Global Stablecoin Newsletter#18

Biweekly Recap | Issue #18 | Published Feb 27, 2026

Global Stablecoin Market Overview

Total Market Cap: $309.45 B

7-Day Change: +$1.048 B / +0.34%

Over the past two weeks, the stablecoin sector has remained steady, with total market capitalization fluctuating within the $307–310 billion range. Overall liquidity conditions have stayed resilient, though internal shifts among major issuers have become more pronounced.

USDT’s market capitalization has contracted for a second consecutive month, marking the first back-to-back monthly decline since the 2022 Terra collapse. The pullback appears to reflect capital rotation rather than systemic stress, as liquidity reallocates across compliant dollar-backed instruments.

Meanwhile, USDC has continued to expand, with circulation rising to approximately $75 billion and posting roughly 72 percent year-over-year growth. On Arbitrum, USDC’s share of stablecoin liquidity has increased to about 56.8 percent, reinforcing its position within layer-2 ecosystems and DeFi settlement flows.

Overall, stablecoins remain a core pillar of digital finance. While aggregate supply holds at elevated levels, capital is increasingly consolidating toward regulated and institutionally aligned issuers, supporting broader adoption across trading, payments, and cross-border liquidity use cases.

Data source: defillama

Key Highlights

· Bridge (Stripe Subsidiary) Receives Conditional OCC National Trust Bank Approval → Authorized to Issue and Manage Stablecoins Under Federal Regulatory Framework

· CFTC Revises Stablecoin Definition → Explicitly Permits National Trust Banks as Compliant Payment Stablecoin Issuers

· Meta Plans Stablecoin Comeback in Second Half of Year → Stripe (Acquirer of Bridge) Emerges as Likely Partner

· Wirex Launches Stablecoin Push-to-Card Service via Visa Direct → Covering 200+ Countries and 3 Billion Cards

· Polygon Labs Acquires Coinme and Sequence for $250 Million → Pivots to Payments-First Business Model

· Franklin Templeton and Binance Launch Institutional Off-Exchange Collateral Program → Enabling Tokenized Money Market Fund Shares as Binance Trading Collateral

· Hong Kong SFC Releases “A-S-P-I-Re” Virtual Asset Regulatory Roadmap → Built Around 5 Pillars with 12 Specific Measures

· Hong Kong SFC and UAE Capital Markets Authority Sign MOU → Marking First Cross-Border Regulatory Cooperation Agreement Specifically Targeting Digital Asset Entities

· Bank Negara Malaysia Launches Three Pilot Programs → To Comprehensively Test “Ringgit Stablecoin” and “Tokenized Deposits” System Within the Year

· JCB, Digital Garage, and Resona Holdings Jointly Launch Stablecoin Payment Proof-of-Concept → Testing USDC/JPYC In-Store Payments at Tokyo Physical Retail Location

Western Stablecoin Updates

Regulations & Policies

CLARITY Act Negotiation Deadline Set for March 1; Stablecoin Yield Provisions Remain Core Sticking Point

White House negotiators have formally set March 1, 2026 as the deadline for submitting a compromise text of the CLARITY Act, intended to ensure that the Senate Banking Committee’s markup process proceeds as scheduled and avoids derailing the legislative timeline. The key sticking point in negotiations is the regulatory scope of “stablecoin rewards.” Traditional banking institutions are lobbying for stricter limits on such rewards to guard against financial risk and protect the traditional banking business model. Crypto companies, on the other hand, want to preserve room to offer compliance-friendly incentives that maintain user engagement and competitive market advantage.

Read more: https://coindcx.com/blog/crypto-news-global/white-house-sets-march-1-deadline-for-clarity-act-as-stablecoin-yield-debate/

SEC Quietly Eases Stablecoin Capital Rules, Reducing Burden on Issuers

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has quietly relaxed capital rules related to stablecoins. As reported by NS3, this regulatory adjustment could ease the operational burden on stablecoin issuers. The change reflects a shift in the SEC’s stance on stablecoin regulation, though no major public announcement was made.

Read more: https://www.mexc.com/news/768863

Bridge (Stripe Subsidiary) Receives Conditional OCC National Trust Bank Approval

Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure company controlled by Stripe, announced it has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank. The charter would allow the company to issue and manage stablecoins under federal oversight. This action follows similar preliminary approvals granted by the OCC in December to stablecoin issuers Circle, BitGo, and Ripple. The OCC has not yet announced a timeline for final approval. The company stated: “This approval enables Bridge to help businesses, fintechs, crypto companies, and financial institutions build with digital dollars within a clear federal framework.”

