What are stablecoins competing with sovereign currencies for? The one-week shift of power in the payment ecosystem

As central bank digital currencies and USD stablecoins accelerate simultaneously, the competition for payment and clearing rights has shifted from concept to practice. This week, we review the key changes in the global payment landscape.

Central Bank Efforts Make Payment Sovereignty the New Focus

The action plan released by the People’s Bank of China at the beginning of the year marks a significant turning point. Starting January 1, 2026, the real-name digital yuan wallets will officially accrue interest. This is not only a product upgrade but also a strategic signal: the central bank is beginning to upgrade the digital form of its currency from a “payment tool” to a “retained account asset.”

This move may seem technical but actually touches the core of monetary policy. The interest mechanism changes the incentive structure for users holding digital yuan—it is no longer just a “use-and-discard” payment medium but becomes a balance deposit vehicle competing with bank accounts. From a financial stability perspective, this directly aligns with the “on-demand” advantage of USD stablecoins.

The same logic is spreading globally. South Korea’s stablecoin legislation has hit a deadlock, with core controversy focusing on whether “issuers must be bank-controlled.” The central bank’s stance is clear: only when regulated banks hold absolute control can the domestic stablecoin be integrated into the financial system’s responsibility framework. The underlying logic is that payment rights are not only technical rights but also regulatory rights and the ultimate authority in clearing.

US Stablecoins Accelerate Toward Federal Regulation, OCC Licenses Become a New Competitive Focus

In early January, an interesting phenomenon emerged in the US: stablecoin issuers began proactively applying for OCC national trust bank licenses. Trump-associated World Liberty Financial led the way, with its subsidiary submitting an application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, focusing on the issuance, redemption, and custody of USD1 stablecoins. The clear business logic behind this is: once licensed at the federal level, stablecoins can enter institutional balance sheets under a more regulated framework, no longer labeled as “crypto assets.”

From a payment perspective, this changes the credit foundation of stablecoins. It no longer relies solely on on-chain data and decentralized governance but is backed by the legal status of traditional financial institutions (trust banks). For corporate treasury departments, this “auditable, responsible, face-value redemption” form is easier to incorporate into cash management frameworks than native on-chain stablecoins.

Infrastructure Standardization Race: Who Can Connect Multiple Payment Tracks

This week’s intensive infrastructure activities reflect a trend: the payment ecosystem is shifting from a binary “on-chain” versus “traditional” approach to a new stage of “multi-track unified interfaces.”

Breakthroughs in Clearing Interoperability

Barclays’ investment in stablecoin clearing company Ubyx appears to be a traditional financial institution’s exploratory move but actually points to the real bottleneck in large-scale stablecoin adoption: when multiple issuers’ stablecoins coexist, how do they reconcile, settle, and form a unified clearing standard? Ubyx aims to do exactly this—transform tokens from different issuers into “scalable operational cash tools.”

This aligns with the ACH (Automated Clearing House) logic in traditional payments. ACH became the standard clearing track for businesses in the US because it provides a unified reconciliation, settlement, and regulatory framework. The current challenge in the stablecoin ecosystem is the lack of a widely accepted clearing standard, preventing the critical mass needed for “counterparty risk management” to evolve into “institutional mass adoption.”

Expansion of Payment Gateways

PXP announced a partnership with Stable to integrate stablecoin payment capabilities into existing payment gateways. The value of this cooperation is that merchants no longer need “traditional acquiring + stablecoin acquiring” dual systems but can operate both within the same gateway. Payment gateways processing over €30 billion annually are beginning to incorporate stablecoins, turning them from a “novelty” into a “standard option.”

This logic mirrors the evolution path of ACH payments. Initially adopted by corporate finance for low cost, then becoming a standard, and finally being embedded into all systems. Stablecoins are experiencing a similar acceleration.

Invisible Consumer Integration

What does StraitsX’s Apple Pay In-App Provisioning certification mean? Users no longer need to be aware of “paying with stablecoins”—they are simply using Apple Pay, with backend settlement quietly shifting from traditional bank cards to USDC. The key to payment product growth is friction reduction—the faster adoption, the better.

