinbase Global and Circle confirmed that their commercial partnership will renew automatically on the same terms, ending speculation that the USDC agreement might be renegotiated following Coinbase's entry into the Open USD consortium. The renewal maintains existing economics around USDC for Coinbase without announced changes to revenue sharing. Coinbase Global shares are trading at $146.5, down 12.7% over the past week and 38.1% year to date. The automatic renewal keeps Coinbase's role in the USDC ecosystem unchanged for now, preserving a key revenue stream on its prior footing.
Lawson to Test MetaMask Payments with Support from Netstars
Netstars has announced it will support a stablecoin payment trial that Lawson will conduct on August 17. The in-store payment service Stablecoin Pay will be linked with Lawson's existing POS registers to evaluate transaction speed and operational aspects at the counter. The trial will use US dollar-denominated stablecoins USDC and USDT, as well as the yen-denominated stablecoin JPYC, with MetaMask serving as the wallet. Participation is limited to relevant parties and not open to the general public. Netstars aims to confirm whether the system can be used without disrupting convenience store operations and will apply the insights gained to future implementation support.
Bank of Italy concludes stablecoin transfers lack consistent cost advantage
The Bank of Italy has released the results of a proof-of-concept experiment on international remittances using stablecoins, concluding that no systematic cost or speed advantage over traditional transfer methods could be confirmed. In a test involving actual transfers of 200 USDC along ten bilateral corridors connecting Italy with Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the UAE, and Japan, total costs varied widely from 0.30% to around 9% of the transfer amount. On-chain transfer costs averaged only 0.4%, with the bulk of expenses arising at the fiat currency conversion stage. Speed also differed significantly by region: in countries with well-developed instant payment systems, transfers were completed within 20 minutes, whereas in South Africa, which relies on standard bank transfers, they took one to two business days. Compared with the World Bank's country-average remittance costs, USDC was cheaper in three out of four countries, but when measured against the money transfer operator Wise, it held an advantage in only three of seven corridors. The report notes that Japan's strict regulations limited available domestic operators to just one, prevented direct transfers to overseas exchanges, and required routing through unhosted wallets. While costs were low at 1.3% to 1.6%, this approach was deemed impractical for individual use. The report estimates the stablecoin market at approximately 325 billion dollars, 98% of which is dollar-denominated, and suggests that eliminating the need to convert back into fiat currency would significantly enhance their benefits. At the same time, it warns that in countries with strong dollar demand, currency substitution could advance, potentially affecting monetary sovereignty and financial stability.
Circle Internet Group secures New York trust charter
Circle Internet Group, the issuer of the world's second-largest stablecoin USD Coin, has secured a trust charter from the New York State Department of Financial Services. The charter is an official state banking authorization that allows Circle to provide fiduciary, custody, and asset-management services under New York Banking Law. USDC has a market capitalization of $71.8 billion. Earlier in July, Circle received approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank, which the company said will enhance the safety and regulatory oversight of its stablecoin reserves. CRCL stock has declined 67% over the last 12 months to trade at $59.76 per share.
Circle Lands New York Trust Charter for USDC Operations
Circle has received a limited purpose trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services, expanding its regulatory footprint for the USDC stablecoin. The company will operate as Circle New York Trust under the charter, which builds on its 2015 BitLicense and places it under NYDFS supervision. CEO Jeremy Allaire called the approval an important milestone, noting it positions USDC within a strong regulatory framework as digital dollars become central to global finance. Shares of Circle rose 8.4% to around $68.40 following the announcement. The charter follows recent moves including OCC approval for a national trust bank and the acquisition of IBM's blockchain patent portfolio.
Kenedix and partners to build instant settlement infrastructure for digital securities using stablecoins
Real estate asset manager Kenedix is teaming up with Progmat and Datachain to build an infrastructure that allows investors to buy and sell security tokens without going through a securities firm, the Nikkei reported. In a proof-of-concept by the three companies, the issuer and investor directly exchanged security tokens and made payments, achieving instant settlement by simultaneously transferring the securities and funds using stablecoins. Currently, delivery typically occurs two business days after a trade is executed, but the new infrastructure shortens the time funds and securities are tied up, improving capital efficiency for investors. The proof-of-concept used a trust-type stablecoin standard envisioned by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group for fund settlement, and the plan for commercialization includes support for yen-denominated JPYC and JPYSC, as well as US dollar-denominated USDC, though details such as the launch date and eligible security tokens have not been disclosed. If the infrastructure is put into practical use, it would also enable institutional investors to borrow stablecoins against their security token holdings and use them for other transactions.
