Insights

USD stablecoins have moved beyond a simple means of crypto trading into a variable reshaping the structure of global financial markets.

As of July 17, 2025, the global stablecoin market capitalization stood at USD 244.4 billion — growing roughly tenfold annually on average from 2017 to 2024. About 90% are USD-based, with Tether (USDT, USD 157.4 billion, 64% share) and Circle (USDC, USD 62.2 billion, 25.5%) splitting the market. Samjong KPMG Economic Research Institute's Issue Monitor (#173) analyzes the US three-bill digital-asset package — centered on the GENIUS Act signed by President Trump on July 18, 2025 — and the implications for Korea's financial markets.

The real reason the US is focused on stablecoins: maintaining dollar hegemony. As of Q1 2025, Tether and Circle's combined US Treasury holdings reached USD 168.5 billion — already exceeding Korea's USD 125.8 billion. Stablecoin issuers must hold US Treasuries as reserve assets; the more the stablecoin market grows, the more incremental US Treasury demand is created. For the US — running a fiscal deficit of USD 1.83 trillion — this is a strategic lever directly tied to lowering Treasury yields. Immediately after signing the GENIUS Act, the White House officially stated it would “firmly entrench the dollar's reserve-currency status.”

GENIUS Act, CLARITY Act, anti-CBDC Act: the three-law landscape of US digital finance. The GENIUS Act codifies reserve-asset management, AML, and KYC obligations for issuers of fiat-collateralized stablecoins. The CLARITY Act clarifies the criteria for distinguishing securities from commodities in digital assets, resolving regulatory uncertainty. The anti-CBDC Act prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC, clearing space for the private stablecoin ecosystem. The three laws institutionalize the Trump administration's intent to position the US as the leader of digital assets.

Korea's dilemma: a KRW stablecoin between monetary sovereignty and financial stability. In Korea, Big Tech firms (Kakao, Naver), financial institutions, and startups are visibly forming stablecoin business consortia. However, introducing a KRW stablecoin sits within a structural dilemma across three values — monetary sovereignty, financial stability, and digital-asset market innovation — making policy decisions complex.

What this means for M&A. The institutionalization of stablecoins creates three M&A opportunities. First, demand will rise for strategic acquisitions of fintech and blockchain firms specialized in regulatory-compliance infrastructure (custody, AML/KYC, reserve-asset management). Second, cross-border M&A may accelerate to build global payments and remittance networks, with digital-wallet and payment platforms holding emerging-market penetration becoming particularly attractive targets. Third, traditional financial institutions internalizing stablecoin operations through bolt-on absorption of crypto-specialist startups is likely to accelerate, domestically and abroad.