The passage of the STABLE Act would greatly benefit major players in the US financial and crypto sectors, according to a Nansen report. The act’s licensing and reserve requirements would create a regulatory moat favoring established institutions already aligned with US compliance standards, such as Coinbase. Coinbase, as a major distributor of USDC, stands to benefit from the act as its model already fits the regulatory vision for fiat-backed stablecoins.
Payment companies like PayPal and major credit card companies Visa and Mastercard are positioned to expand stablecoin-enabled payment services across various sectors, such as peer-to-peer transfers and e-commerce. Traditional custodians and infrastructure providers like BNY Mellon and Nasdaq are also expected to benefit from the increased demand for custody and compliance services. Asset managers like BlackRock and Charles Schwab may indirectly benefit as regulated stablecoin issuers park reserves in government money market funds.
The report also notes that international firms like Payoneer and Nomura may benefit from using compliant stablecoin infrastructure for cross-border US dollar-denominated transfers. On the other hand, decentralized stablecoins like DAI and GHO may face a diminished role within US markets due to not meeting the Act’s definition of payment stablecoins. Lending protocols like Aave and Compound are expected to prioritize compliant stablecoins in their US offerings, while DEXs like Uniswap may need to geofence or de-emphasize pools tied to non-compliant assets.
The STABLE Act also bans direct interest payments to stablecoin holders, limiting yield-bearing stablecoins like OUSD unless they register as securities with the SEC. The future stablecoin market may favor tokenized money market funds and compliant DeFi lending products as a result. Overall, the Act is expected to have a significant impact on the stablecoin market and benefit a wide range of players in the financial and crypto sectors.
