Judging from the public information, the business related to “stablecoins” is expected to be officially launched within this year. On May 18th, Qiu Dagen, a member of the Seventh Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, told the reporter of the “Everyday Economic News” that it is expected that “stablecoin” issuers will start business in Hong Kong in the second half of the year. “In the future, traditional assets including stocks and bonds may also be traded through blockchain technology.”
Regarding the application prospects of “stablecoins”, Chen Chen introduced that there are currently two core scenarios – trading scenarios and payment scenarios. “In terms of trading scenarios, ‘stablecoins’ have become safe-haven assets and trading media by binding to large exchanges and on-chain contract channels. The future growth point lies in the RWA being on-chain, creating new opportunities similar to’ Nasdaq on the chain ‘.” In terms of payment scenarios, in the cross-border payment demands of both B-end and C-end, “stablecoins” have a significant cost advantage and a huge demand, seriously challenging the monopolistic position of the traditional banking system.
In the view of the overseas research team of Huaxi Securities, “stablecoins” have huge potential in the field of cross-border payments. Firstly, it can achieve real-time arrival of funds, significantly shortening the transaction cycle and simultaneously reducing transaction costs. Cross-border real-time settlement is realized based on blockchain technology, with transaction fees being only 1/10 to 1/100 of traditional banking systems. It is especially suitable for replacing fiat currency in emerging markets for daily payments and salary distribution. In addition, “stablecoins” are expected to become a tool for currency internationalization. Take “RMB stablecoins” as an example. In cross-border trade, by using “RMB stablecoins” for settlement, the traditional SWIFT system can be bypassing.
In terms of the “stablecoin” industry chain, it can be divided into two lines: issuers and distributors. The concentration of top issuers is relatively obvious, while there are more participants in distributors. Lianlian Digital, whose stock price has recently soared, is a “stablecoin” payment company. The industry’s profit model is similar to that of commercial banks absorbing deposits and lending. On the liability side, they attract deposits at zero interest, and on the asset side, they allocate assets similar to US Treasuries to obtain returns. Chen Chen stated, “The core competitive factors in the ‘stablecoin’ race mainly consist of three points: credit endorsement, liquidity support, and channels and customer acquisition capabilities.” At present, the competitive landscape of leading “stablecoins” has evolved from the competition in on-chain/exchange trading scenarios to the battle for markets and channels in non-crypto scenarios such as cross-border payment and settlement.
