Stablecoins are ‘meaningfully disrupting’ payments landscape: Coinbase

Stablecoins have emerged as crypto’s killer app, and the data shows that they still have room to run

article-image

ddRender/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share


This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


Let me introduce crypto’s killer app: stablecoins. 

I know we just talked about stablecoins, but I wanted to, well, circle back. Duong said he’s frequently being asked by institutional investors if some of the forecasts for stablecoins (like Jeremy Allaire of Circle saying that stablecoins will hit $3 trillion by 2030) are realistic. 

“You think about the level of M2 money supply in the United States, and it’s $21 trillion. So we’re just at around 1% of that if we go to $3 trillion, that’s still only less than 15% of the entire M2 mining supply as it is so I really don’t think that’s far off. I think that the opportunity on that side of things is still huge,” Duong explained. 

Look at stablecoins go

He also thinks that Cicle’s recent acquisition of Hashnote shows its interest in yield-bearing stablecoins, given that Hashnote already has one. Institutions, at least, are very interested in the potential yield-bearing offering due to the macro environment. Basically, high rates lead to more folks sniffing around to see where they can make or save some extra money. 

Even with the Fed currently going into an easing cycle, Duong thinks that the interest will remain, backing up some of the points made by Marc Boiron of Polygon Labs last week. 

“In terms of utility, stablecoins are meaningfully disrupting the payments landscape, bringing crypto and fiat banking solutions closer together,” Duong wrote in the report.

Stablecoins really seem to be in the can’t stop, won’t stop stage of growth. 

“Behind this growth lies a simple but powerful fact: Stablecoins can make it faster and cheaper for both businesses and individuals to move money around the globe,” Coinbase wrote.

And that, dear readers, is exactly what we want from a potential killer app.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research

article-image

The first sitting president to address a crypto conference says the US is positioned to “dominate crypto and the next generation of financial technologies”

article-image

“These guys have created the unlock for the first wave of assets that’s starting with real estate,” VanEck’s Wyatt Lonergan said

article-image

Sponsored

Since the launch of its V1 mainnet, Bitlayer reached an all-time high TVL of $850 million with over 200 dapps launched on the L2

article-image

Volatility Shares will bring two Solana futures ETFs to market tomorrow

article-image

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse got a standing ovation on the DAS stage when he shared that the SEC plans to drop its appeal against Ripple

article-image

Just ahead of the FOMC’s decision, Mohamed El-Erian discussed the Fed’s interest rate narrative on the DAS main stage