Hi stable subscribers, 

Welcome to another edition of The Weekly Stable, the #1 source for stablecoin insights brought to you by This Week in Fintech.

Each week, fintech professionals globally rely on us for clear analysis, thoughtful perspectives, and steady coverage of the stablecoin space—going beyond the news.

This week we dive into JP Morgan’s launch of their deposit token JPMD, the exploration of stablecoins by major retailers Amazon and Walmart, as well as a round up of product launches, partnerships and regulatory news from Beam, Coinbase, Conduit, DTCC, JD.com, Shopify, Ubyx, Visa, Yellow Card and more.

Enjoy this week’s news below and let us know about any other feedback/suggestions you have.

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🏆 Top Stories

JPM’s On-Chain Dollar Launch Is a Power Play for the Future of Digital Money

JP Morgan just launched a tokenized dollar — and it’s a major moment for the stablecoin space.

After years of building internal infrastructure (Quorum → Onyx → Kinexys), JPM has taken its first step onto a public blockchain: issuing a deposit token (JPMD) on Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer 2.

Permissioned and designed for institutions, JPMD is not a stablecoin in the conventional sense. Instead of being backed 1:1 by T-bills or cash, deposit tokens are tokenized bank deposits — direct claims against JPM itself.

JPM frames this as a “superior alternative” to stablecoins, offering yield, deposit insurance, and seamless integration with existing financial infrastructure.

But this isn’t just participation — it’s defense. JPM is making a move to keep programmable dollars inside the banking system, not cede them to fintechs and stablecoin issuers.

Why This Matters

1. Framing: Deposit Token, not Stablecoin

JPMD is a fractional-reserve commercial bank liability — not a fully backed stablecoin. That distinction brings several institutional advantages:

• Native interoperability with traditional financial systems (e.g., accounting, reconciliation)
• Scalability, with no need for treasury asset management
• FDIC insurance, up to $250,000
• Potential to pay yield, unlike GENIUS Act-regulated payment stablecoins

2. Permissioned by Design

JPMD is a closed-loop token: only pre-approved clients can receive or transfer it. This model aligns with the expectations of institutional compliance teams — and positions JPMD as a direct competitor to USDC’s enterprise ambitions. (USDT, by contrast, operates in a completely different market reality.)

3. Not All Banks Can Follow

This model works for JPM because it’s a GSIB — a globally systemically important bank. That status brings implicit government backstops and market trust.

Smaller banks don’t enjoy the same privileges. With FDIC insurance capped at $250K, and without JPM-level credibility, many regional or mid-sized banks may find stablecoins backed by T-bills to offer lower perceived risk.

A Strategic Shift

This move signals both adaptation and defense: the rails may be public, but JPM is pushing for the money — and the margin — to stay with the banks.

It’s not open, and it’s not permissionless. But will their institutional users care?

With JPM’s scale, reputation, and regulatory clarity, a closed system can still reach enormous size — even if open networks tend to win in the long run.

The financial services pie is large, and multiple models will likely coexist. But JPM’s permissioned, bank-forward approach now sets a clear precedent for how other institutions may enter the space.

It’s not the monetary revolution builders dream of.But it’s here — and JPM will do its best to shape it.

Why Retailers and Platforms Are Exploring Stablecoins

Visa and Mastercard stocks dropped this week after The Wall Street Journal reported that major retailers—including Walmart, Amazon, Expedia, and several airlines—are exploring stablecoins to reduce their reliance on traditional card networks. The pressure is mounting from multiple angles: Shopify, a leading e-commerce platform, also partnered with Coinbase to enable on-chain payments, introducing a direct alternative to legacy payment rails. Visa fell 5.4%, Mastercard 4.6%, and other payment firms like PayPal, Block, and Capital One also declined.

The market seems worried about lost fee revenue from card acceptance. But that’s just one slice of the opportunity for retailers and large online platforms. Stablecoins offer far more than just a way to cut payment costs—they unlock deeper control of financial flows and value capture across their ecosystem.

While the headlines may be premature, the trend is clear: platforms are increasingly motivated to own more of the payment stack.

