Value distribution of stable coins

Author:@0xjiawei

 

The preceding chapters set out the broad direction: the stabilization currency is moving from a mere trading instrument to a broader US dollar corridor。

Here's the chapter on how to split the stability cake。

I'll split it into four layers:

1. Distribution level: Casting of stable currency, holding of reserve assets, profit margin. Representatives are Tether and Circle
2. Infrastructure level: access to a stable currency to a real financial system — French currency charge, bank interface, management, compliance. Representatives: Bridge (acquisition by Stripe), BVNK (acquisition by Mastercard), Bitso, Yellow Card, etc。
3. Billing/distribution level: embed stable currency into the commercial system, manage payment processes, enterprise finance software. Representatives: Stripe, Infini, Coinbase。
4. Application layer: Users and enterprises that ultimately complete payment, settlement, storage value in stable currency。

The distribution level receives user funding and eats the highest spreads; the middle two layers rely on traffic, distribution of domestic workers and bottom infrastructure; and the application level is accessible but has no bargaining power。

I don't think it's infrastructure for the time being。

IT DOES DIRTY WORK: TRANSACTING BANKS, DOING KYC/AML, PROCESSING LOCAL FRENCH CURRENCY PAYMENTS, BUYING BUSINESSES, TAKING API, COLLECTING CARD ORGANIZATIONS, RESOLVING SETTLEMENT AND REGULATORY ISSUES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES。

BUT, IN TURN, THIS IS WHERE THE MOAT LIES. BECAUSE THE TECHNOLOGY FOR THE STABILIZATION CURRENCY IS SO WHITE, IT'S NOT DIFFICULT TO TRANSFER USDC ON THE CHAIN, IT'S REALLY HARD TO INFILTRATE THE REAL WORLD, ALLOWING A LATIN AMERICAN COMPANY, AN AFRICAN PAYER, AND A PLATFORM TO GO TO SEA TO PUT THE STABILIZATION CURRENCY INTO THEIR DAILY FINANCIAL FLOWS. THESE DIRTY JOBS HAVE TO BE DONE。

The simplest part of the chain, the hardest part between the chain and reality

For the first time, the stable currency payments felt that the chain could be turned, that it was fast, that the fees were low, and that the remaining product was distributed to the users

But what is really hard to stabilize is the middle of the chain and the real financial system. Businesses have decision-making and migration costs, and they don't cut off good jobs because hearsay stabilizes money in a second。

There will be a series of questions: how to change the French currency to a stable one. How do we get it back? What about the reconciliations and taxes? Will the bank get me later? Do users have to learn how to use their wallets

At the heart of the infrastructure layer is the task of connecting the two sides: chains and wallets, banks, local payment networks, enterprise systems and compliance。

Stripe acquired Bridge in 2025, buying Bridge's set of stablecoin orchestration systems - helping businesses to bring their money stability into the business system. Mastercard announced the acquisition of BVNK in March 2026 for similar reasons。

In other words, who is the entry point for traditional payment companies to compete for。

Whether or not the stabilization currency payments can be scaled up is the key。

The paver

One more step forward, look at the infrastructure floor:

1. Add + Exchange. Most businesses are going through the process of "stable local currency." It addresses issues of banking relations, compliance, liquidity, etc。
2. API + account level. An enterprise needs a financial capacity embedded in business processes — opening accounts, receiving payments, disbursing accounts, clearing accounts, reconciling accounts. It's kind of like finance, SaaS, like the Neobank concept。
3. Payment network connections. The more payment tracks are followed, the more banks, the more areas, the more dependent customers become, and the cost of switching slowly becomes stronger。
4. financial efficiency. i'll help businesses with less time and less loss of money。

I think it has three characteristics that must have been bitter and sweet。

• Hardly swearing. One country needs to be a bank, a compliance, a license and a local team。
• you have to burn the money and rob the entrance. businesses do not easily change the base of payments. those who take down big clients, bank relationships, compliance paths, local currency ranils, who later have the network effect. at this stage, these companies are more in the "land grab" phase than before the harvest。
• It's stuck up and down. The upstream distributors first took the spreads and the downstream platform wanted the user portal. Infrastructure is in the middle, it's awkward, it's easy to become "Everyone needs you, but nobody wants you to earn too much."。

Now, it's in the middle of "bargaining."。

If only today the distribution layer takes the maximum profit, the infrastructure layer is thinner and heavier。

But if it is true how to put a stable currency, the logic of the seigniorage tax on the distribution level has become clear to the market, and pricing will increasingly revolve around interest rates, regulation and return of proceeds. Infrastructure levels are less visible today, and in many cases bargaining power and user usage are not yet fully developed simply because they are in the early stages of implementation。

Once the stabilization currency is further transformed into a default financial track for the enterprise, the real steady fishing platform will be for those who have taken the stabilization currency into the real business system for several years。