Key Points Both PayPal USD and Ripple USD now rank among the top 10 stablecoins by market cap. Since stablecoins always trade for a price of $1, it's important to evaluate them in terms of overall utility. Given the size and scale of the PayPal ecosystem, PayPal USD could see an expanding set of potential use cases. 10 stocks we like better than PayPal USD › There are two up-and-coming stablecoins that are starting to make some noise right now within the $250 billion stablecoin industry: PayPal U ...

Core Insights - Circle Internet Group (CRCL) offers the USDC stablecoin, which is redeemable for U.S. dollars on a one-for-one basis and backed by highly liquid reserves. As of October 16, 2025, there were $75.86 billion USDCs in circulation, up from $72.36 billion on September 11, $65.2 billion on August 10, and $61.3 billion at the end of Q2 2025 [1] - CRCL shares have surged 56% since the IPO on June 5, outperforming the Zacks Financial-Miscellaneous Services industry (6.4%) and the broader Finance sector (1.3%) [2][8] - Despite the overall growth, CRCL shares have underperformed compared to peers like Coinbase, PayPal, and Robinhood in the past month, with a decline of 0.9% [3][4] Company Performance - The underperformance of CRCL shares is attributed to increasing competition from Coinbase, PayPal, and Robinhood, which are expanding their stablecoin offerings [4][8] - Circle's shares are currently trading below the 50-day moving average, indicating a bearish trend [9] Market Dynamics - The improving regulatory environment, including the passage of the GENIUS Act, supports the adoption of stablecoins like USDC, which has seen a 21% year-over-year increase, minting $42.2 billion in Q2 2025 [12] - The number of meaningful wallets holding more than $10 of USDC surged 68% year-over-year, indicating growing adoption [12] Strategic Initiatives - Circle launched the Circle Payments Network in May, with over 100 institutions in the pipeline, and has active payment corridors in Hong Kong, Brazil, Nigeria, and Mexico [13] - Partnerships with Fireblocks and Finastra enhance USDC's integration into cross-border payment flows [14] - Circle introduced a yield token, USYC, which can be used as collateral in both digital and traditional markets, accelerating adoption through expanded partnerships [15] Financial Outlook - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Circle's earnings for Q3 2025 remains at 16 cents per share, with revenues projected at $695.7 million [16] - For 2025, the consensus estimate for losses is $1.97 per share, with revenues expected to reach $2.66 billion [17] - Operating expenses are projected between $475 million and $490 million for 2025, indicating a growth rate of 20-24%, which may pressure margins [19]

Core Insights - Visa's report suggests that stablecoins could significantly impact the $40 trillion global credit market by enabling traditional institutions to utilize blockchain technology for lending [1][2] Group 1: Stablecoin Market Overview - Stablecoins have facilitated $670 billion in lending over the past five years, with 1.1 million unique borrowers and an average loan size of $76,000, which increased to $121,000 in August [3] - Circle's USDC and Tether's USDT dominate the stablecoin borrowing market, accounting for 98% of the total, with USDT at $181 billion and USDC at $76 billion, representing 83% of the $307 billion stablecoin market cap [4] - The stablecoin market cap has increased by $100 billion since the beginning of the year, partly due to the GENIUS Act, which established a regulatory framework for U.S. issued stablecoins [4] Group 2: Future Predictions and Trends - Users on Myriad predict that the total stablecoin market capitalization will reach $360 billion by January 2026, with 67% of users believing the $53 billion gap can be closed by then [5] - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) highlights that stablecoin adoption could provide alternatives to traditional safe assets and facilitate cross-border transactions, but also raises concerns about potential risks in the financial system [6] Group 3: Industry Developments - Paxos, a stablecoin issuer, mistakenly minted and then burned $300 trillion worth of PayPal USD (PYUSD), clarifying that there was no security breach and customer funds remain safe [6][7]

