As the headlines this week underscore, they are already inside and trying to rearrange the furniture.
The evidence is not subtle. Payment networks are integrating stablecoins into settlement layers while regulators and industry stakeholders are debating their yield characteristics with the seriousness once reserved for money market funds. At the same time, the last mile of stablecoin payments is closing as stablecoin rails move from the edge of financial experimentation into the core of how value moves.
Over the course of the past seven days, partnerships formed, volumes climbed, acquisitions closed and lawmakers clashed. Each development reinforced a central truth…
Jan 16 2026