Payment Competition Reflected in Data

As of January 8, 2026, the total market cap of stablecoins is approximately $308 billion, up 0.3% from last week, maintaining the $300 billion range. But behind the data lies an easily overlooked detail: on-chain transfer volume averages over $6.53 trillion per month, but after removing noise from market-making, self-trading, bots, etc., the “effective” volume is only about one-fifth of the total, around $280-320 billion.

What does this difference indicate? It suggests that the stablecoin market is evolving from “large-value, low-frequency institutional transfers” to “small-value, high-frequency consumer payments.” The weekly growth of crvUSD by 21.06% and the transfer volume increasing by 13.77% reflect that supply driven by lending is gradually transforming into real exchange and circulation.

From another perspective, the quality of growth can be assessed. Sky Dollar (USDS) supply is increasing, but weekly transfer volume has significantly declined, indicating that new funds are more in “holding and earning” rather than “exchanging and circulating.” This is similar to the logic behind the introduction of interest mechanisms in digital renminbi: to encourage users to deposit funds, yield incentives are more direct than technological innovation.

JPMorgan’s JPMD Enters Canton Network: A New Vision for Institutional Clearing

JPMorgan’s JPMD deposit token, launched via Kinexys, is about to natively land on Canton Network. This move signifies that the largest US investment bank is placing its digital dollar product on an institutional network emphasizing privacy and compliance.

From a payment perspective, JPMD differs from public chain USDC. It is backed by JPMorgan’s corporate credit and targets highly trusted institutional clients. Canton Network’s privacy design ensures that transaction details are controllably disclosed, making it highly attractive for inter-institutional clearing—24/7 real-time settlement without exposing transaction details to competitors.

This also reflects another dimension of payment competition: not all payment scenarios require “completely open and transparent” blockchains. Institutional payments often prioritize “efficient clearing + privacy protection + legal certainty.”

Formation of Regulatory Consensus: From Confrontation to Co-Governance

Nacha established a dedicated forum for stablecoins at the 2026 Payments Conference, a signal more important than any press release. This industry organization, which governs US ACH rules, is asking: how should stablecoins be integrated into the existing payment governance framework?

This indicates an upgrade in the level of dialogue—from “Are stablecoins good or bad” to “How to use stablecoins”; from “Decentralized or not” to “Who bears the risks”; from “Public chain or private chain” to “How to define regulatory boundaries.”

The Final Question of Payment Sovereignty

Returning to the fundamental question: what determines payment rights?

The logic of USD stablecoins is: determined by code and market mechanisms. As long as the internet exists, USD stablecoins can cross time zones, banking hours, and regulatory gaps, existing everywhere. Their strength lies in rapid dissemination and technological neutrality—they can be used by anyone, anytime.

The logic of sovereign digital currencies is: determined by institutions and infrastructure. Digital renminbi can be subsidized by the government, directly used for tax payments, and become the default in salary disbursements—capabilities that even the strongest technological USD stablecoins cannot replace.

From the global trends starting in 2026, the answer is becoming clearer: payment rights are layered. Cross-border corporate settlements and open internet scenarios favor USD stablecoins, especially in cases requiring “instant conversion of fiat into digital assets anytime, anywhere.” Retail payments, public services, salary disbursements are more easily deepened with sovereign digital currencies because they can be integrated into fiscal and tax incentive systems.

The real competition is not about “which technology is better” but “which system can turn payment from a financial privilege into a public infrastructure.” The central bank’s push for interest mechanisms in digital currencies, US stablecoins proactively applying for federal licenses, and Nacha establishing independent forums for stablecoins—all these seemingly different actions are actually answering the same question: in the digital age, what determines the boundaries of payment?

The ultimate pattern is likely: USD stablecoins will continue to dominate cross-border and high-frequency exchange scenarios, while sovereign digital currencies will gradually penetrate retail and public services. Clearing interoperability (whether traditional standards like ACH or new institutional networks like Canton Network) will become the key infrastructure connecting these two worlds. The rise of payment sovereignty fundamentally marks a turning point where central banks shift from passive observers to active shapers of this new ecosystem.