September 1st, 2026

The Payment Rail Banks Cannot Ignore – Stablecoins

Most people misunderstand stablecoins entirely. When the average person hears the word cryptocurrency, they immediately picture wild price swings and speculative bets. These specific assets completely reject that volatile identity. They serve a much quieter and far more revolutionary purpose. A fiat proxy acts as a bridge between traditional currency and distributed networks. Creators design these instruments to maintain a strict 1-to-1 peg with real-world assets like the dollar. Instead of chasing capital appreciation, these instruments provide absolute price stability. They give investors a safe harbor during market turbulence and offer merchants a reliable medium of exchange. This unique combination of traditional value and cryptographic speed fundamentally rewrites the rules of global finance. We must look past the hype to understand the true mechanics driving this quiet revolution in how we transfer value across borders.

How Stablecoin Mechanics and the Mint-and-Burn Cycle Function

Understanding the mechanics requires examining the asset’s life cycle. The process moves continuously between physical bank vaults and cryptographic ledgers. When a user wants to acquire these coins, they initially wire traditional fiat currency to the issuing company. The issuer verifies the bank deposit and then writes a smart contract to mint an exact equivalent of virtual tokens on the network. This action brings the funds on-chain. The user can now send those assets anywhere in the world in seconds. When the user wants their physical cash back, they send the virtual assets to the issuer. The smart contract permanently destroys the coins. The issuer then wires the traditional currency from their reserve account back to the user. This continuous creation and destruction cycle ensures the virtual supply perfectly matches the physical reserves at all times.

Market Leaders and the Shift Toward Fully Backed Reserves

The industry relies heavily on several dominant players to maintain this delicate balance. Tether and USD Coin currently command the market. Tether pioneered the space back in 2014 under the name Realcoin. It gave early crypto traders a vital tool to park their funds without cashing out to traditional banks. Circle later introduced its competing product with a strong focus on regulatory compliance and transparent audits. We must also remember the difficult lessons of the past. The spectacular collapse of TerraUSD in 2022 proved the dangers of algorithmic models. That project tried to maintain its peg using complex math and secondary coins rather than actual cash reserves. When panic struck, the algorithm failed, wiping out billions in investor capital. That event forced the entire industry to embrace fully backed models holding real cash and short-term treasury bills.

Institutional Adoption and Emerging Regulatory Frameworks

Wall Street and Washington completely shifted their perspective following those early growing pains. Traditional financial institutions no longer view these assets as fringe speculative bets. Major banks and payment processors now see them as the next generation of payment infrastructure. They recognize the immense efficiency of programmable cash that settles instantly around the clock. The United States federal authorities also embrace this evolution through recent legislative frameworks like the GENIUS Act. Lawmakers explicitly separated payment instruments from volatile cryptocurrencies. Regulators no longer classify compliant fiat proxies as securities or commodities. They treat them as private payment instruments. This legal distinction strips away the speculative element entirely. Since the coins cannot legally pay interest and must maintain a fixed value, they bypass standard investment rules. This clarity invites traditional asset managers to participate without fear of navigating a murky legal landscape.

Geopolitical Strategy and U.S. Treasury Demand

Federal policymakers actually view these tokens as a strategic tool for maintaining global economic leadership. Greenback-backed proxies lock foreign users into the American financial ecosystem. Each time someone in another country buys a virtual $, they increase the global demand for the national currency. Furthermore, the issuers must hold physical cash and short-term Treasury bills to back their coins. This requirement turns issuance companies into significant buyers of national debt. In fact, stablecoin issuers currently hold hundreds of billions in United States Treasuries. This substantial reserve creates steady demand for government borrowing. Regulators also appreciate the transparent nature of public networks. The permanent ledger allows law enforcement to track illicit flows and enforce economic sanctions much more effectively than they can with traditional offshore wire transfers. The state essentially outsourced the creation of virtual cash to private companies while maintaining strict oversight of the underlying reserves and transaction-monitoring protocols.

