Under the acceleration of legislation, active corporate participation, and high-speed growth in transaction volume, stablecoins are moving from the marginal role in cryptocurrency towards the core of financial innovation, attracting global market attention.
According to BlockTempo, analysts Song Jiaji and Ren Heyi from Guosheng Securities stated in their latest research report that stablecoins, leveraging advantages in payment and clearing and lightweight account systems, not only demonstrate disruptive potential in traditional payment fields but also become a key driving force in US stock tokenization (RWA) and AI Agent payment scenarios.
The report suggests that US stock tokenization provides more asset allocation options for crypto investors while potentially driving rapid expansion of stablecoin scale. AI Agent payments may liberate user operational burdens and generate entirely new payment modes. The fusion and innovation of these two new tracks are expected to be a noteworthy catalyst in the second half of the year.
US Stock Tokenization Reignites RWA Enthusiasm
As an important branch of real-world asset tokenization (RWA), US stock tokenization is approaching a critical period of accelerated implementation.
Previously, stock tokenization briefly emerged on platforms like Mirror Protocol, supporting synthetic tokenization of assets like Tesla and Google, but became dormant due to regulatory and market fluctuations. Now, with the advancement of RWA regulatory frameworks, market interest in stock tokenization has reignited.
With the regulatory environment gradually clarifying, traditional financial institutions represented by BlackRock and crypto institutions are actively lobbying regulators to restart stock tokenization.
The report shows that Coinbase is seeking SEC approval to provide "tokenized stock" trading services to users. Kraken has already taken action, announcing a collaboration with Backed Finance to launch "xStocks" service, initially covering over 50 US-listed stocks and ETFs including Apple, Tesla, and NVIDIA.
The report analyzes that this service not only provides crypto investors with traditional financial asset allocation channels but may also significantly enhance stablecoin circulation scale by expanding usage scenarios.
The report anticipates that the massive US stock market scale can rapidly drive stablecoin demand. As an on-chain "fiat currency", stablecoins are expected to play a fundamental infrastructure role in US stock tokenization trading, potentially becoming their next significant application scenario.
AI Agent Opens New Era of Intelligent Payments
The deep integration of stablecoins and AI Agents is also viewed as another potential market. Especially in future AGI scenarios, AI Agents might replace humans in completing numerous payment operations.
The report points out that traditional financial account authorization processes are unfriendly to AI, often requiring multiple steps like user authorization and financial institution auditing. In contrast, blockchain's lightweight account system is naturally suitable for AI Agent control.
The introduction of blockchain smart contracts further strengthens the fusion of AI decision-making and payments, enabling AI Agents to not only provide analytical suggestions but directly operate user accounts, achieving truly intelligent payments.
Moreover, blockchain accounts are essentially smart contracts, inherently possessing AI genes, with features like flash loans and automated market maker (AMM) protocols exemplifying this characteristic.
The report mentions intent-centric applications where users only need a "one-click" authorization, and AI can optimize transaction paths through algorithms, achieving efficient token conversion from A to B without manual user intervention. This high-level fusion of AI and blockchain accounts provides broad imaginative space for stablecoin payment scenarios, especially in automated trading and intelligent payment domains.
However, the report also notes that AI Agent payments are still in early stages, with blockchain network's decentralized architecture causing obvious efficiency bottlenecks.
For instance, Ethereum mainnet can only process double-digit transactions per second, far below traditional payment systems' efficiency (like Alipay's Double 11 peak of 256,000 transactions per second). Technical scalability and network congestion issues urgently need resolution to accommodate large-scale user demands.
Payment Scenario Competition Intensifies, Stablecoin Potential Immense
Stablecoins' application potential in international payment fields is equally significant, with point-to-point and instant payment/settlement characteristics showing clear advantages over traditional financial system's high costs and inefficiencies.
The report indicates that in underdeveloped regions, stablecoins have even achieved "overtaking on a curved road" by enabling dollar payments through mobile blockchain account registration, solving issues of inadequate banking service coverage. Additionally, payment giant Stripe's $1.1 billion Bridge acquisition, launching stablecoin financial account services covering 101 countries, further integrates stablecoins with fiat payment systems.
The report also mentions that different stablecoin varieties exhibit "non-homogeneous" characteristics, making market competition extremely fierce.
Even Coinbase's USDC trading volume is only one-eighth of USDT's; PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin scale is approximately $950 million, far below market expectations.
The report adds that for stablecoins to achieve large-scale payment application, they must resolve efficiency bottlenecks caused by the Blockchain Trilemma. Traditional payment systems like Alipay reached 256,000 transactions per second during 2017's "Double 11", while Ethereum mainnet can only process double-digit transactions per second.
The main perspectives in this article are derived from the research report "Stablecoins' Next Stop: International Payments, US Stock Tokenization, and AI Agent" released by Guosheng Securities analysts Song Jiaji and Ren Heyi on June 24th.
