A lot is happening on the geopolitical stage today. The renewed escalation of conflict in the Middle East was the main cause of market panic in the morning hours. Safe-haven assets like gold and escalation-sensitive ones like oil are seeing gains. Meanwhile, equities and, to some extent, cryptocurrencies are facing declines. To some extent—because Bitcoin is performing relatively well and is now attempting to recover losses.
Putting geopolitics aside for a moment, there are also many interesting developments on the fundamental front. According to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, major retailers such as Walmart, Amazon, and Expedia are exploring the possibility of issuing their own U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins. For companies serving millions of customers weekly, the ability to offer zero-fee or low-fee payments could mean billions of dollars in annual savings. The biggest losers in such a scenario would, of course, be today’s payment giants: Visa and Mastercard.
In addition, by processing transactions via blockchain, retailers could receive payments from customers (and pay suppliers) almost in real time, drastically reducing interchange and settlement fees, which total billions of dollars annually, and eliminating the 1–3 day delays currently required to settle transfers. Early discussions include both tokens for use by a single entity and a broader retail consortium supporting a shared stablecoin.
The realization of this strategy depends almost entirely on the passage of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation in U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, also known as the Stablecoin Act. The bill has just passed a key procedural vote in the Senate and is moving toward full consideration by both chambers of Congress. Retail industry representatives, led by the Merchants Payments Coalition, are actively lobbying for its adoption, arguing that clear rules will allow retailers to implement cheaper and instant settlements.
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