The market value of stablecoins worldwide has reached $130.7 billion, witnessing significant progress in stablecoin regulations this year. According to PwC’s “2023 Global Cryptocurrency Regulatory Report,” 25 out of 43 analyzed countries (58%) have implemented stablecoin regulations, including Austria, the Bahamas, and Denmark.
These countries have mostly implemented comprehensive regulations, including cryptocurrency regulatory frameworks, licensing/registration systems, and compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) travel rule. The FATF’s cryptocurrency travel rule is a regulatory requirement that mandates cryptocurrency service providers (such as exchanges) to share transaction information to prevent money laundering and illegal activities.
Approximately 18% of countries have yet to begin stablecoin regulation, including Bahrain, Brazil, India, Taiwan, and Turkey. Additionally, around 23% of countries, such as Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore, have started actively promoting the development of stablecoin laws.
However, PwC’s analysis points out that major countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada have not yet completed stablecoin legislation and comprehensive cryptocurrency regulatory frameworks. Furthermore, cryptocurrency-friendly countries like Singapore and the United Arab Emirates have adopted most cryptocurrency-related regulations but have not specifically formulated regulations for stablecoins.
Regarding Taiwan, PwC’s analysis shows that Taiwan has not yet started regulating stablecoins. However, Taiwan is actively promoting cryptocurrency regulatory frameworks and licensing/registration systems. Currently, Taiwan has only implemented the FATF travel rule.
In recent developments, the market capitalization of stablecoins has reached $130.7 billion, with a 3.36% increase in the past two months. Moody’s and S&P, including other credit rating agencies, have started studying stablecoins. Moody’s has launched an AI tool specifically targeting stablecoin decoupling risks, while S&P has issued its first official rating for stablecoins.
In S&P’s assessment, Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, received a rating of 4 (second-lowest) due to insufficient asset transparency. However, USDT remains the highest market share stablecoin, with a market value of approximately $91.3 billion, accounting for 71.53% of the stablecoin market share, according to CoinGecko data.
A report released by Bitwise, a cryptocurrency asset management company, predicts that funds settled with stablecoins will surpass those settled with Visa. It highlights stablecoins as one of the “killer applications” of cryptocurrencies, with the market growing from nearly zero to $137 billion in the past four years, indicating significant growth in the upcoming year.
Yesterday, Whale Alert reported that Tether minted 1 billion USDT on the Ethereum network. Although Tether’s CEO responded that it was not an incremental issuance but an authorized but unissued transaction intended for future issuance requests and on-chain exchange inventory, it has sparked discussions in the market about the return of the DeFi bull market.
In conclusion, stablecoins have achieved a significant market value globally, with notable progress in stablecoin regulations. However, some major countries have yet to complete stablecoin legislation, and Taiwan has not yet started regulating stablecoins specifically. The development and growth of stablecoins continue to shape the cryptocurrency market.