Private Stablecoins Versus Central Bank Digital Currencies

This brings us to the crucial distinction between a private virtual currency and a Central Bank alternative. The Federal Reserve explored the idea of issuing its own official electronic cash. Policymakers rejected that path. They prefer private companies to issue the tokens while the state enforces the rules. To qualify as a true electronic proxy, the issuer must follow 4 strict mandates. The coin cannot generate yield. The company must hold perfect 1-to-1 liquid reserves. The user must have the legal right to redeem the coin for cash at any time. The issuer must also retain the ability to freeze wallets linked to illegal activities. Meeting these conditions transforms a simple cryptographic token into a highly regulated electronic cashier’s check that moves freely across global networks.

Public Blockchain Infrastructure and Direct Financial Custody

The underlying infrastructure dictates how authorities track and categorize these funds. A true proxy must live on a distributed ledger. If a company simply updates a centralized database to move funds, the state classifies that action as a standard bank deposit. Platforms like PayPal operate entirely off-chain. They rely on internal corporate ledgers and legacy settlement networks. True cryptographic assets operate differently. They utilize public networks like Ethereum. This public routing allows anyone with an internet connection to participate without asking a bank for permission. The transaction settles peer-to-peer through cryptographic verification. Users bypass legacy intermediaries completely and take full custody of their wealth. This direct ownership model shifts power away from traditional gatekeepers and places financial control directly into the hands of the individual user.

Private Ledger Innovation and the Future of Global Settlement

Traditional banks also want to capture this efficiency, leading them to build private networks. Institutions created their own internal distributed ledgers to move funds between corporate clients. The state classifies these private network coins as wholesale proxies or tokenized deposits. These private networks offer absolute control and complete transaction privacy. A bank can instantly reverse a mistake in its private ledger, an action that is completely impossible on a public network. Retail users interact with public coins for everyday commerce. Large corporations utilize private wholesale tokens for interbank settlements. Both models rely on distributed ledger technology, but they serve entirely different masters. The sheer volume of capital moving through these networks proves the concept works. Transaction volumes recently surpassed the total settlement value of major legacy credit card networks.

More than $100 billion flows across these cryptographic rails every single day. People in countries with failing local currencies use them to protect their life savings. Freelancers use them to receive instant payments from international clients without losing a percentage to intermediary banks. The technology successfully merged the reliability of fiat currency with the borderless speed of the internet. We stand at the precipice of a complete financial paradigm shift. These assets prove that virtual funds do not require wild speculation to achieve global adoption. The future of finance operates right now.

Source: https://www.securities.io/future-of-stablecoins-global-finance-infrastructure/

Anndy Lian

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com

j j j

August 25th, 2026

Everyone Loves RWA Stocks Right Now. I Have Questions.

Everyone in the crypto community right now talks about real-world assets as if they’ve found the missing puzzle piece. Digital equity proxies, on-chain corporate shares, and bridge products connecting Wall Street to blockchain wallets dominate the conversation. The narrative feels irresistible. Traditional finance meets decentralized networks, and suddenly your portfolio gains access to prominent technology companies without ever touching a standard brokerage account. I get the excitement. I truly do. But I want to pump the brakes and share a perspective that might ruffle a few feathers. I do not think digital equity wrappers represent a breakthrough for crypto. I also do not think they represent a disaster. They sit in an uncomfortable middle ground, and I believe we need to discuss it honestly.

Let me start with the structural tension that nobody can engineer away. When you buy a blockchain certificate of a public corporation, you do not actually hold that underlying corporate share. You hold a digital receipt that tracks the price of the physical asset. A legal entity, often a special-purpose vehicle, sits between you and the underlying equity. That entity physically custodies the real stock with a traditional broker or bank. So the entire promise of trustless, code-governed finance collapses the moment you need a human institution to safeguard the underlying asset. You trust a company, not a smart contract. And if that custodian faces financial trouble or a legal dispute, your digital receipts could freeze or lose their peg to the real value. The chain breaks at its weakest, most traditional link.

