Five years ago, stablecoins were experimental. In 2025, they’re becoming core financial infra. At Stablecon Slices, leaders from Galaxy, Paxos, Bridge, and more shared what they’re seeing and what’s coming next. Heres what we learned 🧵

1/ Stablecoin adoption gets blocked by unpredictable regulation. Africa and Southeast Asia lack licensing regimes. In the US, founders juggle overlapping state and federal rules. @KevLeht argued that long-term compliance will need to move into the network layer itself.

2/ Until then, in-house compliance is key. @sinclair_toffa said their first move was hiring domain experts to define posture + de-risk infra. Teams need talent to: ▪️Interpret regulations across jurisdictions ▪️Implement risk + compliance safeguards ▪️Fix issues pre-launch

3/ Stablecoin rules have existed since 2013, but fragmented oversight kept capital on the sidelines. The GENIUS Act may change that by oversight in the US and unlocking large-scale institutional participation.

4/ “The amazing thing about crypto is it gives you the ability to choose.” — @DrakeEvansV1 Stablecoin infrastructure is modular but complex. Key components include: ▪️Fiat on/offramps ▪️Peg + reserve mechanics ▪️Chain selection ▪️Wallet infrastructure (custodial + non) ▪️Embedded KYC/KYB

5/ Tradeoffs shape every build: ▪️Build vs. buy for speed, control or compliance ▪️Custodial vs. non-custodial based on target users + risk ▪️Multi-chain vs. focused deployment There’s no standard playbook — most teams go hybrid to stay fast, compliant, and differentiated.

6/ Issuance is being commoditized — distribution is the differentiator. ▪️Tether + Circle win on reach ▪️M0 is pushing modular issuance with partners ▪️NIM models are under pressure from rate hikes + new entrants

7/ “The issuance side of the stablecoin market is becoming commoditized.” — @mgiampapa1 The value is flowing downstream: ▪️Apps monetizing financial services ▪️Users reclaiming yield and lower fees ▪️Builders optimizing for UX over token design

8/ Stablecoins aren’t just financial assets, they’re programmable infra. Turnkey’s @sadbryce spoke with @zcabrams about how teams like Bridge and Stripe are scaling global products on one stablecoin stack — using it as the ledger, logic, and liquidity layer.

9/ Enterprises are replacing legacy treasury flows with stablecoins. ▪️Txns settle in minutes ▪️Branded + proprietary assets coexist ▪️Infra is abstracted "It’s materially cheaper to build on stablecoins — you get a ledger for free & global scale on one stack." — @zcabrams