Stablecoin

In 2025, stablecoin issuers generated roughly $5 billion from deployments on Ethereum, according to X. Startups reported a 400% year-over-year rise in stablecoin card usage and payment volumes, while ERC20 stablecoin activity approached record highs, per CryptoQuant. U.S. lawmakers are also weighing changes to yield rules, with a markup set for the 15th of January.

Coinbase Global Inc. is warning US lawmakers it could withdraw support for a major digital asset bill if new rules severely restrict its ability to pay rewards on stablecoins held on its platform. The exchange wants any changes limited to stronger disclosure requirements, arguing broader bans or exclusive rights for licensed banks could threaten an estimated $1.3 billion in annual stablecoin-related revenue. The dispute over rewards, which follows the GENIUS Act's stablecoin framework passed in July, is now weighing on bipartisan support for the market structure legislation planned for early 2026.

TRON's TRX has maintained a bullish market structure, with weekly charts showing a rebound from the $0.272 support area and sustained buying interest. However, the $0.30 region, which recently rejected price around $0.3025, remains a key resistance, and a Bitcoin move below the $89k–$90k band could undermine this bullish setup.

According to TRM Labs' 2026 Crypto Crime Report, illicit crypto inflows reached $158 billion in 2025, a 145% rise from $64.5 billion in 2024. The share of illicit activity fell to 1.5% of on-chain volume and 2.7% of VASP inflows, while Russia-linked A757 and A7 saw $72 billion and $39 billion respectively.

U.S. lawmakers are reviving the Clarity Act, a market structure bill that would establish the first comprehensive legal framework for digital assets. Senate Agriculture and Banking Committees plan to hold hearings on Thursday to revise their sections, addressing stablecoin rewards, DeFi liability, and whether public officials like Donald Trump can profit from crypto while in office. The committees aim to merge their drafts and move the combined bill to a Senate vote ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The International Monetary Fund indicates that stablecoins are shifting from a crypto market tool to infrastructure for cross border payments. Its analysis highlights growing use outside major financial centers, tighter links to dollar based assets, and policy concerns around hidden dollarization. Fragmented oversight and bank initiatives in tokenization point toward a hybrid payment architecture.

The Tennessee Sports Wagering Council has directed Kalshi, Polymarket and Crypto.com to stop offering sports event contracts to residents and to void existing agreements, with refunds due by January 31, 2026. Noncompliance could lead to fines of up to $25,000 per violation and potential felony charges under state law. The move underscores growing state-level scrutiny of crypto-linked derivatives and their overlap with federal regulation.

BlackRock's Global Outlook 2026 frames stablecoins as core settlement infrastructure rather than niche trading tools, while Visa and JPMorgan integrate USDC and tokenized funds into their operations. Regulatory clarity from the US GENIUS Act and Ethereum's dominance in real-world asset tokenization underpin this shift but also surface monetary and issuer risks.

On 11 January 2026 at 17:42, the International Monetary Fund highlighted that stablecoins are increasingly used for cross‑border payments. Its analysis says stablecoin flows are growing faster than Bitcoin and Ethereum activity, and heavy backing with short‑term US Treasuries is binding these tokens to traditional finance while policy responses remain uneven.

Vitalik Buterin outlines three structural issues he believes still undermine decentralized stablecoins: dependence on USD-based price pegs, vulnerability of oracle systems, and conflicts created by staking yields when used as collateral. He argues that long-term resilience will require new reference indexes, more robust oracle designs, and mechanisms that balance staking returns with stablecoin usability and risk management.