Mastercard and Fiserv Go All-In: How Payment Giants Are Racing to Control Stablecoin Infrastructure
June 27, 2025
Mastercard is making a decisive push into stablecoin settlement, signaling how deeply blockchain is transforming the payments industry. At the same time, Tether is pivoting toward AI-powered wallets and expanding into emerging markets, while the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) intensifies its opposition to privately issued stablecoins. What began as niche crypto infrastructure is now redefining the core business strategies of global payment leaders.
In 2024, stablecoin transaction volumes exceeded those of Visa and Mastercard combined — a structural shift that is forcing traditional payment networks to reinvent their value propositions. Mastercard’s strategy is to evolve from operating primarily in payment instruction layers to becoming a settlement coordinator, leveraging partnerships with Circle, Paxos, and PayPal to integrate stablecoins directly into its systems.
Meanwhile, Tether has exited the U.S. market, redirecting its efforts toward AI-driven wallet technology and adoption in the Global South, where gaps in financial efficiency create long-term growth opportunities. However, the exposure of a $50 billion USDT laundering network operating on TRON underscores the regulatory challenges that remain beneath the rapid expansion of the stablecoin sector.
The competitive dynamic has shifted — stablecoins are no longer just competing with traditional payments. Instead, payment giants are actively absorbing stablecoin capabilities into their infrastructure as a survival strategy.
By the Numbers: Stablecoin Market Snapshot
The total stablecoin market cap has reached $252.937B, growing by $1.165B week-over-week. USDT continues to dominate with 62.57% market share, followed by USDC at 24.26% ($61.37B).
Fastest-Growing Networks: Movement leads with +25.43% growth (USDC dominance: 64.15%), followed by Algorand (+17.44%) and Sei (+16.34%).
Blockchain Leaders: Ethereum ($125.685B), Tron ($80.794B), and BSC ($10.474B) continue to dominate total stablecoin value.
Data Source: DefiLlama
Mastercard's Settlement Power Play
Here's the brutal truth: settlement is power. In traditional fiat systems, banks control final fund transfers while Mastercard only handles instructions and clearing logic. That's about to change.
Mastercard's latest moves show a company in full strategic pivot mode. The Chainlink partnership lets 3 billion cardholders buy crypto directly on-chain - no exchanges, no delays, no friction. But that's just the opening act.
The Real Play: Mastercard Move
The deeper strategy is the Mastercard Move solution for enterprise stablecoin minting and redemption services. Through partnerships with Paxos (USDG), Fiserv (FIUSD), and PayPal (PYUSD), Mastercard is building on-chain wholesale settlement networks to capture coordination rights in institutional stablecoin flows.
Previous initiatives like Kraken crypto debit cards targeted the "middle" of payment flows. This new approach captures users at the journey's starting point, from fiat-to-crypto conversion through final settlement.
The Moat Defense
With stablecoin volumes exceeding traditional card networks, Mastercard realizes that clearing rules and transaction fees won't maintain their monopoly long-term. The company is shifting from "network orchestrator" to "core coordinator of on-chain value flows."
Cobo's Take: This isn't about payment efficiency anymore, it's about platform power. Whoever gets closest to settlement controls value direction and distribution methods. Mastercard's stablecoin strategy represents a complete reconstruction of their competitive moats, moving from information flow instruction layers to value flow settlement layers.
Tether's Global South Gambit
As the GENIUS Act sets an "orderly delisting" timeline for USDT in the US, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino confirmed the company's strategic pivot in this week's Bankless podcast. His thesis is simple: efficiency arbitrage determines stablecoin viability.
In markets with 90% financial efficiency like the US, stablecoins offer limited marginal improvements, leading to unsustainable price wars and commoditization. But in emerging markets with only 20% financial efficiency, boosting efficiency from 20% to 50% creates a 30% structural gain that can support stablecoin premiums.
The AI Agent Vision
Tether has abandoned trying to replicate its Global South model in the US, instead pursuing yield-sharing and programmability. The new strategy includes AI agent wallets, IoT device integration, cross-chain wallet SDKs, and rebuilding distribution networks through channels like Rumble.
Ardoino's boldest prediction: one trillion AI agents settling transactions with Bitcoin and USDT within 15 years. Traditional banks won't open accounts for AI agents, but blockchain rails will welcome them.
The Numbers Back It Up
Tether generated over $13 billion profit in 2024 from these "market failure" scenarios. In extreme volatility situations, users will even let Tether keep interest earnings rather than seek alternatives.
Cobo's Take: This dual approach reflects how stablecoin business models diverge across different financial landscapes. In highly efficient markets, adoption requires moving beyond traditional "cost and speed" narratives toward yield sharing and deep integration with new economic scenarios. Tether's AI wallet bet could be prescient; the machine economy needs payment rails that work 24/7 without human intervention.
$50B USDT Laundering Ring Exposed
A crypto payment platform called "HuionePay" processed over $50 billion USDT on TRON in 18 months while exhibiting classic money laundering patterns, according to blockchain security firm SlowMist's analysis.