From Payments to Infrastructure

As Robbie Petersen of Dragonfly Capital recently noted, stablecoins are becoming the next evolution of embedded finance—especially in environments where platforms already operate closed-loop financial systems. In these systems, platforms control the user experience and hold significant influence over how money moves. That influence is what creates the opportunity: by directing flows, setting incentives, and shaping where value accrues, platforms can monetize distribution more effectively. Stablecoins enhance this model by adding interoperability, global accessibility, and programmability—but the real unlock is the control that platforms already have over financial behavior within their networks.

Retailers have long monetized user balances through gift cards, loyalty programs, and prepaid apps. Starbucks, for instance, holds over a billion dollars in customer preloads—essentially interest-free working capital. A stablecoin turns that model into programmable infrastructure with even more upside.

Benefits include:

• Reduced fees: On-chain transfers can bypass most interchange and processing costs
• Yield on float: Stored balances can earn interest via low-risk assets
• Working capital: Pre-funded wallets improve platform liquidity
• Global reach: Stablecoins function beyond domestic banking systems
• Programmability: Payouts, refunds, and loyalty mechanics can be automated

For marketplaces, gig platforms, and global apps, this unlocks new operating levers across creator payouts, supplier payments, and credit. Stablecoins aren’t just a payments tool—they’re infrastructure for embedded finance.

It’s often smarter to start relatively closed. Inside your own ecosystem, you control user experience, incentives, and transaction routing. Competing on open networks means going up against USDT and USDC, where distribution is expensive and defensibility is low unless you have a clear edge.

Everything Can Be a Bank

Stablecoins allow platforms to capture more value from the financial flows they already intermediate. Like embedded lending or branded cards, they create new revenue streams—but with greater flexibility and control.

Of course, custody and compliance remain real hurdles. So does managing the visibility of customer activity on public blockchains. But the economic logic is increasingly hard to ignore.

For platforms with scale and distribution, the question is no longer if they should leverage stablecoins. It’s how.

🚀 Product Launches

Hyperliquid stablecoin (USDhl) goes live, built on M0 protocol (read more)

Circle launches native USDC on Ripple’s XRP Ledger (read more)

JPMorgan to Pilot Deposit Token JPMD on Coinbase-Linked Blockchain (read more)

Coinbase Launches Stablecoin Payments Service for E-Commerce (read more)

💸 Fundraises and M&A

Stablecoin clearing startup Ubyx raises $10M, led by Galaxy (read more)

Parallax, the cross border payments startup, is joining forces with crypto wallet Phantom (read more)

⚡ Stablecoin Adoption 

Shopify partners with Coinbase and Stripe in landmark stablecoin deal (read more)

Conduit Partners with Braza Group to Enable Real-Time Onchain FX (read more)

Beam and Braid to offer stablecoins to smaller banks (read more)

Walmart and Amazon Are Exploring Issuing Their Own Stablecoins (read more)

Fiserv CEO embraces stablecoins (read more)

Financial Markets Giant DTCC Explores a Stablecoin (read more)

Matera and Circle Join Forces to Turn Stablecoins into a Payment Method Integrated with Core Banking Systems (read more)

Visa Expands Stablecoin Initiatives in CEMEA in partnership with Yellow Card (read more)

JD.com to seek global stablecoin licenses for payments (read more)

⚖️ Regulatory Developments

The GENIUS Act has passed the Senate in a final vote of 68-30 (read more)

💼 Stable Job of the Week

Payments Lead

New York, NY or Remote (USA)

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💬 Posts of the Week

📖 Reads of the Week

In Beyond the Sandwich: How the Stablecoin Sundae Could Reshape Global Payments Ben Reid, Head of Stablecoins at Bitso, proposes an alternative mechanism for stablecoin payments that could lead to greater capital efficiency and 24/7 on chain FX markets. 

In Stablecoins and the Collapse of the Legacy Payment Model, Rob Hadick, General Partner of Dragonfly Capital, discusses the evolution of payments and how accounts, acquiring and issuing can all occur by the same party, collapsing the existing model.

In Assume The Position, Arthur Hayes, Co Founder of BitMEX argues that the current market interest in stablecoin issuers is overhyped and that only issuers who distribute via crypto exchanges, social media giants and banks will be valuable in the long run.