Circle Internet Group acquires nearly 1,000 blockchain patents from IBM
Circle Internet Group has acquired nearly 1,000 blockchain patents from IBM, covering distributed ledger, payments and digital asset infrastructure technologies. The purchase is intended to strengthen the technology stack behind USDC and Circle's broader digital financial services platform. The deal comes amid a period of consolidation and regulatory scrutiny in the crypto sector, with some peers restructuring or scaling back operations. The enlarged patent library may support Circle's positioning in payments, compliance and settlement, and future updates on product launches, partnerships or licensing will signal how the acquisition translates into practical use cases.
JPYC’s Okabe Consults FSA on Stablecoin Donations for Kumamoto Earthquake Relief
JPYC President Noritaka Okabe has revealed that he is consulting the Financial Services Agency’s Fintech Support Desk about a scheme to use stablecoins for donations to support areas affected by the Kumamoto earthquake. The plan involves soliciting donations in JPYC and USDC, swapping USDC for JPYC via DeFi, and then having JPYC redeem the tokens for Japanese yen, with the cash donated to local governments and the Japanese Red Cross Society. The company is also checking whether this entire process would fall under the category of electronic payment instruments business. Okabe explained that this approach requires no system modifications and can be launched most quickly, and he indicated that details will be disclosed once a response is received from the FSA.
Coinbase CEO Pushes Back as Crypto Startups Rush to Rebrand as AI, Says Blockchain Is the New Infrastructure
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, has pushed back against the trend of crypto companies abandoning blockchain technology to rebrand as artificial intelligence firms, calling it a zero-sum mindset and a fundamentally flawed worldview. He stressed that crypto is a versatile infrastructure that should coexist with AI, not compete against it. He also revealed that Coinbase plans to be the core of the Agentic Finance ecosystem, or AiFi, using the x402 protocol, the Base blockchain, and USDC to power automated payments through AI agents. The company has enabled AI agent accounts since June, and most recently, Coinbase Business users can now receive payments from AI agents via the x402 protocol. Meanwhile, industry developers warn that moving money at machine speed requires fixing structural bottlenecks across the entire technology stack, and funding agents with no track record carries high risk. They suggest that a reputation and memory layer is needed to safely transition to an agent-driven economy.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire Predicts Stablecoin Market Will Grow to Tens of Trillions
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a CNBC interview that the stablecoin market could grow from about $1 trillion today to tens of trillions of dollars over the coming years. Circle, which issues the second-largest stablecoin USD Coin, generates most of its revenue from interest on reserves backing the token. However, the company faces a major competitive threat from Open USD, a new stablecoin backed by a coalition of over 140 financial, tech, and retail giants including Coinbase, a founding partner of USDC. Analysts expect Circle's revenue to nearly double from $2.75 billion to $5.25 billion from 2025 to 2028, but its stock has declined nearly 70% over the past 12 months amid concerns about macro conditions and competition.
Coinbase enables business users to receive USDC payments from AI agents
Coinbase announced on July 23 that companies using its corporate service, Coinbase Business, will be able to receive USD Coin payments from autonomous AI agents starting this week. The payments use the x402 protocol, which the company released in May 2025, repurposing HTTP status code 402 to embed stablecoin payments into web communication. Businesses can manage incoming funds from agents in their existing accounts, earn a 3.35% reward on idle USDC balances, and face no chargeback risk. x402 was transferred to the x402 Foundation under the Linux Foundation on July 14, with around 40 companies and organizations, including Visa and Mastercard, participating in its operation.
Stablecoins could bypass countries' capital controls, BIS says
The Bank for International Settlements has released research showing that dollar-pegged stablecoins are creating a new form of digital dollarisation in emerging markets that is largely unaffected by capital controls. An analysis of foreign currency deposits and dollar-pegged stablecoin inflows across more than 130 economies found that while both tend to rise during periods of macroeconomic stress, stablecoin inflows, unlike traditional bank deposits, showed little response to capital controls or foreign exchange regulations. The BIS explained that this is because stablecoins partly circulate outside the regulatory perimeter, and warned that in a tokenised financial system, rules designed for conventional banks and foreign currency deposits may become less effective. As adoption grows, policymakers may need new tools to maintain financial stability. The global stablecoin market capitalisation stands at roughly 309.7 billion dollars, up sharply from about 260 billion dollars a year earlier, with Tether and USD Coin accounting for more than 80 percent of the total.
