Stablecoin Issuers Keep Treasury Yield as GENIUS Act Bans Payouts

Binance has bought roughly 1.24 million Class A shares of Circle at $80.84 per share, for a total value of about $100 million, a price roughly 5% below the market level before the deal closed. Binance will be unable to sell or hedge this block of shares for up to two years, but it retains normal shareholder voting rights. The deal is more than an investment: the two sides signed a five-year agreement to drive USDC usage across Binance's global platforms, especially in emerging markets. Binance will help push adoption of USDC, while Circle will handle the underlying infrastructure. Under the agreement, Circle will pay Binance a monthly incentive fee calculated from the volume of USDC held through Circle's wallet infrastructure. USDC is currently the world's second-largest stablecoin, with a market value of about $75 billion, while Binance has a vast global user base, giving Circle a distribution channel and giving Binance both a stake in Circle and revenue from the partnership. It underscores that competition in the stablecoin market is no longer measured by the size of a coin alone, but by which one has the most channels for people to actually use it.

The Trump administration is considering a plan to promote overseas use of dollar-denominated stablecoins through joint ventures with private companies, Bloomberg reported on September 23. The aim is to shore up the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency and boost demand for US Treasuries. The backdrop is the GENIUS Act, enacted in July 2025, which established a federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins and required issuers to hold one-to-one backing in US dollars or short-term Treasuries. The US Treasury published proposed rules on August 17 to implement the law and opened a public comment period, with the law scheduled to take effect on January 18, 2027. According to the Treasury, stablecoin issuers already hold about 200 billion dollars' worth of US Treasuries and short-dated government securities. The plan is said to involve the Treasury, the State Department, and the US International Development Finance Corporation, but it remains under consideration, and the target countries, partner companies, funding scale, and timing have not been disclosed.

Banks risk losing $230 billion in payments revenue as stablecoins, tokenized deposits and central bank digital currencies move from experimentation to commercialization, according to the Capgemini Research Institute's World Payments Report 2027. The report projects these instruments will account for approximately 4% of global payments volume by 2030, eroding high-margin revenue streams such as foreign exchange spreads, correspondent banking, float income and transaction processing fees. Widespread adoption could unlock as much as USD 4 trillion currently trapped in settlement and liquidity accounts, while nearly 60% of corporate clients say they are willing to source stablecoin services from non-bank providers if their banking partners fail to keep pace. Banks identify tokenized deposits as their top near-term priority, yet only 21% of banks, classified as leaders, are actively scaling at least one accelerated intelligent money instrument, while the remaining 79% are still evaluating their position. Jeroen Hölscher, Global Head of Payment Services at Capgemini, said the industry is entering its most significant period of disruption since the emergence of digital banking, and that with $230 billion at stake banks must decide what role they want to play in the emerging ecosystem.