The era of stablecoins has arrived.

The financial system is undergoing changes.

Written by: Nick Shaheen, Bankless Author

Compiled by: AIMan@Golden Finance

Stablecoins have been developing slowly and have ultimately become the largest use case in the cryptocurrency space. While progress seems slow, things are accelerating, and it feels like we are at a "breakthrough" moment.

The past month has made this clearer than ever.

Stripe and Meta are the two largest technology companies in the world, and they have both joined the ranks of stablecoins. Stablecoin trading volume has officially surpassed Visa. Despite facing political resistance, regulation is now just a matter of time, rather than whether it will happen.

The era of stablecoins has arrived. It was originally progressing slowly, but now it seems to have happened all at once.

1. Stripe's stablecoin account has been launched in over 100 countries/regions.

Stripe has quietly launched a stablecoin financial account, enabling businesses in over 100 countries to hold, send, and receive funds in USDC or USDB (the infrastructural stablecoin of Bridge).

It is essentially a dollar account that does not require a bank.

Behind the scenes, Stripe is using its acquisition of Bridge to handle the custody and treasury operations of stablecoins. The point is that these accounts are backed by U.S. dollar reserves held in BlackRock on a 1:1 basis.

No ACH delays, no foreign exchange fees, no need for local banking infrastructure. Just programmable internet-native dollars.

This is the future that PayPal should build.

2. The Revival of Meta Stablecoins: WhatsApp Payments Are Coming Soon

According to reports, Meta is in talks with cryptocurrency companies to reintroduce stablecoins on its platform, including WhatsApp.

Yes, it's the Diem that Congress humiliated and forced Meta to shut down three years ago.

Scale is the key. WhatsApp has over 2 billion users. If Meta can achieve this, the adoption of stablecoins will no longer be a trickle, but a flood.

3. Stablecoin trading volume surpasses Visa

According to the Q1 2025 cryptocurrency market commentary released by Bitwise, stablecoins processed a transaction volume of $27.6 trillion in 2024, surpassing Visa and Mastercard.

95% of the transactions are settled on Ethereum. That's right, Ethereum is now one of the most important financial channels on Earth.

Let this sink in.

4. Developer Gold Rush: Bridge and USDB

The USDB of Bridge is quickly becoming the most developer-friendly stablecoin in the market.

Unlike traditional issuing institutions that retain reserve profits, Bridge will distribute them—both developers and users can participate. Developers only need to switch to USDB via the API to receive rewards.

Can I exchange USDC? Free.

Minting and redeeming? Global.

Government bond collateral? Stored at BlackRock.

If stablecoins are the new dollar, then Bridge is building the Stripe for programmable money.

5. Although the GENIUS Act failed, it has not disappeared.

Last week, the U.S. Senate failed to pass the GENIUS Act, which is the first serious attempt at federal stablecoin legislation.

The bill failed to pass in a procedural vote of 48 to 51, not due to a lack of support, but because last-minute changes by the Republicans caught key cryptocurrency-friendly Democrats off guard.

Even some co-sponsors of the bill voted against it, citing concerns that the amendments were too rushed and lacked transparency.

Nevertheless, there is still interest among people. Senator Warner stated that stablecoins "are undoubtedly part of the financial future" and promised to revise and pass the bill as soon as possible.

The "GENIUS Act" will:

• Establish federal oversight for stablecoin issuers
• Set capital and liquidity standards
• Enforced compliance with anti-money laundering regulations in accordance with the Bank Secrecy Act

Critics believe that this regulation is too lenient - precisely meeting the conditions expected by cryptocurrency companies. But there is no doubt: this is the United States' choice to regulate stablecoins onshore rather than allowing them to develop overseas.

This vote may fail, but the next vote could pass as early as this week.

The most important thing is

Stablecoins are no longer a "crypto use case"; they themselves are the use case.

Various institutions have also emerged.

• Stripe has created a wallet.
• Meta is building the interface.
• Ethereum is the backend.
• Developers are building everything else.

In 2020, stablecoins were still a novelty. By 2024, it had developed into a multi-trillion-dollar industry. Now, in 2025, the world's largest enterprises and legislators are conducting practical tests on stablecoins.

The financial system is undergoing changes. First slowly, then suddenly it changed.