Stablecoin payments look simple, but the reality is a three-layer sandwich where banks, issuers, and exchangers each take a bite. Add FX spreads, and users lose billions each year. The fix is direct tokenized deposits and onchain FX markets that compress costs from dollars to cents.
Fintech's future isn't being shaped in the U.S. or Europe. It's emerging in Lagos, Ho Chi Minh City, and Buenos Aires, where stablecoins and digital rails solve survival challenges.
The GENIUS Act delivers regulatory clarity for stablecoins in the U.S., but at a cost. By eliminating yield on reserves, it destroyed the business model that sustained issuers like Circle. The float has not disappeared, it has shifted offshore, to banks, and into new fee structures. This change may crown Tether king of emerging markets and force U.S. issuers to reinvent themselves.