Then there is the ownership question, and it bothers me more than most people admit. Holders of these digital certificates cannot vote in shareholder elections. They cannot attend annual meetings. They do not receive dividends in cash. Instead, the issuing company deducts a 30% US withholding tax from any dividend and reinvests the remainder back into the digital receipt through a supply adjustment. That tax rate comes directly from IRS Chapter 3 rules governing non-U.S. persons receiving U.S.-Source income. Most marketing materials gloss over this detail entirely. You earn less than you expect, and the mechanism feels opaque. I think investors deserve louder, clearer conversations about this reality before they commit capital.

Market depth tells another sobering story. The New York Stock Exchange processes roughly $25 to $30 billion in daily trading volume and relies on thousands of market makers and decades of infrastructure. Compare that figure to the on-chain activity for equity proxies. The entire real-world asset sector, which includes everything from government bonds to private credit to equities, has only recently crossed the $15 billion mark in total value. Within that bucket, the equity slice remains thin. Many digital stock products record sparse weekly transfers after their initial issuance. A handful of platforms boast prominent headline transaction counts, but the number of individual wallets actually holding the certificates remains remarkably small. Try selling a large position on a decentralized exchange, and you will likely encounter wide spreads and heavy slippage. The depth simply does not exist right now.

Compliance hurdles add another layer of friction. These products must comply with securities laws in every jurisdiction they operate in. That requirement means strict identity verification before anyone can mint, redeem, or exchange the assets. Several platforms exclude entire populations, including American citizens and residents, because regulatory agencies leave no practical path forward. So the borderless ideal that drew people to digital networks in the first place quietly disappears behind a compliance wall. You still need approval from a gatekeeper. The gatekeeper just moved to a different server. Operating rhythms also create an awkward mismatch. Public equities trade during set windows, roughly 6.5 hours a day, five days a week, on American exchanges. Blockchain networks run around the clock. When you try to price a digital stock at 3 a.m. on a Sunday, you rely on stale data from Friday’s close. That gap invites confusion and potential manipulation. Not every technological improvement solves a problem that stems from two fundamentally different operating schedules.

Now, I want to be fair. The teams building these products work hard to reduce friction. Some ensure a 1:1 legal backing with real shares rather than synthetic derivatives. Some operate across multiple networks. Some hold regulatory licenses in Europe or the Middle East. Some integrate with decentralized lending protocols, allowing users to borrow against their digital holdings. These efforts deserve recognition. But fixing one problem does not erase the others. The core risk profile stays intact.

If you find yourself in a position where you genuinely cannot access traditional brokerage services and feel you must use these products, I would gently nudge you to keep your certificates on a centralized exchange rather than withdrawing them to a self-custody wallet. Centralized order books absorb large trades with tighter spreads and less slippage. Internal conversions between the digital receipt and the underlying stock position often happen instantly and at zero cost. You can also use those holdings as collateral for derivatives within the same platform. The experience feels closer to what most investors already understand, and the operational risk stays lower.

The decentralized route offers tempting ideas, and I want to acknowledge that fact. You can borrow stablecoins against your stock certificates without selling them. You can bundle digital equities, staking positions, and gold in a single wallet. You can exchange assets at any hour on decentralized aggregators. But smart contract risk looms large with hackers and exploits. Your digital stock could vanish in a single exploit. And thin on-chain market depth means your large sell order could move the price sharply against you. I would rather avoid stacking those risks on top of an already complex structure.

