The New Landscape of Global Stablecoins: The Game Between Tech Giants and Regulators

Against the backdrop of increasingly clear global regulatory trends, the capital markets have ushered in a new wave of interest in stablecoin concepts. Data shows that related indices have risen sharply for several consecutive days in mid-June. Beneath this prosperous scene, a division regarding the form of the next generation of financial infrastructure is taking shape. China's internet technology giants are entering this global game in a unique way.

Senior management of a certain group has clearly stated that its goal is to apply for stablecoin licenses in all major currency countries around the world, aiming to reduce cross-border payment costs between global enterprises by 90% and improve efficiency to within 10 seconds. Behind this announcement is a grand roadmap from solving its own pain points to building a global financial network.

From "Local Infrastructure" to "Global Landscape"

The group's senior management stated when discussing the company's strategy, "Our international business does not follow the cross-border e-commerce route, but focuses on local e-commerce, local infrastructure, local employees, local procurement, and local delivery, selling only branded products." This "localization" logic is key to understanding its stablecoin layout.

To replicate the "localization" model in mainstream global markets, it is necessary to equip each node with local settlement capabilities. To operate efficiently in Japan, a yen stablecoin is required; to establish a presence in Europe, a euro stablecoin is needed. This inherent compliance requirement within the business has led to a rigid pursuit of "local stablecoin licenses." The primary goal of the first phase of the stablecoin network is to create a unified and efficient financial operating system for distributed global businesses.

After the B2B settlement network is established, the second phase goal is to move towards the C-end market, realizing the vision that "one day everyone can use our stablecoin to pay when consuming around the world." The core challenge in achieving this cross-border consumption experience is the traditional foreign exchange friction. In fact, the current stablecoin market is highly dependent on USD stablecoins, and users in non-USD regions still need to frequently exchange currencies when making payments, resulting in high costs and low efficiency. To address this issue, the multi-currency stablecoin system anchored to local fiat currencies constructed in the first phase will be key to breaking down this barrier. Once the network matures, it will not only be an internal settlement tool but will also evolve into a programmable and high-efficiency "on-chain foreign exchange market," providing underlying support for seamless payments and instant exchanges among global users.

The focus of this tech giant's stablecoin strategy is to directly target the traditional trade settlement market, with "compliance" as the core barrier, concentrating on serving global real enterprises that have a rigid demand for transparent and efficient payment solutions. This approach aligns closely with the background of the responsible person associated with it. This industry veteran, who has been deeply involved in the design of well-known payment systems, has dedicated his career to embedding payment technology into real industrial scenarios, making the company's "industry-first" path not only pragmatic and feasible but also credible in implementation.

Ultimately, when the constructed financial network has sufficient liquidity and a foundation of trust, its stablecoin strategy will evolve from an internal settlement system to an open "international stablecoin settlement hub."

Two Paradigms: The Ambiguous Boundaries of the U.S. Stablecoin Bill

However, while Asian tech giants are accelerating the layout of the "vertical integration" model, across the ocean, the United States is constructing a completely different set of rule systems. The highly anticipated "GENIUS Act" stablecoin bill has recently been passed in the U.S. Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 68-30.

However, the passage of the stablecoin bill in the Senate is just the first step in this regulatory long march. It has been reported that the bill received over 100 proposed amendments, and a "battle of interpretations" regarding the details of the rules has just begun. Among them, a widely watched amendment is particularly crucial; it proposes that a publicly listed company whose main business is not financial may not issue payment stablecoins unless it obtains unanimous approval from a "Stablecoin Certification Review Committee." The final interpretation and specific implementation details of this provision will be decided by regulatory agencies such as the Federal Reserve and the Treasury in a fierce competition. If the restrictions are strictly enforced, then for tech giants, the path forward will be to collaborate with licensed issuers rather than issuing themselves; for existing issuers, like certain companies that have already made substantial compliance investments at the state level, this is tantamount to a "regulatory moat" solidified by federal law.

At this point, aside from the digital renminbi, China and the United States appear to demonstrate seemingly two different models in exploring the future development paths of the global stablecoin market: the first is the model represented by Asian tech giants: driven by commercial giants, seeking "vertical integration". The second is the model represented by the United States: driven by regulation, with the mainstream trend seeking "separation of issuance and distribution", but the ambiguity of the final rules leaves significant uncertainty in the market.

On the Chessboard: Geofinance Beyond Payments

All of this is happening against the grand backdrop of the transformation of the global monetary system and reflection on the reliance on the SWIFT system. The strategic intentions of Chinese tech giants have surpassed mere considerations of commercial efficiency. They have clearly expressed support for and promotion of the issuance of offshore RMB stablecoin, but whether it can ultimately be implemented still depends on domestic regulation. Once this multi-currency stablecoin network is established, it will itself be an efficient global trade settlement layer that does not rely on the hegemony of the US dollar.

Therefore, this layout can be interpreted as a bottom-up exploration of the internationalization of the Renminbi driven by market forces. The world's attention is focused on this, observing a grand game driven by both regulation and commerce that may determine the shape of the next generation of financial infrastructure.