Circle Internet Group Could Soar by 2030 on Stablecoin Growth, Clarity Act, and Fintech Moves
Circle Internet Group could see its value soar by 2030 as the stablecoin industry is projected to grow from $300 billion to $3 trillion, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. A broad consortium of more than 140 banks and tech companies announced the imminent launch of a new stablecoin called Open USD, which may accelerate mainstream adoption despite its different business model. Stripe's $53 billion acquisition bid for PayPal signals further momentum, as both firms are major stablecoin supporters. The expected passage of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act could provide a huge boost, potentially drawing tens of billions of dollars from traditional bank deposits into stablecoins like Circle's USDC.
A 140-Company Consortium Launches Open USD Stablecoin, Threatening Circle's USDC Revenue
A consortium of over 140 fintech, banking, tech, and crypto-native companies has launched a new stablecoin called Open USD, posing a direct challenge to Circle Internet Group's USDC. The new stablecoin offers a more favorable revenue-sharing model than USDC, which attracted partners including Coinbase Global, a key Circle ally that earned nearly $1 billion from its USDC partnership in 2024. Circle's stock fell 16% on the news, but CEO Jeremy Allaire argues that USDC's decade-long operational moat and liquidity advantages will be hard to replicate. The $300 billion stablecoin industry's profitability is driving demand for greater revenue sharing, and Circle may need to adapt its model to retain partners.
OKX Suspends Solana USDC Deposits and Withdrawals for Wallet Maintenance
OKX has temporarily suspended deposit and withdrawal services for USDC on the Solana blockchain due to scheduled wallet maintenance. The major crypto exchange notified users of the interruption, which affects only USDC transactions on Solana. No timeline for the maintenance completion was provided in the notice.
Netstars announced on July 13 the launch of Stablecoin Pay, a service that allows merchants to adopt multiple stablecoin payment options in a single package. It is the first service in Japan to enable the introduction and operation of multiple stablecoin payments through a single application, with a processing fee of 0.98 percent. The supported stablecoins are the yen-denominated JPYC and the US dollar-denominated USDC and USDT. The compatible blockchains are Solana and Polygon, and the MetaMask wallet can be used. Support for Aptos, Bitget Wallet, and imToken is planned for summer 2026 and beyond. Existing StarPay merchants at approximately 700,000 locations can continue using their current payment terminals, and sales and settlements can be managed in Japanese yen, eliminating the need to worry about exchange rate fluctuations or custody methods.
Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe Position Stablecoins as Payment Infrastructure
Global payment giants Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and PayPal are beginning to position stablecoins not as crypto assets but as new payment and remittance infrastructure. Visa is advancing proof-of-concept and commercial deployment of payments using USDC, while Mastercard is expanding partnerships with multiple stablecoin issuers. Stripe is actively pursuing acquisitions of stablecoin-related companies and new remittance services, aiming for a world where business-to-business transfers can be conducted like sending data over the internet. On-chain data shows that the number of active addresses for major stablecoins on ERC-20 has surged since 2025, reaching nearly 700,000 at its peak, indicating growing real-economy usage such as business-to-business payments and cross-border remittances. While banks continue to play the role of credit providers, a division of labor is emerging in which blockchain streamlines value transfer, and banks are accelerating the development of their own stablecoins and tokenized deposits. Xwin analyzes that in the 2030 cross-border remittance market, SWIFT and stablecoins will coexist, and the axis of competition will shift from operational capability to design capability.
Bitcoin Was Not an Investment but Living Infrastructure: The Current Situation in Mexico
The role of crypto assets varies greatly by country, and in Mexico they function as living infrastructure rather than an investment, according to an on-the-ground report by an XWin analyst. Mexico is one of the world's top remittance-receiving countries, with remittances reaching a record high of about 64.7 billion dollars in 2024 and remaining at a high level of about 61.8 billion dollars in 2025. For many citizens, remittances from the United States are a crucial pillar of living expenses, and stablecoins such as USDT and USDC are attracting attention as a means to send and receive dollar value quickly and cheaply via smartphone, even without a bank account. On the other hand, crypto assets are not recognized as legal tender, financial institutions face strict regulations, and challenges such as fraud, price volatility, and a lack of financial education remain.
