Insights
Sourced analysis on stablecoins and the payments market — what changed, and what it means. Newest first. For the running ecosystem changelog, see the Pulse.
Digital dollarization: what happens when emerging markets adopt USD stablecoins
When residents of an emerging economy save and transact in USD stablecoins rather than local currency, their central bank loses control of monetary policy — a dynamic economists call digital dollarization. Here is what it means, why it happens, and what countries are doing about it.
Read →Neutral, sourced, dated — follow the citations.
The file
How banks adopted stablecoin rails in 2026
In 2025–2026, major banks moved from pilot announcements to production stablecoin infrastructure. JPMorgan launched JPMD on Base for institutional clients. European banks formed a 37-bank consortium, Qivalis, targeting a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin. Visa and Mastercard expanded settlement capabilities. SWIFT ran blockchain pilots with nine US institutions. The GENIUS Act cleared the legal path for US bank-issued stablecoins.
Payments6 minStablecoin trends to watch heading into 2027
The stablecoin market enters 2027 with $320B+ in supply, two major regulatory frameworks in force, and B2B payment volume up 733% year-on-year. The next phase is defined by five trends: GENIUS Act implementation reaching its first anniversary, bank-issued tokens moving from institutional-only to consumer rails, machine-to-machine payments maturing, the euro stablecoin gap narrowing, and supply forecasts pointing toward a potential $1 trillion market.
Stablecoins6 minThe state of stablecoins in 2026
The stablecoin market crossed $320 billion in circulating supply by mid-2026, with B2B payment volume up 733% year-on-year. USDT and USDC account for more than 80% of supply. The GENIUS Act set a US licensing framework; MiCA is fully in force in Europe. Adoption is institutional and accelerating.
Stablecoins5 min
Latest explainers
Tempo vs Tron for stablecoin payments
Tron carries the most stablecoin volume in the world today; Tempo is a payments-first chain built from scratch for the job. Here is how they compare on fees, finality, and design — and which fits which use.
Chains compared4 minWhat is a stablecoin?
A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency designed to hold a steady value — almost always one US dollar — by being backed by reserves or managed by code. They are how dollars move on a blockchain.
Stablecoins4 minHow to accept stablecoin payments as a business
Accepting stablecoins as a business means choosing a gateway or wallet, connecting an off-ramp, handling accounting, and building a settlement workflow — all of which are solvable problems with established tooling in 2026.
Use cases6 minStablecoins in Africa: cross-border payments and dollarization
Sub-Saharan Africa pays the world's highest remittance fees — averaging 7.9% — and has the fewest banking options. Stablecoins are filling both gaps, with USDT adoption accelerating across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Egypt.
Cross-border5 minAgentic commerce: what it means for businesses that sell services
Agentic commerce is the pattern where AI agents — acting on behalf of a human buyer — research, select, and complete purchases without step-by-step human approval. For businesses that sell services or data, this creates a new class of buyer: software that pays programmatically, expects machine-readable pricing and catalogs, and has no patience for checkout flows designed for humans. Businesses that expose agent-accessible APIs and accept stablecoin payments via protocols like x402 or MPP can capture this buyer class; those that don't will be bypassed.
Use cases6 minThe infrastructure behind agentic payments: wallets, keys, and settlement
Agentic payments require three infrastructure layers working together: a wallet the agent can sign transactions from, a key custody model that protects that wallet without requiring human interaction, and a settlement chain that confirms payments in under a second for fractions of a cent. Without all three, autonomous machine-to-machine payments at scale are not viable. This article explains each layer and the design choices operators face when deploying AI agents that spend money.
Use cases5 min
About Insights
- What is the difference between Insights and the Pulse?
- The Pulse is the ecosystem changelog — dated events as they happen (partners, validators, protocol milestones). Insights are longer, sourced analysis pieces that step back and explain what a development means. Both are neutral and cited.
- How current is this analysis?
- Each piece shows the date it was last reviewed, and the list is ordered newest-first. The market moves fast; figures are sourced and dated so you can judge their freshness and follow the citations.