Financial Firms Battle to Control Stablecoin Settlement Rails

Stablecoins are evolving from standalone digital-dollar products into a settlement architecture spanning bank deposits, tokenized deposits and multiple fiat-linked tokens. Interoperability matters because corporate users need value to move across chains, currencies and borders with reliable conversion, finality and compliance. The contest involving banks, Visa, Mastercard, Circle and infrastructure providers is therefore shifting away from issuance alone toward control of routing, liquidity, regulatory data and customer access — the layers where network economics and bargaining power accumulate.

On Aug. 25, 39 U.S. state bankers associations unveiled the BankChain Alliance, targeting a 2027 launch of an industry-owned blockchain for smart payments, tokenized deposits, stablecoins and automated settlement. Visa joined the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s BLOOM initiative the same day, while OpenPayd connected its infrastructure to Circle Payments Network. On Aug. 26, Revolut began rolling out euro-pegged EURR, issued by Bridg, in Denmark, Poland and Portugal. The moves highlight a common tension: institutions need shared rails, but each also wants to retain the economics and governance of the conversion and settlement layer.