Circle Internet wins OCC approval for national trust bank
Circle Internet Group has received approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Circle National Trust, a national trust bank. The approval places the bank under direct federal oversight and is expected to strengthen the infrastructure supporting USDC through federally regulated digital asset custody, with reserve management planned as a future capability. Upon launch, Circle National Trust will provide fiduciary digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliates, and may eventually offer custody directly to a limited number of institutional customers such as banks and regulated derivatives organizations. Shares of Circle Internet Group rose nearly 7% in premarket trading following the news.
Repay Holdings Completes First Stablecoin Payment Proof of Concept
Repay Holdings has completed its first successful proof of concept for accepting stablecoin payments via its platform. The demonstration involved a consumer-to-business transaction on the Stellar blockchain using USD Coin, a fiat-backed stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. The proof of concept utilized the company's existing technology stack and provided an interface where consumers could authorize payments through a browser wallet extension. Upon confirmation, both the Stellar and REPAY systems reflected the completed transaction, with funds made available to the client's wallet shortly thereafter. Repay Holdings is a payments technology company offering solutions such as debit and credit card processing, ACH processing, and digital wallet services.
USDT dominates payments while USDC leads in DeFi, Dune analysis highlights clear role split
A new report from on-chain analytics platform Dune reveals a sharp divergence in the roles of stablecoin market leaders USDT and USDC. USDT is overwhelmingly dominant as a payment and remittance infrastructure, with identifiable commercial settlement volume reaching approximately 95 billion dollars in the first half of 2026, accounting for about 92 percent of business-to-business payments. Meanwhile, USDC is strengthening its position as a DeFi backbone, recording a monthly transfer volume of roughly 2.6 trillion dollars on the Ethereum Layer 2 network Base in June, the highest ever for a single token on a single chain. USDC also holds about 67 percent share of Visa-adjusted transaction volume, surpassing USDT in real-demand on-chain transactions.
Circle's USDC now accounts for 70% of stablecoin transaction volume
Circle's USDC has pulled ahead of Tether in stablecoin transaction volume, now handling 70% of adjusted volume in the first quarter according to Visa data, while Tether's share has fallen to 25%. Overall stablecoin volume hit a record $1.79 trillion in June, up 63% month-over-month, with first-half volume reaching $8.82 trillion, exceeding all of 2024. The shift is attributed to the regulatory clarity from the GENIUS Act, which has boosted adoption of the highly regulated USDC, while Tether plans to expand more aggressively into the U.S. market. The broader stablecoin market is seeing an influx of new competitors, including a consortium of 140 companies launching Open USD, as payment giants and asset managers seek to capture a share of the rapidly growing sector.
Visa and Coinbase both bet on stablecoins but deliver sharply different quarters
Visa reported a 15% year-over-year net revenue increase on 69.4 billion processed transactions in its fiscal first quarter, while Coinbase absorbed a 30.54% revenue decline and announced a 14% workforce reduction in its first quarter. Both companies have named stablecoins a strategic priority, but Coinbase co-owns USDC and holds over 25% of the circulating supply inside its own products, whereas Visa treats stablecoins as another rail on its network. Visa's operating margin stood at 67.3% and its beta below one, making it a pullback accumulation play, while Coinbase is seen as an options-like bet on a projected 3 trillion dollar stablecoin market by 2030. Coinbase's stablecoin revenue reached 305 million dollars and USDC market cap hit an all-time high near 80 billion dollars in March, but transaction revenue slid 23% quarter over quarter to 755.80 million dollars. Visa repurchased 11 million shares at an average price of 342.13 dollars for 3.8 billion dollars and raised its dividend, with shares at a 52-week high of 362.13 dollars.
Analysts split on Circle Internet Group after rival stablecoin launch
Wall Street analysts are divided over Circle Internet Group, the issuer of USDC, following the launch of a rival stablecoin. Compass Point upgraded the stock to Neutral from Sell on June 30 but slashed its price target to $55 from $97, citing the announcement of Open USD, a stablecoin backed by more than 140 partners including Coinbase. The firm called the news bearish for Circle's long-term payments ambitions, noting the stock trades at 32 times its 2026 estimated EBITDA. In contrast, Clear Street reiterated a Buy rating and $157 price target on July 1, calling the selloff excessive and comparing OUSD's prospects to the consortium-backed stablecoin USDG, which has failed to gain meaningful share. Circle's stock closed at $68.64 on July 6, up 6.22% on the day.