#stablecoins

#stablecoins

The value of virtual assets held by domestic investors in South Korea has plummeted by more than $41 billion (60 trillion won) over the last year, as a cooling crypto market prompted a mass migration of capital toward traditional equities. According to Bank of Korea data reportedly submitted May 10 to Rep. Cha Kyu-keun of the Rebuilding Korea Party, the total valuation of domestic virtual assets stood at approximately $41.17 billion as of the end of February. The decline marks a staggering reversal from the market's peak in January 2024, when holdings reached $82.76 billion.

“This is the best product in the history of the world but distribution is broken,” says Ferdinand Dabitz, holding up a $100 bill. Even though U.S. dollars are the world's favorite currency, says Dabitz, many people seeking to get them must rely on an antiquated system of banks with limited hours staffed by clerks. The 25-year-old Dabitz is the CEO of a new type of bank called Augustus that he says addresses this deficiency thanks to a payments architecture designed around AI and stablecoins, not humans.

The disruption rippled through several DeFi protocols, including Aave, where large volumes of users unwound positions, many opting for the stablecoin exit route.

Doordash plans to integrate stablecoin payouts for its gig workers, known as Dashers, through the Tempo blockchain, which is designed specifically for stablecoin payments and real-world settlement.

The American Bankers Association contends that the Council of Economic Advisers framed the wrong question by focusing on the effects of a prohibition rather than the implications of allowing yield as the market expands.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers built a model to test the claim, and the results are striking. Simply put, 'a yield prohibition would do very little to protect bank lending, while forgoing the consumer benefits of competitive returns on stablecoin holdings.'

The proposed rule establishes broad principles to guide the determination of whether state-level stablecoin regulatory regimes are 'substantially similar' to the federal framework, allowing smaller issuers to remain under state supervision.