Samsung’s 82 million-device stablecoin rollout exposes a new payments power struggle. Stripe, Coinbase and Circle provide the infrastructure, but Samsung controls the customer interface, raising questions about who captures the revenue.

Regulation is opening the market, not deciding the winners. Banks, networks and tech platforms are competing to capture stablecoin revenue.

Circle’s earnings expose the profitability gap. USDC volume jumped 49% while reserve income fell 8%.

Stablecoins are becoming a distribution business before they have conclusively become a profitable payments business.

Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

And if stablecoins are a distribution business, then a new player might be trying to corner the market. Samsung last month gave stablecoins something the cryptocurrency industry has spent years trying to build: a direct route to over 80 million consumers.

More news broke Thursday (Nov. 5), however, about the number of involved companies standing between the customer and the money in the new digital-dollar wallet may be how many companies stand between the customer and the money inside Samsung Wallet’s new Stablecoin Account. Samsung controls the interface. Stripe handles stablecoin purchases. Coinbase provides custody infrastructure, while Circle issues the digital dollars.

Each party has a commercial interest in the transaction. None controls the entire relationship.

Banks and payment providers have a part, too. They help move funds into and out of the conventional financial system. S. dollars.

Source link