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Introduction: The Rise of a New Financial Backbone
Stablecoins—cryptocurrencies pegged to real-world assets like the US dollar—are emerging as the linchpin of the next phase of digital finance. Once seen as a minor player in the crypto landscape, this sector is now attracting serious attention from traditional financial giants and blockchain innovators alike. With 2025 funding projections soaring to \$12.3 billion, up from just \$1 billion in 2024, stablecoins are rapidly transforming from niche tools into mainstream financial instruments. This boom is driven by clearer regulations, real-world use cases beyond trading, and a wave of institutional adoption.
CB Insights has mapped the top 172 private companies across eight categories that are shaping the stablecoin landscape. These firms were chosen from over 600 candidates, using a proprietary “Mosaic Score” that ranks their health and momentum based on funding, talent, market strength, and online sentiment.
Stablecoin Revolution: the Market Report
The explosion in stablecoin-related investment is not just a speculative bubble—it’s underpinned by real economic drivers and structural demand. These digital assets solve the core weakness of earlier cryptocurrencies: volatility. By being pegged to fiat currencies or baskets of assets, they offer consistent value and are now at the forefront of institutional experimentation.
Companies like Mastercard, Visa, Societe Generale, and Vantage Bank have either adopted stablecoin settlement or launched their own versions. Infrastructure providers like Zero Hash and Fireblocks offer white-label solutions for traditional banks, signaling a shift toward mainstream adoption.
Wallet & Custodian services—such as Colombia’s Littio and the UK’s Open Settlements—saw the fastest employee growth (83%) last year. KAST in Hong Kong expanded its staff tenfold and raised \$10 million in December 2024, offering debit cards linked to Apple Pay and Google Pay while announcing plans to evolve into a full on-chain bank.
Innovation is exploding in the issuer category as well. Ampleforth is testing inflation-adjusted tokens, while Ethena introduced synthetic stablecoins that don’t rely on traditional bank deposits. This segment is particularly active, with the highest rate of mergers and acquisitions (24%), hinting at future consolidation.
Stablecoins are now moving beyond passive value storage into high-yield instruments. Paxos launched “Lift Dollar” (USDL), offering yield, while Stripe acquired Bridge for \$1.1 billion and integrated its USDB token—backed by BlackRock’s money market fund—into its services.
Liquidity & Yield-focused companies raised \$2.3 billion across 40 deals in the past year. Standouts like Avalon Labs offer credit lines to institutions, while StakeStone more than doubled its Mosaic Score within six months through seven funding rounds.
Cross-border payments have become one of the most practical and immediate use cases for stablecoins. Stripe, Mastercard, and Visa have all entered this space, providing infrastructure for international remittances. Over half of all funding rounds happened outside the U.S., showing global traction, especially in regions lacking robust traditional banking systems.
Eight categories dominate the map:
- Issuers like Ripple and Circle are launching tokens and targeting cross-border finance.
- Liquidity & Yield Platforms are turning stablecoins into revenue-generating tools.
- Custody Solutions & Wallets are maturing to handle institutional and consumer needs.
4. Payment Infrastructure is enabling smooth real-world transactions.
- Exchange & On/Off-Ramp Services are bridging fiat and digital economies.
- B2B Platforms are integrating stablecoins into corporate finance workflows.
7. Blockchain Infrastructure supports cross-chain functionality and scalability.
- Monitoring & Analytics firms like Chainalysis ensure transparency and compliance.
What Undercode Say: A Deeper Dive Into Stablecoin Disruption
Stablecoins are no longer experimental tools—they are foundational components of a new financial ecosystem that blends crypto innovation with institutional-grade functionality. The staggering leap from \$1 billion to \$12.3 billion in projected funding marks a turning point in how digital finance is capitalized.
The most compelling narrative lies in their functional evolution: stablecoins now generate yield, power cross-border payments, and even support on-chain banking models. Traditional finance (TradFi) is not just dipping its toes but diving headfirst into crypto’s most promising application.
Visa and
The Wallet & Custody segment, with companies like Fireblocks and BitGo, is addressing the critical problem of secure storage, which has long hindered crypto mass adoption. Their ability to offer white-label, regulatory-compliant solutions is the gateway to bank-grade trust in the crypto world.
The geographic distribution of innovation is another underappreciated angle. With more than 50% of new deals occurring outside the U.S., regions like Southeast Asia, LATAM, and Africa are bypassing legacy systems by going straight into stablecoin-enabled financial infrastructure. These markets are likely to shape the future of adoption more than Silicon Valley.
However, the uneven maturity levels in categories like liquidity mining and payment processing point to a still-evolving sector. Many firms are at prototype or validation stages, meaning scalability and regulation will become the next big hurdles.
Also worth noting is the intensifying M\&A activity, especially in the issuer category. As projects mature, consolidation is inevitable. Those with robust tech, compliance alignment, and market access will likely be acquired by banks, fintechs, or consortiums of both.
If one metric encapsulates the momentum, it’s StakeStone’s meteoric Mosaic Score growth—from 444 to over 900 in just six months—driven by strategic fundraising and ecosystem partnerships. That’s not just traction; it’s a launch sequence.
In essence, stablecoins are evolving from tools of the crypto elite into programmable financial utilities for the global masses. The innovation may be crypto-native, but the utility is universal.
🔍 Fact Checker Results:
✅ Verified: Stripe did acquire Bridge and integrated stablecoin payments into its offerings.
✅ Verified: Paxos launched USDL, a yield-generating stablecoin.
✅ Verified: Fireblocks partnered with Chainlink Labs for bank-grade stablecoin systems.
📊 Prediction:
By 2027, stablecoins will surpass \$50 billion in annual institutional funding, with over 30% of international B2B payments settled using stablecoin protocols. At least five traditional banks will launch their own branded stablecoins, while cross-chain liquidity tools like StakeStone will become foundational infrastructure for decentralized finance. The “stable” in stablecoin will no longer just refer to price—it will mean trust, compliance, and ubiquity.
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