Read more: https://www.paymentsdive.com/news/stripe-bridge-occ-conditional-approval-national-trust-bank-charter/812425/

CFTC Expands Definition of Payment Stablecoins; National Trust Banks Now Permitted as Issuers

The CFTC’s Division of Market Participants reissued CFTC Staff Letter No. 25-40 with a limited revision to the definition of “payment stablecoin.” According to Foresight News, the amended terms explicitly state that national trust banks may serve as permitted issuers of payment stablecoins. After publishing Letter No. 25-40 on December 8, 2025, the Division recognized that payment stablecoins meeting the letter’s definition could potentially be issued by national trust banks. The Division did not intend to exclude national trust banks from the category of issuers and decided to reissue the letter with an expanded definition of “payment stablecoin.”

Read more: https://yellow.com/news/cftc-amends-stablecoin-definition-to-include-national-trust-banks

BVNK Receives CASP License Under MiCA Framework from Malta’s MFSA

Stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK has obtained a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) license under the MiCA framework from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). The license allows BVNK to operate and “passport” its stablecoin and digital asset-related services across the entire European Economic Area (EEA), using Malta as its regulatory home base.

Read more: https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/02-17-2026-bvnk-mfsa-casp-292598570619970

GBP Stablecoin Issuer Agant Completes UK FCA Registration; Plans to Launch GBPA

GBP stablecoin issuer Agant has announced the completion of its crypto-asset business registration with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in compliance with Anti-Money Laundering Regulations. The sterling stablecoin GBPA is designed as a fully backed, 1:1 redeemable digital form of pound sterling, intended to serve institutional digital finance use cases.

Read more: https://www.agant.io/news/agant-fca-mlr-registration/

Partnerships and Ecosystem Expansion

Ingenico Partners with WalletConnect Pay to Enable Stablecoin Payments at Physical Point-of-Sale

Global payment solutions leader Ingenico has announced a new stablecoin acceptance solution for physical retail locations, partnering with WalletConnect Pay to enable direct stablecoin payments at the point of sale. This helps merchants add mainstream digital asset payment channels alongside traditional payment methods. The solution supports digital currency apps on millions of Ingenico Android terminals worldwide, allowing users to pay with five major stablecoins—including USDC, EURC, and USDT—via 700+ WalletConnect-compatible wallets, covering retail, restaurants, transportation, gas stations, and other industries. By 2025, the WalletConnect network had processed over $400 billion in total payment volume, with stablecoins representing a significant share.

Read more: https://ingenico.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/ingenico-launches-digital-currency-solution-enabling-stablecoin-payments-0

Meta Plans Return to Stablecoin Market, Potentially Partnering with Stripe

CoinDesk reports that sources indicate Meta plans to re-enter the stablecoin space later this year. The company has already issued Requests for Proposals to third-party firms to help manage stablecoin-based payment services. Drawing lessons from the failure of Libra/Diem, Meta intends to integrate a third-party vendor to help manage stablecoin payments and launch a new wallet. Stripe—the fintech company that acquired stablecoin payment infrastructure platform Bridge last year—is a likely candidate. Stripe is a longtime Meta partner, and its CEO Patrick Collison joined Meta’s board in April 2025.

Read more: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/02/24/mark-zuckerberg-s-meta-is-planning-stablecoin-comeback-in-the-second-half-of-this-year

Payoneer and Bridge’s Payments Partnership

Payoneer has partnered with Bridge to integrate stablecoin workflows, offering faster and more secure cross-border settlement for SMBs. Payoneer, the fintech dedicated to the growth of SMBs, has announced plans to integrate a suite of stablecoin capabilities directly into its global platform. The partnership leverages capabilities offered by Stripe company, Bridge. SMBs will be able to hold, receive and send stablecoins securely, facilitating smoother every-day transactions. The move signals a shift from speculative use towards functional, day-to-day utility within a regulated environment.