Core Insights - Paxos experienced a significant error by minting 300 trillion PYUSD tokens, which is more than twice the global GDP, but the issue was resolved within 30 minutes [1][6] - The incident raised concerns about the control and oversight of stablecoin issuance in the DeFi space [2][4] Incident Details - The error occurred during a "routine internal transfer," likely due to a typographical mistake where an operator intended to mint 300 million tokens but mistakenly entered 300 trillion [3] - The sudden increase in PYUSD's circulating supply led to Aave freezing new deposits of the stablecoin, while other protocols flagged the anomaly [3] Aftermath and Regulatory Response - Paxos confirmed that no customer funds were affected and that the supply quickly returned to approximately 253 million tokens [4][6] - The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) is reviewing the incident, highlighting the potential for issuer-level mistakes to impact the broader industry [4][5]

Core Insights - Paxos mistakenly minted $300 trillion worth of PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin, later correcting the error by burning the excess tokens [1][2] - The error was due to the addition of six extra zeros during the minting process, which was quickly rectified by re-minting the correct amount of $300 million [2] - Such minting errors are not uncommon in the crypto industry, with past incidents involving other stablecoin issuers like Tether and BlockFi [3][4] Industry Context - The stablecoin sector's market cap reached approximately $306.18 billion as of mid-October 2025, reflecting a 47% increase year-to-date, driven by major players like Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC [5] - PayPal's PYUSD, while smaller, has a market cap of about $2.32 billion, with its trading price closely aligned to $0.9997 [6]

Core Insights - Visa Inc. is shifting its strategy to embrace stablecoins, positioning itself as a leader in the evolving payments landscape rather than resisting disruption [1][3] - The company is building infrastructure for stablecoin-powered payments, which could redefine global commerce and enhance liquidity management for businesses [2][5] Visa's Strategic Initiatives - Visa plans to enable businesses to prefund Visa Direct using stablecoins, treating them as cash reserves, with a limited rollout expected in April 2026 [3] - The stablecoin initiative allows Visa to leverage its extensive banking and payout network to ensure recipients receive local fiat currency while using stablecoins for transactions [4] - This system unlocks capital for companies with high cross-border payment volumes, offering a faster and more flexible solution [5] Regulatory Environment - The recent passage of the GENIUS Act provides regulatory clarity around digital assets, benefiting Visa as it integrates stablecoins into its settlement network [6] - Traditional banks, especially smaller ones, may struggle with compliance costs and digital infrastructure, making Visa's ecosystem crucial for their survival [6] Competitive Landscape - Retail giants like Walmart and Amazon are exploring their own USD-pegged stablecoins to control payment ecosystems and reduce interchange fees [7] - Visa is responding by expanding its stablecoin settlement capabilities through partnerships with blockchain firms like Paxos, supporting multiple stablecoins and blockchains [8][9] Financial Performance - Visa shares have increased by 11.2% year-to-date, trading at 27.27X forward earnings, reflecting strong investor confidence [10][11] - The company's market cap is currently $645.9 billion, and it has consistently outperformed competitors like Mastercard and American Express in share performance [14][18] Long-Term Growth Prospects - Visa's strong network effects and cash flows support ongoing investment in infrastructure and innovation, reinforcing its market dominance [18] - The company reported $2.8 billion in revenues from value-added services, a 26% year-over-year increase, highlighting growth in digital payment adoption [19] - Visa returned $6 billion to shareholders in the latest quarter, with a dividend yield of 0.67%, slightly above the industry average [20] Analyst Sentiment and Valuation - Analyst estimates suggest a 13.7% and 12.3% increase in EPS for fiscal 2025 and 2026, respectively, with revenue growth projected at 10.9% and 10.8% [22] - Visa trades below its average analyst price target of $398.16, indicating a potential 13% upside from current levels [23] Conclusion - Visa's proactive approach to stablecoin infrastructure and strong liquidity management solutions position it well for long-term growth despite regulatory challenges [25] - The company's robust fundamentals and continuous valuation support indicate a favorable outlook in the evolving payments landscape [26]

