Stablecoins Surpass Visa; Circle and PayPal Join the Race

Stablecoins have evolved far beyond their role as simple digital dollars. Today, they form the backbone of AI-powered financial infrastructure, drive adoption in emerging markets, and enable programmable economies at scale. As these payment rails solidify, the race to control them is intensifying — with major players positioning for dominance.

This week, we explore the hidden turf war for stablecoin market share in emerging economies, how AI agents are creating their own autonomous economic networks, and why global payment leaders — from Stripe to Visa — are investing heavily in stablecoin technology to connect data, dollars, and digital autonomy into a single, seamless payment loop.

By the Numbers: Stablecoin Market Snapshot

The total stablecoin market cap has reached $242.694B, growing by $2.35B week-over-week. USDT continues its dominance with 61.73% market share, followed by USDC at 25.47% ($61.76B).

• Fastest-Growing Coins: World Liberty Financial's USD1 (+193%), BlackRock's BUIDL (+13.14%), and Ondo's USDY (+7.36%)

• Blockchain Leaders: While Ethereum ($124.48B), Tron ($71.95B), and Solana ($13.08B) lead in total value, BSC (+17.72%), Sonic (+11.11%), and Optimism (+8.41%) are seeing the fastest growth.

Stablecoins Are Winning the AI Economy

The AI revolution needs a payment layer - and stablecoins are filling the void. From Visa's Intelligent Commerce to Coinbase's new x402 protocol, the future of payments is autonomous, real-time, and entirely machine-driven.

• Visa is rolling out "Agent Pay," where wallets settle autonomously via AI logic

• Coinbase launched x402, a protocol where AI agents pay for API calls in USDC

• Stripe is merging AI and stablecoin infrastructure into a programmable financial OS

Cobo's Take:

AI doesn't just need APIs - it needs money movement. Stablecoins, with their instant, permissionless, identity-free design, are perfectly built for autonomous transactions. Payment infra will soon run AI-to-AI. WaaS platforms that support micro-native, programmable payments will be the glue.

Tether Quietly Became a $14B Juggernaut - Now It's Going Full-AI

Tether earned $14B in profits last year, more than Pfizer or Tesla - without ads, media buzz, or VC fanfare. Now they're going deeper: building out Tether.AI, Bitcoin-native infra, P2P chat with Keet, and tokenization platforms like Hadron.

Their diversification continues with Tether Gold (XAUT) reaching $770M in market cap, backed by 7.7 tons of physical gold in Swiss vaults and fully compliant with El Salvador's regulatory framework.

Their playbook? Digitize the dollar at the edge: Argentina, Turkey, Nigeria - where inflation is rampant and trust in traditional systems is low.

Cobo's Take:

Tether is no longer just an issuer - it's an economic system. In unstable economies, USDT isn't a crypto asset - it's the economy. As their stack grows, so does their influence. For builders, this means supporting Tether rails - across wallets, payments, and even AI-native services - is becoming non-negotiable.

Emerging Markets Are Ground Zero for the New Dollar

Stripe, Visa, and Tether are all targeting dollar-denominated payments in emerging markets:

• Stripe now tests stablecoin financial accounts in 100+ non-Western countries

• Visa x Bridge launched stablecoin-backed cards across Latin America

• Januar flips TradFi logic: helping crypto firms get direct SWIFT access via USD accounts

Cobo's Take:

Dollarization is going on-chain. In regions with shaky financial infrastructure, stablecoins offer stability without SWIFT. To capture these flows, WaaS providers must support multi-currency, multi-network payouts, and integrate with on/off-ramp partners bridging fiat to stablecoin in real tim

• Coinbase x402: Turns "HTTP 402 Payment Required" into actual USDC payments - letting AI agents pay for services without human approval.

• Visa x Rain: Tokenized Visa cards settle in USDC, with 24/7 real-time payment clearing - no banks, no delays.

• Playtron x Bridge: Launches Game Dollar, a programmable stablecoin for gaming economies, tied to the SuiPlay console.

• BitGo Stablecoin-as-a-Service: A full-stack launchpad for institutions to mint their own compliant stablecoins - custody, reserves, tokenization, and more.

• Mesh x Apple Pay: Allowing shoppers to spend crypto that settles in stablecoins — retailers get familiar Apple Pay integration without touching raw crypto.

Cobo's Take:

Stablecoins aren't one-size-fits-all anymore. We're entering a world of vertical stablecoins - gaming coins, AI coins, tokenized treasury coins. Infrastructure must adapt: supporting new asset types, token logic, governance policies, and smart contract rails natively.

Capital Moves: Stablecoins Go Institutional - and Political

• Zar raises $7M from a16z, Dragonfly, and Coinbase to bring stablecoins to corner stores across Pakistan and Nigeria - with 100k+ users waitlisted.

• Visa invests in BVNK, a UK-based payment rail processing $12B in stablecoin volume annually, pushing further into U.S. regulatory territory.

• USD1 (World Liberty Financial) just became the de facto currency for a $2B MGX investment into Binance - backed by Eric Trump and expanding into Tron.

• Kyrgyzstan is launching "Gold Dollar" (USDKG), pegged to gold and USD, or cross-border payments in Central Asia.

• Abu Dhabi's Sovereign Wealth Fund ADQ partners with First Abu Dhabi Bank and International Holding Company to launch a UAE dirham-backed stablecoin, further expanding the Middle East's blockchain footprint.

Cobo's Take:

Stablecoins are getting geopolitical. They're tied to foreign policy, sovereign reserves, and political allegiances. Whether you're an exchange or a PSP, your wallet infra needs to support stablecoin policy enforcement, gold-backed tokens, and regional compliance frameworks by default.

Regulation & Compliance Watch

• The GENIUS Act stalls as U.S. senators clash over AML provisions and possible conflicts around Trump-linked stablecoin deals.

• PayPal wins big - the SEC drops its investigation into PYUSD, clearing the way for more TradFi stablecoin issuers.

• FinCEN blacklists Huione Group after $98B in illicit stablecoin transactions. This marks one of the biggest global enforcement actions in crypto history.

• Circle wins In-Principle Approval in Abu Dhabi, expanding its stablecoin network across the UAE and tapping into 500+ startups via Hub71.

Cobo's Take:

The stablecoin regulatory map is fragmenting - fast. UAE, Singapore, and LATAM are moving ahead while the U.S. gridlocks. Wallet infra must be adaptable, audit-ready, and embedded with jurisdiction-specific controls for global scale.

Final Word from Cobo

Stablecoins aren't the future of finance - they are finance. From AI to gaming, from emerging markets to institutional rails, they're rewiring how value moves and who gets to move it.

Whether you're building the next AI wallet, launching a tokenized asset, or plugging into Latin America's payment networks - we've got the infrastructure to scale you.

👉Get started with Cobo