Read more: https://fintechmagazine.com/news/stablecoin-payoneer-and-bridge-partner-for-payments

Modern Treasury Launches Integrated PSP Supporting Both Fiat and Stablecoins

Modern Treasury recently launched a new service called Payments, formally entering the market as a Payment Service Provider (PSP). The service is designed to address long product-launch cycles that companies face due to slow bank integrations and unreliable payment infrastructure. In terms of core functionality, Payments allows businesses to programmatically open payment accounts and move money across multiple payment methods through a single unified API—including traditional ACH, wire transfers, real-time payments (RTP/FedNow), push-to-card, and modern stablecoins (currently supporting USDG, USDP, and USDC, with USDT coming soon).

Read more: https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/47321/modern-treasury-launches-integrated-psp-for-fiat-and-stablecoins

Polygon Acquires Coinme & Sequence for $250 Million

Polygon Labs, an Ethereum scaling network, announced definitive acquisition agreements with crypto exchange Coinme and wallet provider Sequence for more than $250 million. Through these acquisitions, Polygon is pivoting toward regulated stablecoin payments. The move signals a strategic shift away from token-centric blockchain infrastructure toward a payments-first business model, with Polygon Labs targeting over $100 million in annual revenue from transaction fees. The deals will provide core elements of Polygon’s Open Money Stack: regulated fiat on/off-ramp services within the U.S., enterprise-grade wallet infrastructure, and cross-chain payment orchestration via a single API.

Read more: https://fintechmagazine.com/news/polygon-labs-to-acquire-coinme-and-sequence-for-us-250m

Stablecoin Usage on Revolut Grows Exponentially

Stablecoin usage on Revolut has surged, exhibiting exponential growth. The prior year saw record highs in stablecoin minting and usage. By transaction volume, stablecoin growth on Revolut has been nearly exponential. Dollar-pegged asset transaction volumes through Revolut grew 156%, and total payment volume over the past two years rose 38.5%. After a slow start, growth accelerated markedly in 2025.

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/revolut-stablecoin-payments-surge-over-081837385.html

Franklin Templeton and Binance Announce Institutional Off-Exchange Collateral Program

Franklin Templeton and Binance have announced an institutional-grade off-exchange collateral program, allowing eligible clients to use shares of tokenized money market funds issued through Franklin Templeton’s Benji platform as off-exchange collateral for trading on Binance. The program enables institutional traders to use regulated money market fund shares as collateral for digital asset trading without depositing those assets on the exchange.

Read more: https://www.franklintempleton.com/press-releases/news-room/2026/franklin-templeton-and-binance-advance-strategic-collaboration-with-institutional-off-exchange-collateral-program

Lightspark Partners with Cross River to Enable 24/7 Real-Time Fiat Payments via Bitcoin

Lightspark announced a strategic partnership with prominent fintech bank Cross River Bank, deeply integrating the Bitcoin Lightning Network with U.S. instant payment systems to enable 24/7 real-time fiat settlement—breaking the constraints of traditional banking hours. By integrating Lightspark’s technology into Cross River’s API core banking system, businesses can utilize the FedNow and RTP networks to move fiat funds at any time, including on weekends and holidays. Lightspark CEO David Marcus stated: “This partnership is a significant milestone in making Bitcoin a practical payment path. We’re removing the constraints of legacy systems and unlocking real-time liquidity for businesses worldwide.”

Read more: https://www.crossriver.com/newsroom/lightspark-and-cross-river-partner-to-power-24-7-real-time-fiat-payments-through-bitcoin

U.S. Banks Develop Tokenized Deposit Network to Compete with Digital Assets

U.S. banks are collaborating to build a tokenized deposit network in response to the growing importance of digital assets. Bloomberg highlighted the effort on X, underscoring financial institutions’ drive to stay relevant in an evolving financial landscape. The initiative aims to bridge traditional banking with blockchain technology, offering a modernized approach to deposits. As banks face increasing competition from digital currencies and fintech companies, this move is prompting them to innovate and adapt to shifting market dynamics. Through tokenization, banks hope to enhance transaction efficiency and security, delivering a seamless banking experience for customers. The development underscores the financial sector’s commitment to embracing technological advancement to meet the demands of the digital age.

Read more: https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/293029687754482

Apex Group Partners with WLFI to Pilot USD1 Stablecoin

Apex Group is collaborating with World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a crypto company associated with former President Donald Trump, to pilot WLFI’s USD1 stablecoin as a payment channel within traditional fund operations. The pilot will test using USD1 for subscriptions, redemptions, and distributions across Apex’s tokenized fund ecosystem. As part of the partnership, Apex will explore listing WLFI tokenized assets on the London Stock Exchange Group’s digital market infrastructure platform, while WLFI plans to launch a mobile app connecting bank accounts with digital asset wallets.