Core Insights - Visa Inc. is initiating a process to utilize stablecoins for cross-border remittances, with a prefunding pilot set to launch soon through Visa Direct [1][2] - The move aims to address slow and costly transactions in traditional finance by offering businesses a new way to fund international payments with stablecoins [2][3] - Visa believes that stablecoins can unlock liquidity and modernize treasury operations, enhancing the efficiency of global payouts [3][4] Group 1 - Visa's stablecoin prefunding pilot is expected to reduce friction and provide faster access to liquidity for financial institutions [4] - The pilot program will initially work with select partners, with plans to expand by 2026 [4] - The interest in stablecoins is growing, driven by the need for faster money transfer solutions beyond traditional banking [5] Group 2 - Visa and Mastercard previously downplayed the threat of stablecoins to their market dominance, citing their current usage as negligible [6] - Visa has recently partnered with Paxos to support USDG and PayPal USD (PYUSD), aiming to enhance transaction settlement options using digital dollars [6]

Core Insights - Stable, a layer 1 blockchain network, has integrated PayPal USD (PYUSD) to enhance commerce and financial transactions on its platform [1] - The integration aims to provide permissionless use of PYUSD, expanding its distribution, utility, and liquidity [1] Group 1: Integration and Technology - The integration leverages LayerZero's technology for a seamless cross-chain experience, offering ultra-fast processing speeds and reduced fees for near-instant transaction finality [2] - This collaboration is expected to unlock new commerce-related use cases for PYUSD across various blockchain ecosystems [4] Group 2: Strategic Commitment and Investment - PayPal's PYUSD Ecosystem head emphasized the commitment to expanding PYUSD's utility across multiple blockchain ecosystems and driving adoption [3] - PayPal Ventures has invested in Stable, highlighting the potential impact of reliable, dollar-based payments in emerging markets [5] Group 3: Leadership and Funding - Stable has recently closed a $28 million seed funding round, attracting investments from notable crypto investors [6] - The company has strengthened its executive team with new hires, including co-CEO Brian Mehler and CTO Sam Kazemian [5][6]

Core Insights - PayPal Ventures has invested in Stable's latest funding round, enabling the use of PayPal's stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), on Stable's blockchain network [1][4] - Stablechain is designed for seamless financial transactions through stablecoins, aiming to enhance the utility of PYUSD across multiple blockchain ecosystems [2][4] - The collaboration between Stable and PayPal focuses on improving cross-border transactions and exploring cross-chain compatibility and onramp/offramp capabilities for stablecoins [3][4] Company Developments - Stable raised $28 million in seed funding to develop its blockchain network, hire new employees, and increase the distribution of Tether's USDT stablecoin [4] - The company emphasizes the need for an overhaul in global payments infrastructure to meet consumer demand for fast, reliable, and secure digital payments [6] - Stable's strategy includes working with trusted distribution partners to enhance real-world adoption and support innovative use cases for stablecoins [7] Market Context - The announcement comes amid rising stablecoin adoption following the passage of the GENIUS Act in the United States, indicating a favorable regulatory environment for stablecoin usage [5] - The partnership with PayPal is seen as a significant step towards addressing payment challenges in emerging markets, where reliable dollar-based payments can have a substantial impact [7]

Core Insights - PayPal Ventures has invested in Stable to integrate PayPal USD (PYUSD) into Stablechain, aiming to enhance global payment efficiency and reduce costs [1] - Stable's blockchain is designed for stablecoin transactions, offering sub-second finality and low fees to address infrastructure challenges hindering adoption [1] - The investment amount has not been disclosed [1] Stablecoin Overview - Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged to assets like the U.S. dollar or gold, playing a crucial role in cryptocurrency markets by providing payment infrastructure and facilitating international money transfers [2] - Tether's USDT is the largest stablecoin, followed by Circle's USDC, with both companies indicating that the partnership will create new commerce opportunities, especially in emerging markets where dollar-based payments are significant [2] PYUSD Integration - The launch of PYUSD on Stablechain signifies a move towards utilizing stablecoins for everyday payments and financial products, expanding their use beyond crypto-native applications [3]