Stablecoins' Impact on Global Payment Networks and U.S. Treasury Holdings

According to Odaily, a16z Crypto has published an article titled 'Stablecoins: A 1+ Billion-User Onboarding Opportunity,' highlighting the significant growth of stablecoins over the past year. The transaction volume of stablecoins has reached $33 trillion, marking a historic high and surpassing PayPal's transaction volume by 20 times and Visa's by three times. Stablecoins have become integrated into the vast global payment networks that have existed for decades. The rise of stablecoins has resulted in $128 billion of U.S. Treasury bonds being held by stablecoin entities, placing them among the top 20 holders of U.S. Treasury bonds, surpassing countries like Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the UAE, and Germany. Citibank recently predicted that by 2030, stablecoin holdings in U.S. Treasury bonds could reach $3.7 trillion, making them the largest holders on this list. Stablecoins have long faced criticism for being used primarily for settling speculative cryptocurrency trades. However, recent data suggests that their usage extends beyond this, indicating a broader integration into financial systems.