What to know:
- Stripe, Circle, Tether building own chains (Tempo, Arc, Plasma) with $1B raised.
- To cut fees, control settlement and meet GENIUS Act / MiCA rules as stablecoin volume tops $5.4T.
- Cheaper rails for users but risk to Ethereum / Tron dominance and more liquidity fragmentation.
The battle over stablecoin settlement is turning into full-on infrastructural armrace. Stripe, Circle and Tether are each working on their own blockchains exclusively to move digital dollars that have been optimized.
With fundraising efforts and internal allocations combined, they have already surpassed $1 billion, per CoinMarketCap. This is a turning point as it will no longer be dependent on Ethereum and Tron for stablecoin transfers.
Who Is Building the Stablechains
Stripe is working on Tempo – a payments chain created in partnership with model that will support Stripe’s USDC acquiring and global payout network. Circle has introduced Arc, an open Layer-1 blockchain designed for USDC as its main token, offering less-than-a-second finality for business settlement.
Tether is supporting Plasma, a Bitcoin-anchored chain that aims to scale up free fee transfers of USDT in emerging markets.
Also Read: HashKey Joins HKDAP Beta as Hong Kong Stablecoin Market Expands
The $1B Bet to Own Stablecoin Rails
The supply has crossed $270 billion, with more than $5.4 trillion monthly adjusted transfer volume in 2025 (Visa + Artemis). Established players pay a lot of rent to general-purpose chains while experiencing negative miner extractable value, congestion, and liquidity fragmentation.
Source: Binance
With their proprietary chain, a player can earn sequencing fees, implement various compliance controls, and leverage an interoperability advantage as GENIUS Act and MiCA set out their expectations for issuing and settlement under regulation.
Also Read: Circle Launches Native USDC and CCTP on X Layer to Boost Stablecoin Payments
Crypto Impacts
For developers, exchanges, and institutional players, stablecoins are supposed to offer cheaper and regulated routes, but a further fragmentation of liquidity and standards is a potential risk.
Source: Investopedia
The 90% of these coins volume currently settled on Ethereum, Tron, and Solana would be impacted by declining gas fees. Interoperability protocols like LayerZero or Circle’s CCTP grow in importance.
Also Read: Circle Q2 Earnings Beat Forecasts as Bernstein Keeps $140 Target
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