Read more: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/02/18/apex-group-to-pilot-trump-affiliated-wlfi-stablecoin-for-tokenized-funds

Wirex Launches Stablecoin Push-to-Card Payments via Visa Direct

Wirex has launched a Stablecoin Push-to-Card service via Visa Direct, enabling businesses to send stablecoin funds directly to eligible cards held by recipients worldwide. As reported by NS3, the service is integrated through Wirex’s Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) API, simplifying partner payment infrastructure across 200+ countries and 3 billion cards. The solution offers fast, real-time payments, competitive FX rates, and 24/7 operations—well-suited for international contractors, employee reimbursements, and supplier payments.

Read more: https://www.wirexapp.com/post/wirex-launches-stablecoin-push-to-card-powered-by-visa-direct-reaching-3b-cards-worldwide

OneChain Completes $67 Million Series A to Build Institutional-Grade RWA Infrastructure

OneChain officially announced the completion of a $67 million strategic Series A round, co-invested by Bitgo Capital, East Bank, PACIFIC BANK, and UBpay, with GBEX Holdings serving as exclusive financial advisor. The funds will be used entirely to build a comprehensive on-chain RWA (Real-World Asset) infrastructure serving institutional-grade asset issuers, financial institutions, and global investors—facilitating the digitization, title registration, and global circulation of real-world assets within a compliant framework. OneChain states that the global financial market has entered a new phase of “asset digitization,” and that systemic connectivity between traditional capital and on-chain infrastructure has become an industry imperative. The platform will prioritize compliance, risk control, and institutional-grade security to drive RWA from concept to large-scale commercial deployment, deeply serving the real-world needs of financial institutions and asset managers.

Read more: https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/onechain-completes-67m-series-a-strategic-funding-for-rwa-infrastructure

Eastern Stablecoin Updates

Regulations & Policies

Hong Kong SFC Releases A-S-P-I-Re Regulatory Roadmap for the Virtual Asset Market

On February 19, 2025, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) released a regulatory roadmap for the future development of the virtual asset market, titled “A-S-P-I-Re.” The roadmap reviews the development of Hong Kong’s virtual asset market over recent years and sets out a regulatory framework for future direction. Under the roadmap, the SFC has organized the next phase of virtual asset market development around five pillars/dimensions—A (Access), S (Safeguards), P (Products), I (Infrastructure), and Re (Relationships)—along with a total of 12 specific measures.

Read more: https://www.sfc.hk/en/News-and-announcements/Policy-statements-and-announcements/A-S-P-I-Re-for-a-brighter-future-SFCs-regulatory-roadmap-for-Hong-Kongs-virtual-asset-market

Another Hong Kong Virtual Asset Platform Licensed; Total Licensed Entities Reach 12

On February 13, 2026, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) officially granted a Virtual Asset Trading Platform (VATP) operating license to Victory Fintech Company Limited, bringing its platform VDX into Hong Kong’s compliant virtual asset exchange roster. This marks the first new platform approval since Hong Kong BGE was approved in June 2025—an eight-month gap—signaling the end of a prolonged “quiet period” in approvals. This approval is not an isolated regulatory action but an important implementation step following the SFC’s publication of the “ASPIRe” regulatory roadmap in February 2025. After a period of “cautious tightening” in the wake of the JPEX risk incident, the regulatory approach has gradually returned to “orderly expansion,” emphasizing the resumption of market access under risk-controlled conditions. The number of licensed virtual asset trading platforms in Hong Kong has now grown to 12, including core institutions such as HashKey, OSL, and Bullish, as well as VDX, HKVAX, HKbitEX, Accumulus, and DFX Labs.

Read more: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/02/16/hong-kong-regulator-approves-first-crypto-company-license-since-june

Hong Kong SFC and UAE Capital Markets Authority Sign MOU to Strengthen Cross-Border Regulatory Cooperation on Digital Assets

On January 27, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Capital Markets Authority of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen cross-border regulatory cooperation on digital asset-related matters. This landmark MOU is the first agreement the SFC has signed with an overseas regulator specifically for regulatory cooperation on regulated digital asset entities. The MOU establishes a framework for enhanced regulatory cooperation, including mutual consultation and information exchange for the oversight of cross-border regulated digital asset entities—fully reflecting the SFC’s commitment to advancing international cooperation under its ASPIRe roadmap.

