Stablecoin

On May 13, 2026, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong posted a brief update from the Senate office building saying the CLARITY Act is headed to a Thursday markup and is in its most bipartisan position so far. He pointed to a stablecoin rewards compromise involving Senators Tillis and Brooks and said earlier concerns around DeFi, tokenized equities, and CFTC authority are now addressed from Coinbase's perspective.

Circle said in a paper published on 13 May that stablecoin-based, continuous blockchain settlement could replace parts of legacy batch-processing payment and settlement systems. The paper argues delayed clearing windows create liquidity lags and added reconciliation costs, and cites figures on excess working capital and daily FX settlement risk. Circle also highlighted its Circle Payments Network (CPN) as compliance-ready infrastructure intended to connect banks, payment providers, and enterprises.

Euro-denominated stablecoins expanded from $69 million to $777 million in monthly volume between January 2025 and March 2026. The increase was reported in TRM Labs’ Q1 2026 Global Crypto Adoption Index, published on April 23, as MiCA implementation advances and bank-led consortium Qivalis targets a euro stablecoin launch in the second half of 2026.

More than 100 amendments have been submitted to the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act ahead of the Senate Banking Committee's May 14, 2026 markup at 10:30 a.m. in Dirksen Room 538. The proposals concentrate on stablecoin yield rules, DeFi liability, mixer classifications, and developer safe harbors, as senators debate what can pass committee and still reach a 60-vote threshold on the floor.

Crypto exchange MEXC said it plans to expand its Guardian Fund to $500 million over the next two years and add 1,000 bitcoin to its reserves. The company described the move as a risk-management upgrade built around a dual reserve system using BTC and USDT to support liquidity and longer-term backing.

Stables said on May 12, 2026 it entered a strategic partnership with T-0 Network to expand settlement capacity for its USDT corridors across Asia. The company aims to support high-volume, multi-jurisdiction transfers by adding dedicated liquidity and redundancy, as Asia accounts for roughly 60% of global stablecoin payment flows and faces fragmented banking connectivity.

Arc, Canton, and Tempo have collectively raised more than $1 billion in rounds that closed between October 2025 and May 2026, with combined valuations said to exceed $10 billion. The projects are backed by firms including Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Stripe, Paradigm, and a16z, reflecting a growing push for configurable, compliance-friendly privacy for institutional on-chain activity.

Members of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee have submitted more than 100 amendments to a major crypto bill, setting up a detailed committee markup process. The proposals span issues such as definitions and compliance requirements, but only amendments approved by votes in markup will alter the legislation.

Moody’s Ratings says major U.S. banks and market intermediaries increasingly agree that tokenized assets and digital money will become unavoidable, though current usage remains confined to stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and tokenized money market funds. DTCC said on May 4, 2026 it will support limited production trades of tokenized securities in July 2026, with a full-service launch targeted for October 2026. The report also notes tokenized MMFs stand at about $10 billion outstanding, reflecting rising institutional demand for onchain liquidity and yield.

JPMorgan has filed with the U.S. SEC for a blockchain-enabled, tokenized money market fund aimed at stablecoin issuers preparing for a regulated U.S. market under the proposed GENIUS Act. The filing dated 12 May names the product JPMorgan OnChain Liquidity-Token Money Market Fund (ticker: JLTXX), with Ethereum as the first supported network and a $1 million minimum investment.