Everyone hurries in Stablecoins, but the numbers look … the same.
In Q2 it felt like you couldn’t go a day without a large stablecoin announcement. JPMorgan launched his USD Deposit Token on the base. Coinbase debuted his Stablecoin -payment stack after the Shopify partnership. Anchorage Digital has taken over USDM Emittent Mountain Protocol. Ubyx has raised $ 10 million for Stablecoin Clearing infrastructure. Bitcoin-based plasma filled his $ 1 billion deposit box in 30 minutes. All within a few weeks in succession.
But despite all this activity, Stablecoins remain a brutal concentrated, “winner Takes Most” market. Of the approximately $ 250 billion in circulating Stablecoin Supply, Tether claims $ 158 billion (2.5x Circle’s $ 62 billion), while USDC at the second largest dollar-pegged assets, used ($ 5.3 billion) with 11x dwarf.
While yielding stablecoins and tokenized treasury products such as Usde, Suss, Buidl and M0 create new competitive sectors, distribution still wins. The ultimate winner will not be determined by the highest yield of a new mechanism, but by distribution and use. The most valuable Stablecoin is the one who is seamlessly integrated, trusted and accepted everywhere.
I have no doubt that a lot of money will continue to flow to Stablecoins, because “dollars on a blockchain” have settled as one of the largest markets won in crypto. Although the more interesting question for me is how you help users use their stablecoins as soon as they hold them?
Mini apps: Crypto in the mobile finally arrives
For years the complexity of Defi is the biggest barrier for adoption. Q2 marked a turning point when the industry gathered around a new access layer: Mini apps.
- Coinbase Wallet (building on the Farcaster Frames Framework) invested in the renewal of Coinbase wallet in a mini app platform.
- The mini app ecosystem of the world exploded and attracted the builder’s attention.
- Opera launched its independent Minipay app for iOS and Android.
The strategy is clear: the power of Defi embedding in well -known, user -friendly interfaces.
Mini apps finally drag Defi to the mobile era. Unlike earlier cycles, UX is not a side issue – UX is the product. Platforms with distribution now strive to become super app-like structures where developers are fighting to use user bases in captivity, just like WeChat in China.
By putting together gas costs, seed sentences and hexadecimal addresses, these apps make on-chain financing accessible without forcing users to understand the underlying complexity.
Advanced capital structures return (without the luggage)
One of the most interesting developments in Q2 is the quiet return of structured products to Defi.
Protocols such as Resolv, Aave’s Umbrella Initiative and Infinifi.xyz are building products that look familiar with every Tradfi professional. By offering functions with a reflection of tranching and promoting revenue optimization, they offer differentiated risk profiles that are suitable for the specific mandates of institutional investors, from pension funds to company resources (and Defi) treasuries.
It is a movement that goes beyond simple, risky efficiency agriculture and to a financial system that can praise and grant risk in an advanced way. It is the infrastructure required to manage capital on a scale.
A blurry of financial worlds
The distinction between “crypto” and “TradeFi” is further dissolved.
The OpeningBell platform of Superstate facilitated the first direct issue of sec-registered public shares on-chain, and Kraken rolled out-free stock trade in addition to its crypto offer.
When traditional assets can go on new rails and users have access to both systems from a single interface, it is no longer logical to think about this as “crypto” or “fintech” products.
Of course, the two examples above “shares” that come to crypto, but the opposite is also where almost all the big fintech applications have or add in a certain capacity. The market has moved from experimental to essential.
Looking ahead: a different kind of bullmarkt
Q2 2025 is likely to be remembered if the quarter when Defi stopped trying to reinvent the financing and started to improve it. The Stablecoin infrastructure that is built by traditional institutions, the mobile first experiences that come through mini apps and the advanced products developed by adult protocols all point to the same conclusion: Defi has found his foot.
The acquisition activity tells the story: strategic deals such as Privy’s Exit to Stripe and Anchorage’s acquisition of mountain protocol, the trend of crypto infrastructure companies are valued and taken over by larger players.
This is not the speculative mania of earlier cycles. It is more accessible, more efficient and global financial services on a scale.
The Gold Rush mentality that characterized the early years of Crypto makes way for railway structure. And historically, the companies that build the railways tend to those who just survive in gold.