If you have any other path to buy and sell corporate shares through a conventional brokerage, I would take it without hesitation. A regulated broker gives you direct ownership, voting rights, cash dividends, and deep market depth featuring decades of infrastructure. The digital wrapper adds layers of complexity without clearly adding proportional value for the average investor. I do not say any of this to spread fear or undermine the people building in this space. I respect the ambition, and I recognize the genuine effort behind every product. I simply believe the current version of digital equities carries real, unresolved risks that the hype cycle tends to bury. Digital equity proxies avoid disaster. They fail to transform the industry either, at least not right now. They occupy a complicated middle ground, and I think we must discuss that middle ground openly, without cheerleading and without hostility. I may carry my own biases. I acknowledge that freely. But I also think honesty about limitations builds stronger foundations than enthusiasm alone ever could.

Source: https://www.benzinga.com/Opinion/26/08/61389568/everyone-loves-rwa-stocks-right-now-i-have-questions

Anndy Lian

www.anndy.com

j j j

March 24th, 2025

Fed’s 2025 rate cuts: How they shape stocks, gold and crypto

Over the weekend, fresh headlines hinted that President Donald Trump’s much-discussed reciprocal tariffs, slated for April 2, might not be the broad, blunt instrument markets initially feared. Instead, they could be more targeted, potentially easing some of the anxiety that’s kept investors on edge. But let’s not kid ourselves—the situation remains fluid, and a major risk still looms large. Markets hate uncertainty, and this story is far from written.

Last week offered a glimpse into how these dynamics are playing out. The Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) latest dot plot stuck to its script, signalling expectations of two rate cuts this year despite a bump in near-term inflation projections from 2.5 per cent to 2.8 per cent.

That’s a notable shift—it suggests the Fed sees price pressures sticking around a bit longer than anticipated. Meanwhile, the median growth forecast took a hit, sliding from 2.1 per cent to 1.7 per cent, a clear nod to the mounting headwinds facing the US economy.

Friday’s market action encapsulated the mood: equities spent most of the day in the red, only to be yanked into positive territory by a late rally from mega-cap tech giants, nudging the S&P 500 up 0.1 per cent by the close. It’s a classic case of the market’s bipolar nature—pessimism giving way to a flicker of optimism driven by a handful of heavyweights.

The bond market, meanwhile, told its own story. The US Treasury yield curve steepened, with long-end yields creeping higher after Fed Governor Christopher Waller suggested the banking system still has plenty of reserves to handle the Fed’s ongoing Treasury runoff without disruption. The 10-year yield edged up 0.9 basis points to 4.246 per cent, reflecting confidence in the longer-term outlook.

At the front end, however, yields dipped—the 2-year yield fell 1.6 basis points to 3.948 per cent—as markets priced in more Fed easing to come. It’s a delicate balancing act: the Fed resisting short-term pressure to pivot aggressively while signalling it’s not blind to the softening growth picture.

The US Dollar Index, up 0.2 per cent to 104.09, notched its first weekly gain in three weeks, a subtle flex of muscle amid the uncertainty. Commodities offered a mixed bag: gold, often a safe-haven darling, shed 0.7 per cent as profit-taking kicked in, while Brent crude eked out a 0.2 per cent gain, buoyed perhaps by geopolitical jitters or steady demand signals.

Over in Asia, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index dropped 0.9 per cent on Friday—its third straight day of losses—dragged down by tariff fears, though it still managed a 1.22 per cent weekly gain. Chinese tech stocks weren’t so lucky; profit-taking hammered the Hang Seng and CSI 300, which slumped 2.19 per cent and 1.52 per cent, respectively, as investors cashed out amid the overhang of potential trade disruptions.

Looking ahead, this week’s economic calendar is packed with potential market movers. Friday’s US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data—the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge—will be the headliner, offering fresh clues on whether those upwardly revised inflation projections hold water.

Earlier in the week, the UK’s February CPI on Tuesday and Tokyo’s March CPI on Friday will shed light on global price trends. Stateside, the Congressional Budget Office’s debt ceiling estimate on Wednesday could stir the pot, especially with the Treasury’s cash pile under scrutiny.

