Editorial: Stablecoins, Institutions, and the Shape of What's Next

When Congress passed the GENIUS Act this quarter, I’ll admit I was surprised — and energized. For years, U.S. lawmakers have been slow to act on crypto. Proposals came and went, hearings dragged on, and the industry felt stuck in regulatory limbo. But this law is different. The GENIUS Act is the most comprehensive stablecoin legislation yet: it requires issuers to back tokens one-for-one with safe assets like cash or Treasuries, publish regular audits, and submit to federal oversight.

For the first time, the U.S. is treating stablecoins as more than a curiosity or a risk — it’s treating them like real money. For everyday readers, think of it this way: when online banking first appeared in the late 1990s, people were skeptical. Sending money over the internet sounded risky. But once regulators stepped in with rules around deposits, disclosures, and fraud protection, suddenly it went from “weird and dangerous” to “normal and safe.” That shift in perception, backed by law, was what allowed online banking to scale. The GENIUS Act could do the same for stablecoins.

Optimism in Motion

I’m optimistic because stablecoins aren’t just living inside crypto anymore — they’re spilling into the mainstream conversation. $15.6 trillion in transfers this quarter alone is not a speculative sideshow; it’s activity on par with major payment networks. And it’s not just crypto-native projects that are paying attention. BlackRock, JP Morgan, and other global banks are actively building stablecoin-based products, custody services, and settlement layers. That tells us two things: first, that these institutions see stablecoins as legitimate; and second, that they believe their customers will want to use them.

For readers who don’t follow this space daily, imagine a future where your paycheck doesn’t just land in your bank account — it lands in a stablecoin wallet that can pay bills instantly, earn yield in DeFi, or move across borders without wire fees. That’s the vision institutions are starting to prepare for. When the biggest names in finance put their reputations behind this shift, it signals that stablecoins are moving from “crypto experiment” to “financial infrastructure.”

At the same time, blockchain is quietly becoming part of the business conversation in boardrooms far outside of finance. Supply chain firms are testing tokenized trade documents, airlines are exploring on-chain loyalty points, and Fortune 500 companies are experimenting with tokenization of assets. The narrative is shifting: blockchain is no longer “what’s next,” it’s “what’s now.”

Adoption Coming Faster Than Expected

What really stands out this quarter is how fast all of this is happening. A year ago, the idea that stablecoins would be treated like cash equivalents in the U.S., or that Tether would hold nearly $100 billion in U.S. Treasuries, felt like a stretch. Today, it’s a fact. In Q3, stablecoins didn’t just gain traction — they cemented themselves as unavoidable.

The sense now is that widespread adoption isn’t just likely, it’s inevitable. Businesses and governments are beginning to treat stablecoins as a given. They’re building products, writing laws, and conducting research with stablecoins as the default assumption. That kind of momentum doesn’t reverse easily. It feels less like a debate over “if stablecoins will be used” and more like a countdown to “when and how they become everyday money.”

And that’s a mental adjustment even seasoned observers are having to make. Many of us thought stablecoin adoption would be gradual, maybe another five to ten years out. Instead, 2025 is turning into the year where the timeline collapsed. The combination of legal clarity, institutional adoption, and mainstream awareness means the train is leaving the station far faster than expected.

The Challenge Ahead

That doesn’t mean the story is simple, or that the future is guaranteed to align with Web3’s ideals. Many crypto purists dream of a fully decentralized financial system, free from banks and large intermediaries. But Q3 has made one thing clear: the old guard isn’t going anywhere.

Wall Street and global banks have both the incentive and the infrastructure to seize this opportunity. They already serve millions of customers, they control deep liquidity pools, and they’re trusted by people who might find DeFi confusing or intimidating. Just as banks led people into online banking two decades ago, they may well be the ones to onboard millions into tokenized finance. And for most new users, that won’t be a bad thing — it will feel safe and familiar.

The challenge for the Web3 community is whether it can accept this reality. Purists will need to be willing to compromise on what decentralization looks like in practice. We may end up with a hybrid model: a financial system where banks handle front-end user experience, while decentralized protocols provide the rails underneath. Think of it like online banking again: you log into Chase or Bank of America, but behind the scenes, there’s a vast payment network clearing those transfers. Stablecoins could be the digital equivalent.

The Takeaway

Stablecoins are no longer just “coins.” They are becoming the connective tissue linking old finance to new. With the GENIUS Act in place, institutions building products, and adoption racing ahead faster than expected, stablecoins are shaping up to be the bridge into mainstream Web3.

But bridges go both ways. On one side is the vision of decentralization, open access, and borderless money. On the other is the weight of legacy institutions, customer trust, and regulatory frameworks. The next few years will test whether Web3 can balance both — staying true to its ideals while embracing the scale and credibility that mainstream adoption demands.

The GENIUS Act may be the first piece of a broader regulatory puzzle, but its real significance is symbolic: it shows that crypto is no longer waiting on the sidelines. It’s being built into the system, with all the compromises and opportunities that entails.

Stablecoins are here. They’re multiplying. And whether you love them, distrust them, or simply use them, they’re about to become the rails we all run on.

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Other Articles In This Issue:

• Stablecoin Spotlight & UlluCoin Case Study

• Web3 Quarter 3 Review: The Major Themes & Top Stories

• CHECK OUT OUR PREVIOUS EDITIONS