Stablecoins and the Global Financial Shift: What New Rules Reveal

Stablecoins were once a novelty. Today, they are a force shaping how value moves across borders and between people. In just a few years, we have seen how these digital assets have gone from the margins to the mainstream, and now, governments are catching up. From Asia to the Americas, we’re witnessing the emergence of legal frameworks designed not just to regulate stablecoins, but to recognize them as part of tomorrow’s financial infrastructure.

Built to combine the reliability of fiat currencies with the flexibility of blockchain technology, stablecoins are already changing how we save, spend, and send money. They’re being used for remittances, for settling trades, for e-commerce, and for preserving value in inflationary economies. They no longer belong just to the crypto crowd, they belong to everyone seeking simpler, faster, more inclusive finance.

Their growth tells the story clearly. In 2024, stablecoins surpassed US$160 billion in circulation. By mid-2025, they had crossed US$250 billion, fueled by institutional demand and real-world use cases. That trajectory signals more than market appetite. It reflects a deep shift in how money is issued, trusted, and used. Around the world, regulators are beginning to respond not with resistance, but with structure: crafting laws that aim to support innovation while ensuring clarity and confidence for everyone who participates.

Hong Kong has taken a leading position on this front. In May 2025, its Legislative Council approved a new law that establishes a clear licensing regime for issuers of fiat-backed stablecoins. With implementation expected in August, the bill offers transparency and security to market participants while signaling openness to future financial technologies. Rather than isolate stablecoins, the framework is designed to integrate them responsibly. It reflects an understanding that clear rules aren’t an obstacle to innovation — they are what make innovation scalable.

In the United States, the conversation has also shifted. The GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins) was passed by the Senate in June 2025 and is expected to advance in the House soon. The bill outlines national standards for fiat-backed stablecoins, promoting both oversight and innovation. It’s a bipartisan recognition that stablecoins are no longer just speculative assets. They are infrastructure, and the United States is beginning to treat them as such.

These efforts are part of a broader shift. Different jurisdictions are responding in ways that reflect their regulatory traditions, economic priorities, and levels of adoption. The European Union is proceeding with caution, emphasizing consumer protections. Japan is working through the banking system. Singapore blends strict compliance with support for innovation. While these approaches differ, the direction is aligned: stablecoins are no longer being questioned. They are being defined.

That clarity matters. When builders know where the boundaries are, they build with more confidence. When institutions know the rules, they can participate more fully. And when users trust the system, adoption accelerates. Regulation done right doesn’t suppress transformation, it enables it.

This diversity is not a sign of fragmentation, it’s a sign of learning. Each jurisdiction is drawing from its own context and priorities, but the convergence is clear: Stablecoins are being treated less as a curiosity, and more as a permanent fixture of digital economies.

What matters now is balance. A thoughtful regulatory approach must protect users and market integrity without freezing progress. For many regulators, that is uncharted territory, and that’s precisely why leadership and open dialogue matter so much at this stage.

We've seen this first-hand in the regions where stablecoins are not just a technological innovation, but a necessity. In Latin America, we’ve worked with freelancers, small business owners and big companies who prefer to be paid in dollar-backed stablecoins, not as a speculative move, but as a way to protect their income from local currency devaluation and avoid the high fees and delays of traditional remittance channels. In Southeast Asia, we’ve watched exporters and service providers adopt stablecoins to settle cross-border payments in minutes. These aren’t hypotheticals. They are everyday solutions, already embedded in the workflows of people who need more reliable ways to transact globally. Quietly and pragmatically, they’re reshaping how money moves, and challenging the assumptions of legacy finance along the way.

As someone who has spent years watching this ecosystem evolve, I find the current moment especially important. We’re past the phase of proving that the technology works. We’re now in the phase of determining how it will be governed, scaled, and made useful for everyone. Regulation, once seen as a threat, is being reimagined as a foundation.

But the road ahead brings new challenges. One of them is interoperability — not just between platforms, but between jurisdictions. As more countries adopt stablecoin frameworks, alignment across borders will become critical to avoid fragmentation and regulatory arbitrage. Another is governance. As stablecoins become more widely used, questions will arise about how reserves are managed, how risks are disclosed, and who is ultimately accountable when things go wrong. These are complex issues, and they require input not only from developers and regulators, but also from economists, policymakers, and civil society.

Still, what stands out to me is the speed at which consensus is forming around the role stablecoins can play. And importantly, that consensus is grounded not in hype, but in real-world utility. It’s rooted in the needs of people who want faster, cheaper, and more reliable ways to move value, and in the willingness of governments to support innovation when it serves a broader public good.

This isn’t about replacing the financial system as we know it. It’s about upgrading it. Stablecoins are not a rebellion: they are an evolution. They build on the trust that exists in traditional finance while expanding its reach. They offer programmability without sacrificing reliability. And they invite us to think differently about money: not just as something we use, but as something we can redesign for a more connected, inclusive world.

The regulatory shift we are witnessing around the world is a signal. It tells us that stablecoins are here to stay. The question is not whether they will be part of the future. The question is how ready we are to support the system they are helping to build.