The Scale Was Staggering
The platform showed a massive $2.77 billion net outflow with withdrawal transactions spiking to 150,000 per day in May 2025. This "high-frequency withdrawal" behavior aligns with typical fraud money laundering and capital flight schemes.
Despite questionable legitimacy, the platform attracted over 80,000 active deposit addresses. Several core withdrawal addresses handled billions in USDT and showed direct interactions with OFAC-sanctioned addresses and known attackers.
The Takedown
The coordinated response involved Tether asset freezes, FinCEN intervention, Telegram channel bans, and a joint UNODC-Elliptic report. These actions ultimately forced HuionePay to cease operations, marking a successful "multilateral containment" case.
Cobo's Take: The incident highlights systemic risks around USDT on TRON networks and demonstrates the strategic value of on-chain tracking tools for identifying illicit fund flows. As stablecoins scale, these enforcement capabilities become critical infrastructure for maintaining legitimacy with regulators and traditional finance partners.
New Launches: Infrastructure Gets Serious
Circle's USDC on Codex: Circle brought USDC and CCTP V2 to Codex, an EVM blockchain built specifically for B2B stablecoin transactions that prioritizes compliance over DeFi features. The integration gives businesses direct access to Circle Mint APIs, enabling instant cross-chain transfers without bridge risks. It's the "boring but reliable" blockchain for corporate treasury operations.
Dynamic's Stablecoin Hub: Dynamic dropped "Stablecoin Accounts" to turn months-long stablecoin integrations into days-long deployments for fintech teams. The platform handles wallet setup, on/off-ramps, and payment processing while the Hub becomes the go-to learning resource for navigating the fragmented stablecoin ecosystem.
Borderless Unlocks Diaspora Capital: Former Stripe exec Joe Kinvi launched Borderless to unlock the $30 billion in diaspora savings that sits idle annually, letting African diaspora communities collectively invest in home-country startups and real estate. The platform has moved $500,000 since beta with over 100 communities waitlisted.
SoFi's Crypto Comeback: SoFi is charging back into crypto with 24/7 stablecoin remittances after pausing everything in 2023 to secure banking licenses. New OCC guidance letting chartered banks offer crypto custody just cleared the regulatory runway they needed.
Kraken's "Krak" App: Kraken launched "Krak," a financial services app targeting remittance and payments to diversify revenue ahead of its potential IPO. The app enables global crypto and fiat transfers across 300+ assets with minimal fees, positioning Kraken to compete directly with Revolut and Cash App.
Bitkit's Bitcoin Bills: Bitkit just dropped a game-changer letting you pay Netflix, Airbnb, and grocery bills directly with Bitcoin, no banks required. This isn't just another "Bitcoin payments" feature, it's actually making the "live on Bitcoin" dream practical for normies who want to skip the whole sell-crypto-transfer-to-bank dance.
Rain's Stablecoin Payroll: Rain teamed up with compliance provider Toku to build a cross-border stablecoin payroll system that lets companies pay employees in real-time using USDC, RLUSD, and USDG. The platform plugs into existing payroll systems like ADP and Workday with one-week deployment while handling compliance across 100+ countries.
Cenoa's Bridge Integration: Cenoa is using Bridge's infrastructure to give entrepreneurs in Turkey and Nigeria instant USD accounts that auto-convert to USDC, cutting cross-border payment costs by 80% compared to traditional banking. The platform hit 10,000 Turkish users and $5 million monthly volume in just six months.
Kakao Pay's KRWKP Trademarks: Kakao Pay just filed 18 trademarks for "KRWKP" covering everything from stablecoin naming to crypto wallets, basically laying groundwork for a Korean Won stablecoin whether they admit it or not. South Korea's biggest payment platform potentially launching a KRW stablecoin would be massive for local crypto adoption.
Cobo's Take: These launches show the infrastructure buildout accelerating beyond basic stablecoin issuance. From privacy-enabled contracts to diaspora investment platforms, every layer of the financial stack is being rebuilt with stablecoins as the foundation. The race isn't about who issues the best stablecoin anymore; it's about who builds the most useful ecosystem around programmable money.
Regulatory Shifts: The Global Stablecoin Map
South Korea's Bank Coalition: Eight major banks including KB Kookmin and Shinhan are forming a joint venture for a KRW-pegged stablecoin with potential launch by year-end. This represents the most significant bank-led stablecoin initiative globally, moving beyond individual pilots to industry-wide coordination.
Hong Kong's Digital Asset 2.0: Hong Kong dropped Digital Asset Policy Statement 2.0 with the "LEAP" framework, putting the SFC in charge while rolling out stablecoin rules August 1st. The city is targeting real-world asset tokenization beyond its existing HK$6.8 billion in tokenized green bonds.
Russia's Sanctions Workaround: Russian ruble stablecoin A7A5 hit $9.3 billion in transactions after four months, backed by a sanctioned Moscow defense bank. This isn't DeFi experimentation; it's Russia building sanctions-resistant payment rails with institutional-scale volume.
