Regulatory clarity sits at the center of the convergence of crypto and traditional finance.
And, from the point of view of payments professionals, CFOs and treasury teams, stablecoins sit at the center of crypto’s potential within enterprise and corporate finance applications.
These digital assets — designed to maintain a consistent value by pegging to fiat currencies or other assets — are increasingly being eyed for their potential to reshape key areas of corporate finance, along with cross-border payments and liquidity management.
Stablecoins have surged north of a $190 billion market capitalization, jumping 46% year over year, and on Monday (Dec. 2), the blockchain-based payments solutions company Orbital announced the launch of its Stablecoin Payments Dashboard.
“Stablecoins are transforming global commerce, but businesses lack clarity on how to leverage them effectively,” Orbital said in a news release.
While the promise of stablecoins is immense, their adoption comes with nuanced considerations. For finance professionals, an understanding the operational benefits, regulatory landscape and strategic implications is critical for integrating stablecoins into modern treasury operations.
For example, Tether, issuer of USDT — the world’s largest stablecoin — has seen its stablecoin token’s circulation rise to almost $133 billion, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the stablecoin market. But, as a result of the European Union’s landmark Markets in Crypto-Assets Act (MiCA), Tether, which has faced controversy throughout its history, is pulling issuance and operational support for its euro-pegged stablecoin, EURT, in the region.
Per the MiCA regulations, stablecoin issuers must hold an electronic money license in at least one EU member state in order to operate across the 27-nation bloc.
Read more: Blockchain’s B2B Dreams Start With New Regulations
Still, rather than pursuing EU’s MiCA compliance directly, Tether is reportedly pivoting its European strategy toward its Hadron platform, which will support MiCA-compliant stablecoins issued by other entities.
This move marks a departure from the approach taken by competitors like Circle, the issuer of USDC, which has embraced regulatory compliance in jurisdictions like the EU. Circle’s integration with banks and financial institutions has positioned it as a comparatively compliant choice for enterprises requiring stable, regulated digital assets.
Crypto exchange Coinbase, which until 2023 managed the USDC stablecoin alongside Circle, in October moved to delist Tether from the platform it offers European Economic Area users.
As regulatory frameworks solidify in major jurisdictions, the moves of issuers like Tether are highlighting an emerging potential divide within the sector — one that could reshape the stablecoin landscape into two distinct tiers.
Stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT, while widely used, have faced persistent questions about transparency and regulatory compliance. By focusing on platforms like Hadron, Tether may be positioning itself to serve a different market — one less reliant on stringent oversight and more aligned with the ethos of decentralized finance.
This bifurcation could create a fragmented market, with each tier catering to distinct user bases and applications. Fully regulated stablecoins may dominate institutional use cases, while less-regulated alternatives could thrive in peer-to-peer transfers, emerging markets and DeFi ecosystems.
At least one financial institution, however, is interested in partnering up with Tether. Cantor Fitzgerald is reportedly seeking support for its planned $2 billion bitcoin lending project from Tether.
Read more: Why Banks Might Want to Have a Blockchain Strategy
Stablecoins are no longer confined to crypto trading pairs or speculative activity. Companies like Stripe and PayPal have also gotten into the stablecoin business.
Part of the appeal for enterprises lies in the ability of stablecoins to facilitate near-instant transactions, help to reduce costs and provide transparency. For multinational businesses, traditional cross-border transactions can take days to settle, burdening businesses with delays and high fees. Stablecoins, leveraging blockchain technology, can enable near-real-time settlements, reducing costs and freeing up working capital.
“Blockchain solutions and stablecoins — I don’t like to use the term crypto because this is more about FinTech — they’ve found product-market fit in cross-border payments,” Sheraz Shere, general manager of payments and commerce at Solana Foundation, told PYMNTS in September. “You get the disintermediation, you get the speed, you get the transparency, you get extremely low cost.”
PYMNTS Intelligence found that using cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments could be the winning use case that the sector has been looking for. The research found that blockchain-based cross-border solutions, particularly stablecoins, are being increasingly embraced by firms looking to find a better way to transact and expand internationally.
As it relates to liquidity management, finance professionals can often face challenges with managing cash reserves across multiple jurisdictions. Stablecoins can help provide a seamless mechanism for reallocating funds globally, particularly in regions with limited banking infrastructure.
PYMNTS covered on Nov. 25 how cryptocurrencies, and more specifically their underlying blockchain technologies, have gone from a solution in search of a problem to a solution in hopes of some regulatory clarity. Of course, that clarity may come when cryptocurrency companies and other firms embrace and invest in, rather than resist, appropriate guardrails for their industries.
Still, with the news Monday (Dec. 2) that the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) reportedly aims to prevent centralized exchanges from allowing their users to withdraw stablecoins to self-custodial wallets, it’s worth reiterating that a lot of the economics behind stablecoins and their monetization comes from interest income and is predicated on users holding, not using, their stablecoins.
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