And let’s not forget the steady drumbeat of Fedspeak—comments from Fed officials could either soothe or spook markets, depending on their tone.

Asia’s in the spotlight too. The China Development Forum, which kicked off in Beijing on Sunday and wraps up today, Monday, March 24, has drawn global business leaders eager to gauge China’s next moves. Some are slated to meet President Xi Jinping later this week, a rare chance to take the pulse of China’s leadership amid trade tensions. Early trading in Asian equities today has been a mixed bag, reflecting the push and pull of optimism over narrower tariffs and lingering unease about what’s next.

Then there’s the crypto angle, which has been lighting up financial headlines. Bitcoin, XRP, and Solana (SOL) kicked off Monday with gains, riding a wave of positivity tied to those reports of more targeted Trump tariffs. Bitcoin’s hovering around US$86,500, up 2.7 per cent in the last 24 hours, while SOL’s outpacing the pack with a near six per cent jump to US$138. The S&P 500 futures are cheering, too, pointing to a higher open for US stocks.

It’s tempting to see this as a sign that Bitcoin may have found a floor, with some analysts eyeing a rebound toward US$90,000 if tariff fears continue to ease and the Fed holds steady. Trump’s signalling of a lighter touch on trade and the Fed’s resistance to knee-jerk rate cuts last week seems to have injected a dose of cautious optimism into the crypto space.

Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy is another piece of this puzzle. The company’s CEO has been dropping hints via his “Saylor Bitcoin Tracker” posts on X, a reliable signal that more Bitcoin buys are coming. Sure enough, the word is that MicroStrategy might announce a massive purchase—potentially 500,000 BTC, worth billions—tomorrow morning.

Saylor’s strategy of scooping up Bitcoin during dips has turned MicroStrategy into a crypto behemoth, with its holdings currently valued at US$8.73 billion, down from a peak of US$19.50 billion. It’s a bold bet on Bitcoin’s long-term value, and if this rumoured US$21 billion acquisition pans out, it could light a fire under the market just as sentiment starts to thaw.

Fidelity Investments is making waves too, stepping into blockchain tokenisation with a filing to register a tokenised version of its US dollar money market fund on the Ethereum network. Submitted last Thursday to the SEC, the plan involves a new “OnChain” share class for its US$80 million Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund, mostly made up of US Treasury bills.

It’s a move that echoes efforts by BlackRock and Franklin Templeton, signalling that traditional finance is increasingly cozying up to blockchain’s promise of transparency and efficiency. If approved, it could mark a turning point for how institutional money flows into digital assets.

Ethereum itself is a bit of a paradox right now. The price has been sliding—down over 51 per cent from its December peak of US$4,100 to around US$2,000—yet so-called “Ethereum whales” are quietly stacking their bags. Glassnode data shows wallets holding at least US$100,000 worth of ETH jumped from 70,000 on March 10 to over 75,000 by March 22, a stark contrast to the 146,000 seen when ETH was flying high in December. Analysts are eyeing a potential breakout to US$2,200 if buying pressure builds, but for now, ETH’s stuck in a rut, caught between whale accumulation and broader market malaise.

The prospect of more targeted tariffs is a lifeline for markets desperate for clarity, but the risks haven’t vanished—they’ve just shifted shape. The Fed’s juggling act—balancing inflation worries with growth concerns—keeps everyone guessing, and this week’s data could tip the scales either way.

Crypto’s riding a wave of cautious hope, bolstered by big players like Saylor and Fidelity, but it’s tethered to the same macro uncertainties as equities and bonds. Asia’s fate hinges on how China navigates this tariff tightrope, and the US debt ceiling looms as a wildcard. It’s a high-stakes game, and while the pieces are moving, the board’s still a mess.

Source: https://e27.co/feds-2025-rate-cuts-how-they-shape-stocks-gold-and-crypto-20250324/