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Stablecoins Will Expand Beyond Crypto Trading, Become Part of Mainstream Economy, Citi Predicts

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The stablecoin market could soon eclipse the entire crypto trading ecosystem that gave birth to it as regulatory tailwinds allow for the integration of the fixed-value tokens into the mainstream economy, according to predictions from global bank Citi.

Above and beyond their role as tokenized cash for the crypto trading community, stablecoins — digital tokens whose value is pegged primarily to the U.S. dollar — are already expanding into payments and remittances. The next five years will likely see them replacing some overseas and domestic U.S. currency holdings as well as forming part of the short-term liquidity held at banks, according to a recent report from Citi Institute’s Future Finance think-tank. If yield-bearing stablecoins can be issued, those may find a role in term deposits and retail money market funds.

“We’re looking at the integration of stablecoins into what you call the mainstream economy,” Ronit Ghose, the global head of Future of Finance, Citi Institute, said in an interview. “For example, stablecoins could be the cash leg for tokenized financial assets, or for payments by SMEs and large corporates. The dollar, and to a lesser extent the euro, has this kind of international currency status. Stablecoins allow people all over the world to hold dollars or euros in an easy, low cost way.”

The stablecoin market size is currently around $240 billion, led by Tether’s $145 billion USDT and Circle’s $60 billion USDC. In Citi’s base-case prediction, stablecoins will grow to $1.6 trillion by 2030, provided regulatory support and institutional integration take hold. In the bank’s more bullish scenario, the market could balloon to $3.7 trillion. (The global cryptocurrency market cap today stands around $3.45 trillion.)

Large crypto firms like Fireblocks, a platform for managing and moving crypto assets, said it’s also noted a swing in stablecoin use away from a settlement and on/off ramp trading tool toward payments.

“Payment companies are leveraging stablecoins for a variety of pure-play payment flows, including cross-border transfer, remittance, merchant settlements and others,” CEO Michael Shaulov said in an email. “Payment companies represent 11% of all of our clients, but 16% of the overall stablecoin transactions with over 30% growth of Q/Q in volumes. It is likely that this growth will continue, and they will represent 50% of the stablecoin volume within 12 months.”

Over the past 90 days, the combined USDT and USDC volume on Fireblocks was $517 billion, some 44% of the total volume, a figure that has doubled over the past several years. Of that, payment companies generated $82 billion, up 38.2% quarter over quarter, Fireblocks said.

The Empire Strikes Back

In the past, Citi’s Future Finance team has weighed the potential of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), often seen as the antithesis of freewheeling libertarian innovation by the crypto community, a view also held by President Donald Trump.

For Citi’s Ghose, the growth of stablecoins raises many questions: If the U.S. supports stablecoins, will Europe too? Or will Europe prefer CBDCs? Will CBDCs grow in the rest of the world? How will deposit tokens and tokenized deposits play out?

Whatever the landscape looks like, banks will likely avail themselves of all of the above, Ghose said. All banks, by definition, conduct inter-bank payments, which make sense with a wholesale CBDC, as well as retail CBDCs, he said.

“Depending on the country, there may be a stablecoin option or there may be a CBDC option,” Ghose said. “From a crypto perspective, it’s like Starwars, where the CBDCs are the evil Empire, as opposed to the crypto guys, who see themselves as Luke Skywalker.”

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Mercurity Fintech Plans $800M Bitcoin Treasury, Eyes Russell 2000 Inclusion

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Mercurity Fintech Holding (MFH) is raising $800 million to establish a bitcoin BTC treasury, the company announced in a press release.

The New York-based fintech group said the funds will support a multi-pronged strategy: acquiring bitcoin, storing it in blockchain-native custodial infrastructure, and integrating it into a system that includes tokenized treasury tools and staking services.

That means Mercurity isn’t just betting on a BTC treasury, but it’s trying to move into a “yield-generating, blockchain-aligned reserve structure.”

“Bitcoin will become an essential component of the future financial infrastructure,” CEO Shi Qiu said in the release. “We are positioning our company to be a key player in the evolving digital financial ecosystem.»

The company did not disclose whether the funds would be raised through debt, equity, or other financing mechanisms.

The fundraising announcement coincides with news that Mercurity is slated for inclusion in the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes.

MFH operates cryptocurrency mining facilities focusing on bitcoin and filecoin. It also develops liquid cooling solutions for AI data centers, and offers financial services to institutions and high-net-worth individuals.

The company’s shares went up 1.9% in yesterday’s trading session but dropped 2.84% in after-hours trading.

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Strong Uptake at 10-Year U.S. Debt Sale Eases Demand Concerns, 30-Year Sale’s Up Next

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Wednesday’s auction of 10-year U.S. Treasury notes undermined the narrative that investors are moving away from U.S. government debt, the bedrock of global finance, and pouring money instead into bitcoin BTC and gold.

Thursday’s sale of $22 billion of 30-year bonds may provide further clues to investor confidence in the fiscal policies of U.S. President Donald Trump since he initiated the global trade war in early April and help signal whether the notes are losing their shine as the premier fixed-income instrument backed by the deepest liquidity and low credit risk.

At the June 11 auction, demand for the $39 billion of 10-year notes, which offered a yield of 4.421%, outstripped supply by more than 2.5 times, according to Exante Data, and the primary dealer takedown was reportedly just 9%, the fourth-lowest on record. That’s a sign investors did most of the heavy buying. Primary dealers are the institutions authorized by the central bank to trade government bonds, and the takedown refers to the amount of newly issued debt they absorb themselves.

Worsening debt situation

As of June, the U.S. total gross national debt is over $36 trillion, more than 120% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The deficit, or the excess of government expenditure over revenue, was $1.8 trillion in 2024. The figure is expected to increase by $2.4 trillion in the coming years due to Trump’s tax cut plans. As of now, the U.S. pays $1 trillion as the cost of servicing the debt.

The new issuance, therefore, is more likely to exacerbate the problem and has several analysts pointing to bitcoin and gold as a hedge against the fiscal crisis.

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Bitcoin-Based Stablecoin Network Plasma Raises Deposit Cap to $1B, Gets Filled in 30 Minutes

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Stablecoin-focused blockchain Plasma raised its deposit cap to $1 billion early Thursday — and hit that limit within 30 minutes.

The new cap marks a doubling from the prior $500 million ceiling, which had itself been raised just days earlier following a community-driven outcry over bot activity and rapid sellout times.

Plasma said the short-notice announcement was designed to give real users, such as those active in its Discord, a fairer shot at joining. But it’s not a token sale just yet.

“Deposits are not the sale itself,” Plasma clarified in a post. “All funds remain fully owned by depositors and will be bridged to Plasma mainnet beta.”

Participants earn the right to buy into the eventual $50 million XPL public sale based on how many units they’ve locked up by the cutoff. The sale is valued at $500 million on a fully diluted basis.

Earlier this week, the project — which aims to bring native stablecoin functionality to Bitcoin through an EVM-compatible sidechain — saw its initial $500 million cap fill in just five minutes, according to Arkham data.

That figure was ten times what Plasma initially planned, indicative of massive investor appetite for stablecoin infrastructure.

The team behind Plasma has positioned its chain as a way to sidestep Ethereum’s high fees and congestion by building a zero-gas environment for stablecoin transactions while being anchored to Bitcoin’s security model.

USDT will be the first supported asset, with more expected to follow.

Read more: Plasma’s XPL Token Sale Attracts $500M as Investors Chase Stablecoin Plays

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