Read more: https://apps.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/gateway/EN/news-and-announcements/news/doc?refNo=26PR11

Malaysia’s Central Bank to Test “Ringgit Stablecoin” and “Tokenized Deposits” Within the Year

A recent announcement from Bank Negara Malaysia marks the formal transition of this Southeast Asian economy’s digital finance ambitions from “planning” to “execution.” The central bank announced that its Digital Assets Innovation Hub (DAIH) has launched three pilot programs and will comprehensively test the “Digital Ringgit” (a ringgit stablecoin) and a “tokenized deposits” system within the year. This initiative is not an isolated experiment, but a critical step in Malaysia’s effort to lay the foundation for next-generation payment systems amid the accelerating reshaping of Asia’s digital asset landscape—competing directly with regional financial centers such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Read more: https://www.mexc.com/news/687655

Partnerships & Ecosystem Expansion

JCB and Other Japanese Companies Launch Stablecoin Payment Pilot at Physical Retail Stores

Japan’s digital payment progress has reached a new milestone. Digital transformation company Digital Garage, credit card company JCB, and financial holding company Resona Holdings jointly announced a proof-of-concept experiment for stablecoin payments at physical retail stores, running from February 24 to March 2, 2026. The experiment centers on the USD stablecoin USDC (on the Base chain) and the yen stablecoin JPYC (on the Polygon chain), using self-custody wallets for offline consumer payments. Users pay via their own wallets, while merchants ultimately settle in yen—creating a model where stablecoin payments and fiat settlement coexist. The payment interface is provided by My Number Wallet, with MynaPay as the front-end tool; USDC is processed via the Base App, and JPYC via MynaWallet. The experiment takes place at Pangaea Cafe & Bar on the 10th floor of the Shibuya PARCO DG Building in Tokyo, open to the public from 2 PM on weekdays.

Read more: https://stablecoininsider.org/digital-garage-launches-in-store-stablecoin-payment-pilot/

TRON Officially Integrated into Korean Listed Company NEXUS’s CROSS Pay Payment System

As reported by prominent overseas media outlets including Benzinga and Business Insider, TRON has been officially integrated into NEXUS’s CROSS Pay payment system, launching USDT (TRC20) payment functionality on CROSS Shop. As a community-governed decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), TRON is dedicated to advancing blockchain technology and decentralized application (DApp) development, accelerating the decentralization of the internet. This integration further consolidates TRON’s role as a core settlement layer in the stablecoin and high-frequency digital transaction space, extending its real-world application into mainstream global gaming markets.

Read more: https://www.binance.com/square/post/292753274801154

TON Foundation Partners with Banxa (OSL Group) to Provide Stablecoin Payment Services for Asian Businesses

The TON Foundation has partnered with Banxa, a regulated crypto infrastructure provider under the OSL Group, to provide compliant stablecoin payment infrastructure for thousands of small and medium-sized businesses across the Asia-Pacific region. This partnership positions TON as the operational payment layer for real commercial activity in Asia. Leveraging OSL’s merchant and institutional network and Banxa’s payment channels, SMBs across Asia-Pacific can now use TON for real payment workflows, including business-to-business settlement, cross-border transactions, and consumer-to-merchant payments. Banxa handles the conversion between local fiat currencies and digital assets. While TON’s P2P payment infrastructure has already seen widespread adoption in the region, this partnership extends its scope to enterprise-level commercial use cases.

Read more: https://banxa.com/press/ton-foundation-partners-with-banxa-to-enable-stablecoin-payments-for-businesses-across-asia/

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This report is jointly produced by MathWallet and its stablecoin wallet product, StableWallet, aiming to provide a biweekly selection of global stablecoin-related policy, market, and technology updates.

MathWallet is a multi-chain wallet for the Web3 era, supporting over 100 blockchains including BTC, ETH, Polkadot, Cosmos, Filecoin, Solana, and BNBChain, with more than 4 million users worldwide.

StableWallet is an innovative AA wallet designed specifically for stablecoin management and trading, offering seamless, secure, and compliant stablecoin operations.

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The above content is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice. Information is sourced from public channels; please refer to official announcements for accuracy.