Nansen is out with a report on the Stable Act, the legislation that creates a regulatory environment for fiat based stablecoins, and who is most likely to benefit.
The report notes that yield-bearing, decentralized offerings will be no more as the digital dollar must be full reserve assets issued by licensed firms. Currently, Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC) are the top providers of digital dollars. Circle is based in the US, but Tether recently moved its HQ to El Salvador.
At the time of the report being put together, USDT had a 66.3% market share with USDC at 27.6%. A distant third is USDE at 2.7%. The total market cap stood at $217.4 billion.
While stablecoins have mainly been used as an on/off ramp for crypto trading, providing a safe haven when you want to exit a trade, expectations are that stablecoins will emerge as the new rails for payments – faster, more secure, and less costly.
Coming in second with a 27.6% market share, and USDC with a 2.7% market share.
The authors highlight that established entities ike Coinbase, PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, BNY Mellon, and BlackRock, may dominate the stablecoin marketplace.
Traditional custodians are predicted to benefit too, with the report mentioning BNY Mellon and Nasdaq as being well-positioned.
Global payments platforms like Payoneer (PAYO) or banks like MUFG and Nomura get a shout out as they look to improve cross-border transfers.
DeFi stablecoins like DAI or Aave (GHO) do not qualify as payment stablecoins but are included in a 2-year trial, where a report will be created to gauge the future of decentralized stablecoins.
Regarding blockchains, the report states that Ethereum, Tron, and Solana are big winners based on stablecoin market share, with Ethereum being the biggest winner by far at 52.6% of the market.
The banning of yield-bearing stablecoins will probably disappoint many, but this would cause these digital assets to be regulated as a security an not just a digital dollar. Not to mention that it could undermine many established banks, which frequently hold money and keep the interest for themselves. Big banks would be unhappy about this. At the same time, you can expect many will enter the sector or partner with another to maintain relevance.\