THE STABLECOIN DUOPOLY FACES REAL COMPETITION

Summary from the TLDR Crypto newsletter

Tether and Circle's combined 85% market share is slipping as new issuers, regulatory clarity under the GENIUS Act, and yield-sharing models reshape the landscape. Fintechs, exchanges, DeFi protocols, and wallets now have incentives to launch their own stables or strike revenue share deals, capturing float revenue that USDT and USDC traditionally hoarded. Emerging contenders like Ethena's USDe, Ondo's USDY, PayPal's PYUSD, and bank-issued consortium stables point to a more fragmented market, where frictionless swaps and homogenized regulation erode network effects. Banks' eventual entry could dwarf today's $300B market, making the next phase of stablecoins far more competitive than the Tether/Circle era.