‘2 Trillion Dollar Market Opens in 3 Years’ US Financial Sector Stablecoin Competition

[Financial News] As the Donald Trump administration, which has declared itself the 'Crypto President', establishes stablecoin regulations, global financial institutions such as US-based banks, card companies, and asset management firms are rushing to capture the market. They are not only issuing stablecoins themselves but also integrating them into existing payment infrastructures and launching related financial services. The US Treasury Department has forecasted that the stablecoin market will grow to 2 trillion dollars within the next 3 years.
■US Banks Can Also Issue Stablecoins
According to the industry on the 27th, the Trump administration is accelerating the establishment of stablecoin regulations in close cooperation with Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) while allowing financial institutions to enter the virtual asset services market. Both the Republican and Democratic parties in the US Senate support the stablecoin bill (Genius Act), and regulatory authorities like the US SEC are expanding the scope of banks' virtual asset-related businesses.
Shinyoung Securities researcher Im Min-ho said, “The Trump administration is fulfilling most of its existing virtual asset pledges as it establishes systems related to stablecoins,” and added, “The US Congress is also speeding up for the final passage of the stablecoin bill in August by forming a Digital Asset Joint Task Force.” He continued, “The Virtual Asset Task Force (TF) under the SEC has selected the tokenization of financial infrastructure as a key task, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) are laying the institutional foundation by removing the prohibition on banks handling virtual assets.”
The government has played a priming role so that stablecoin services in traditional financial sectors like banks and credit cards can be activated following the 'Crypto Masterpiece' Bitcoin spot ETF by global asset management companies. Recently, Bank of America (BoA) CEO Brian Moynihan stated, “If stablecoins are legalized, we will also enter the market,” which is in the same context. The Genius Act allows the issuance of dollar stablecoins in the US by banks, and BoA is also likely to issue a stablecoin (BoA Token) linked to accounts with dollar deposits.
NH Investment & Securities researcher Hong Sung-wook emphasized, “Interest in stablecoins among financial institutions, including banks, is high even before the final passage of the Genius Act,” and added, “Stablecoins are highly profitable, and the first-mover advantage is important.”
■PayPal, AI Pays with Stablecoins
Fidelity is researching its own stablecoin that can be linked to tokenized funds such as physical assets, and Visa and Mastercard are also integrating stablecoins into global payment infrastructures. This is because settlement using stablecoins maximizes payment speed and cost efficiency. Korbit Research Center Director Kim Min-seung stated at a policy discussion hosted by the Digital Asset Committee under the Democratic Party's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's campaign headquarters the previous day, “Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal are successively introducing stablecoin payment services,” and added, “In particular, PayPal's stablecoin PYUSD, combined with artificial intelligence (AI) agents, will enable fast and efficient global payments and refunds.” 
It is also noteworthy that fiat-backed stablecoins are incorporating short-term US Treasury bonds as major reserve assets. If the use of stablecoins by traditional financial sectors is further promoted, additional demand for US Treasury bonds is expected to continue, according to Korbit Research Center's observation.
iM Securities Research Division also stated, “The US Treasury Department expects that the total market capitalization of stablecoins will increase to 2 trillion dollars by 2028 if the Genius Act is finally passed,” and added, “Considering that the current market capitalization of stablecoins is about 230 billion dollars, there is a possibility that stablecoin issuers will become major players in the US Treasury market.” He continued, “Last year, China and Japan sold 111 billion dollars worth of US Treasury bonds,” and added, “Given that the total US Treasury holdings of Tether and Circle are 126 billion dollars, it played a role in partially cushioning the demand gap caused by the sales from China and Japan.”
elikim@fnnews.com Kim Mi-hee Reporter