The Next Frontier for Stablecoins: International Payments, Tokenization of US Stocks, and AI Agents
Tokenization of US Stocks, as a crucial branch of Real World Assets (RWA), is entering a key period of accelerated implementation as regulatory frameworks advance and market interest heats up, poised to drive rapid expansion of the stablecoin ecosystem.
Original Article Title: "The Next Stop for Stablecoins: International Payments, Tokenization of US Stocks, and AI Agent"
Original Article Author: XiaoYin Li, Wallstreet CN
A new track for stablecoins is rising, with the tokenization of US stocks and AI Agents poised to syphon global liquidity.
Fueled by accelerated legislation, active corporate participation, and rapid trading volume growth, stablecoins are transitioning from a peripheral role in cryptocurrency to the core of financial innovation, attracting global attention.
According to Wind Trading Desk, analysts Song Jiagji and Ren Heyi from Guosheng Securities stated in their latest research report that stablecoins, leveraging the advantages of instant payment and settlement as well as a lightweight account system, are not only demonstrating disruptive potential in the traditional payment sector but are also becoming a key driving force in the tokenization of US stocks (RWA) and AI Agent payment scenarios.
The report suggests that the tokenization of US stocks provides cryptocurrency investors with more asset allocation choices while also potentially driving rapid expansion of the stablecoin market size. AI Agent payments, on the other hand, could alleviate user operational burdens, ushering in a new payment paradigm. The integration and innovation of these two major new tracks are expected to be an eagerly anticipated catalyst in the second half of the year.
Tokenization of US Stocks Reignites RWA Boom
As a crucial branch of real-world asset tokenization (RWA), the tokenization of US stocks is currently experiencing a key period of accelerated adoption.
In the past, stock tokenization briefly surged on platforms like the Mirror Protocol, supporting synthetic tokenization of US assets such as Tesla and Google. However, it faded away due to regulatory issues and market volatility. Now, with the advancement of the RWA regulatory framework, the market's interest in stock tokenization has reignited.
In the current context of a gradually clarified regulatory environment, traditional financial institutions represented by BlackRock and cryptocurrency institutions are actively lobbying regulators to drive the resurgence of stock tokenization.
The report indicates that the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is seeking approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission to offer users "tokenized stock" trading services. Established exchange Kraken has already taken action by announcing a collaboration with Backed Finance to launch the "xStocks" service, initially covering over 50 US-listed stocks and ETFs including Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia.
The analysis in the report suggests that this service not only provides cryptocurrency investors with a channel for traditional financial asset allocation but may also significantly increase the circulation of stablecoins by expanding their use cases.
The report estimates that the massive scale of the U.S. stock market is sufficient to drive rapid expansion in stablecoin demand. As an on-chain "fiat currency," stablecoins play a foundational role in U.S. stock tokenization trading and are poised to become the next key application scenario for stablecoins.
AI Agent Unleashing a New Era of Intelligent Payments
The deep integration of stablecoins and AI Agents is also seen as another significant market potential. Especially in future AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) scenarios, AI Agents may replace humans in performing extensive payment operations.
The report points out that the complex authorization process of traditional financial accounts is not AI-friendly, often requiring multiple steps such as user authorization and financial institution review. In contrast, the blockchain-based light account system of stablecoins is naturally suitable for AI Agent manipulation.
The introduction of blockchain smart contracts further strengthens the integration of AI decision-making and payments, allowing AI Agents to not only provide analytical recommendations but also directly operate user accounts, achieving true intelligent payments.
Moreover, blockchain accounts are essentially smart contracts, inherently possessing AI genes, with features such as flash loans and Automated Market Maker (AMM) protocols reflecting this characteristic.
The report mentions that in Intent-centric applications, for example, users only need to "one-click" authorize, and AI can optimize the transaction path through algorithms to achieve efficient exchange from Token A to Token B without requiring manual user intervention. This high degree of integration between AI and blockchain accounts provides a broad imaginative space for stablecoin payment scenarios, especially in automated trading and intelligent payment fields.
However, the report also adds that AI Agent payments are still in the early stages, and the decentralized architecture of blockchain networks results in significant efficiency bottlenecks.
For example, the Ethereum mainnet can only process double-digit transactions per second, far below the efficiency of traditional payment systems (such as Alipay's peak of 256,000 transactions per second on Singles' Day). Technical scalability and network congestion issues urgently need to be addressed; otherwise, it will be challenging to accommodate large-scale user demand.
Payment Scene Competition Growing Fiercer, Stablecoin's Enormous Potential
The application potential of stablecoins in international payments is also significant, with their point-to-point, payment-cum-settlement characteristics offering a clear advantage over the high costs and inefficiencies of the traditional financial system.
The report points out that in underdeveloped regions, stablecoins have even achieved a "fast lane overtaking," allowing USD payments to be made through mobile-registered blockchain accounts, addressing the lack of banking service coverage. In addition, payment giant Stripe's $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge to launch stablecoin financial account services spanning 101 countries has further bridged the gap between stablecoins and fiat payment systems.
The report also mentioned that different stablecoin variants have "non-fungible" characteristics, making the market competition unusually fierce.
Even Coinbase's USDC, for example, only accounts for one-eighth of USDT's trading volume in its trading pairs. The stablecoin PYUSD launched by the payment giant Paypal has a scale of only about 950 million US dollars, far below market expectations.
The report further added that for stablecoins to be widely used in the payment field, they still need to address the efficiency bottleneck caused by the blockchain's "impossible triangle" restriction. Traditional payment systems such as Alipay saw a peak of 256,000 transactions per second during the "Double 11" period in 2017, while the Ethereum mainnet can only process double-digit transaction volumes per second.
The main points of this article are from a research report titled "The Next Stop for Stablecoins: International Payments, Tokenization of US Stocks, and AI Agent" published by Guosheng Securities analysts Song Jiaji and Ren Heyi on June 24.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
AI Capital Expenditure Faces a Dilemma: Accelerating Puts Pressure on Cash Flow, Slowing Down Undermines the Growth Narrative
Nomura Securities believes that the AI investment narrative is mired in an internal contradiction: if hyperscale cloud providers accelerate capital expenditures, their free cash flow will continue to be drained, raising doubts about the sustainability of financing; if they slow down, it would indicate a loss of confidence in AI demand and profitability expectations. Both paths lead to sell-offs. The crowded long positions accumulated during the AI agent boom in September have triggered large-scale stop-losses under negative catalysts, spreading to US Treasury bonds, exchange rates, and commodity markets, resulting in systemic deleveraging.
Amazon (AMZN.US) CEO: AWS cloud computing capacity is fully booked until 2027, and a large amount of capacity has already been committed by customers for 2028
On Friday, Jassy stated that with the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, Amazon AWS cloud computing capacity is virtually sold out through 2027, and a significant portion of 2028 capacity has also been pre-booked by customers.
AI trading collapse: Will Anthropic postpone its "Super IPO"? The "scheduled listing date" in mid-November is approaching.
The time window is extremely tight—according to SEC regulations, the S-1 filing must be submitted by next week at the latest, and prediction markets estimate the probability of a listing within the year at around 80%. The sell-off in the AI sector has cast a shadow over the listing prospects, and the previous plan to go public in September has already fallen through. Several market participants say that Anthropic may face pressure to delay its listing, but some analysts point out that the company's urgent need for capital may drive it to stick to the original plan.
Crypto prices
More
