Stablecoin 2.0: From Holding Logic to Circulation Logic

In recent years, the narrative surrounding the stablecoin industry has consistently revolved around several core keywords: market capitalization, regulatory compliance, and fluctuations in on-chain supply. Whether in industry reports or market discussions, most focus on one question—how much stablecoin is being held.

However, what truly determines the future direction of stablecoins and whether they can break through the layers of the crypto ecosystem is not static holding data, but dynamic circulation efficiency—how much it is used, how it is used, and to what extent value transfer is realized.

Recently, the "Stablecoin Utility Report 2026" (hereinafter referred to as "the report"), released by BVNK in collaboration with YouGov, Coinbase, and Artemis, provides a clear judgment based on research from 15 countries and 4,658 holders:

Stablecoins are accelerating their departure from the limitations of asset narratives and entering a payment narrative centered on circulation and usage.

Velocity Reveals the True Turning Point

The most intuitive indicator of whether an asset possesses payment attributes is not market capitalization, but velocity. The shorter the holding period and the higher the turnover frequency, the closer it is to the core function of currency. Data from 2026 clearly outlines the liquidity turning point of stablecoins:

• 28% of stablecoins are used for withdrawals or consumption within a few days

• 67% are converted, paid, or settled within a few months

• The proportion of long-term holding (over one year) is less than 10%

If stablecoins were merely a safe-haven asset, people would tend to hold them long-term; but the reality is that they function more like digital cash or bridge funds, facilitating rapid value transfer—from cross-border payments to daily consumption, from merchant settlements to payroll disbursements, their value lies in the circulation itself.

What is even more noteworthy is that stablecoins are no longer just trading tools but are gradually entering the real economic structure. The report shows:

• On average, 35% of annual income for global freelancers comes from stablecoin payments

• 73% indicate that stablecoins significantly enhance cross-border collaboration efficiency

This means that stablecoins are no longer just a medium for circulation within crypto assets but are gradually becoming tools for cross-border settlements, payment collections, and fund management. When a tool becomes part of the income structure, it has already entered the infrastructure level.

From On-Chain Assets to Payment Tracks: The Bottleneck is in the Connection Layer

Currently, stablecoins are undergoing a profound phase shift—from internal circulation within the crypto ecosystem to accelerating entry into real scenarios such as B2B settlements and card network payments, becoming a bridge connecting the crypto ecosystem with the traditional economy. Data shows that the current annual scale of stablecoins in B2B and card settlement fields has reached $390 billion. Consequently, the core of industry competition has shifted from technological competition to optimizing payment experiences.

What enterprises and users care about is no longer the performance of the underlying chain, but:

• Whether it can seamlessly integrate with existing businesses

• Whether it has compliance guarantees

• Whether the fees are transparent

• Whether it is as simple as traditional payments

As a stablecoin financial infrastructure platform, Interlace has also felt this change in its collaborations with enterprises: companies are no longer asking "whether they should use stablecoins," but are more focused on how to embed stablecoin payments into existing business processes, making them an invisible infrastructure.

Although the payment attributes of stablecoins have become prominent, users and enterprises still face real pain points. According to the report, the main issues are concentrated on:

• Risks arising from irreversible transactions

• Complicated payment steps

• Insufficient merchant acceptance

• Non-transparent exchange rates

These issues do not stem from the blockchain technology itself. The security and immediacy of on-chain settlements are already mature enough. The real bottleneck lies in the connection layer—how to seamlessly connect on-chain stablecoins with real payment networks (card networks, banking systems, merchant cash register systems) while addressing compliance, risk control, and settlement management issues.

Therefore, the current challenge for scaling stablecoins does not lie on-chain but in embedding capabilities.

As a stablecoin payment infrastructure platform, Interlace's core logic is not complex: to build a bridge between traditional finance and crypto assets. Through a global account system, MPC wallets, fiat and crypto asset exchanges, enterprise-level card issuance, and CaaS APIs, as well as embedded KYT/KYC/KYB risk control capabilities, it helps enterprises achieve unified settlement, compliance review, and financial reconciliation in multi-currency and multi-regional environments.

When these capabilities are combined with stablecoin settlements, stablecoins are no longer just digital assets on the chain but become a new layer of payment infrastructure in the enterprise backend.

When Stablecoins Truly Become "Money"

Looking back at the development path of stablecoins, three stages can be identified:

The first stage is proving that they can exist.
The second stage is proving that they can be compliant.
The third stage is proving that they can be used in daily life.

In 2026, stablecoins are officially entering the third stage. When users pay for coffee or rent with them, when enterprises settle cross-border orders and disburse remote salaries with them, when the use of stablecoins no longer relies on specialized crypto knowledge and is no longer limited to the on-chain ecosystem, they truly shed the label of assets and become liquid "money."

For builders of stablecoin financial infrastructure, this is not a victory of concepts but the beginning of scaling. Stablecoin 2.0 has arrived.