Korea's "Banks First" Strategy: The Bank of Korea's "banks first" strategy shows how regulatory preferences are shaping market structure with traditional institutions leading rather than following crypto innovation.
Cobo's Take: The regulatory landscape is fragmenting along geopolitical lines. While the US focuses on compliance frameworks, Russia builds parallel systems and Asian hubs like Hong Kong position themselves as bridges between traditional finance and tokenized assets. Stablecoins are becoming tools of economic statecraft.
Traditional Finance Absorption
Mastercard's Multi-Stablecoin Play: Mastercard integrated PayPal's PYUSD, Paxos's USDG, and Fiserv's FIUSD alongside existing USDC support. This enables seamless on/off-ramps and cross-border payments through Mastercard Move, positioning the company as critical infrastructure in the stablecoin economy.
Fiserv's Bank Integration: Fiserv is dropping FIUSD, a Solana-based stablecoin launching late 2025 that instantly plugs 3,000 regional banks and 6 million merchants into the crypto economy at zero extra cost. The move flips their business model from high transaction fees to reserve asset earnings.
PwC's Hong Kong Playbook: PwC dropped Hong Kong's official Web3 playbook with five action groups targeting stablecoins, fund management, and custody services. The Big Four firm is becoming Hong Kong's Web3 infrastructure architect rather than just auditing from the sidelines.
Ethereum Hits 750K Users: Ethereum stablecoin users hit 750,000 weekly active users for the first time, signaling the shift from crypto speculation to utility-driven adoption. This user growth timing aligns with traditional finance integrations, suggesting we're hitting the inflection point.
Cobo's Take: Traditional finance isn't just watching anymore, they're building the rails. When Big Four firms form dedicated Web3 action groups and regional processors launch native stablecoins, the institutional absorption is complete. The question isn't whether stablecoins will integrate with traditional finance, but who will control the integration.
Big Picture: The BIS Declares War
The BIS just dropped a scathing report declaring stablecoins fundamentally broken across unity, resilience, and integrity metrics, calling them unfit for future monetary systems despite their programmability advantages.
The central bank consortium warns about "stealth dollarization" undermining national monetary sovereignty and enabling illicit activities, sending Circle's stock down 15% immediately after publication.
The Real-Time Economy Emerges
Meanwhile, the real-time economy is emerging as stablecoins grow 55% annually and could hit 10% of US M1 within a decade. With transaction costs below $0.01 on Layer 2 networks, companies can slash the $2 trillion in cash holdings by moving to flowing financial models where employees get paid daily and utilities bill in real-time.
Infrastructure Gold Rush
Paxos is seeing massive infrastructure demand as banks realize stablecoin rails are "extremely low cost and nearly free" compared to traditional payment systems. The $150 billion stablecoin issuer is positioning tokenized deposits as the bridge between traditional banking and crypto rails.
Asset-Backed Innovation
Bloomberg Intelligence is floating the idea that Hong Kong stablecoins could evolve beyond simple HKD pegs to back against real estate and other real-world assets that Hong Kong stablecoins could evolve beyond simple HKD pegs to back against real estate and other real-world assets, creating a new model for asset-backed digital currencies. If they pull it off, property-backed stablecoins could become a template for other asset-rich jurisdictions looking to tokenize their way into crypto relevance.
Ondo CEO Nathan Allman sees stablecoins as just the opening act for massive RWA tokenization, with his platform launching next month to put US stocks, bonds, and ETFs on-chain following BlackRock and Franklin Templeton's treasury tokenization moves. He's betting that "the vast majority of regulated financial assets will settle on blockchain rails" but acknowledges that publicly traded securities are the easy targets while private markets need serious infrastructure overhauls first.
Cobo's Take: The BIS is basically saying "we'll take the tech, but not your tokens," setting up a massive regulatory clash as stablecoins gain institutional adoption. But while central banks debate monetary theory, the infrastructure buildout continues at breakneck speed. The real battle isn't ideological, it's about who controls the rails of programmable money.
Final Word from Cobo
The payment wars have officially begun. Mastercard is rebuilding its moats around stablecoin settlement. Tether is betting on AI agents and emerging markets. Traditional processors are launching native tokens to capture their own transaction flows.
What we're witnessing isn't just financial innovation, it's the complete reconstruction of how money moves through the global economy. The winners won't be the companies with the fastest payments or lowest fees. They'll be the platforms that make programmable money so embedded in existing workflows that it becomes invisible infrastructure.
The BIS can declare war on private stablecoins, but the infrastructure wave is already unstoppable. While regulators debate, builders are shipping. And in the end, utility beats ideology every time.
Whether you're navigating the new compliance landscape, building stablecoin infrastructure, or positioning for the programmable money future, the rails are being laid right now. The question isn't whether this transition will happen, but whether you'll be building on top of it or watching from the sidelines.
