THE “STABLECOIN TAX” AND THE CREDIBLE NEUTRALITY DEBATE

Summary from the TLDR Crypto newsletter

Major chains like Solana, BSC, and Arbitrum are leaking over $1.1B annually in stablecoin yield to issuers like Circle and Tether (40% more than their combined fee revenue). On Solana alone, roughly $15B in stablecoins (two-thirds in USDC) generates about $500M yearly for Circle, part of which goes to Coinbase via its revenue-sharing deal, funding Base, Solana's direct competitor. Developers would like to launch an aligned, native stablecoin and redirect yield toward SOL buybacks or burns. However, others warn that if L1s compromise credible neutrality to capture yield, they risk turning from property rights systems into fintech companies, sacrificing the trust that gives blockchains long-term legitimacy.