The Next Frontier for Stablecoins: International Payments, Tokenization of US Stocks, and AI Agents

Original Article Title: "The Next Stop for Stablecoins: International Payments, Tokenization of US Stocks, and AI Agent"

Original Article Author: XiaoYin Li, Wallstreet CN

A new track for stablecoins is rising, with the tokenization of US stocks and AI Agents poised to syphon global liquidity.

Fueled by accelerated legislation, active corporate participation, and rapid trading volume growth, stablecoins are transitioning from a peripheral role in cryptocurrency to the core of financial innovation, attracting global attention.

According to Wind Trading Desk, analysts Song Jiagji and Ren Heyi from Guosheng Securities stated in their latest research report that stablecoins, leveraging the advantages of instant payment and settlement as well as a lightweight account system, are not only demonstrating disruptive potential in the traditional payment sector but are also becoming a key driving force in the tokenization of US stocks (RWA) and AI Agent payment scenarios.

The report suggests that the tokenization of US stocks provides cryptocurrency investors with more asset allocation choices while also potentially driving rapid expansion of the stablecoin market size. AI Agent payments, on the other hand, could alleviate user operational burdens, ushering in a new payment paradigm. The integration and innovation of these two major new tracks are expected to be an eagerly anticipated catalyst in the second half of the year.

Tokenization of US Stocks Reignites RWA Boom

As a crucial branch of real-world asset tokenization (RWA), the tokenization of US stocks is currently experiencing a key period of accelerated adoption.

In the past, stock tokenization briefly surged on platforms like the Mirror Protocol, supporting synthetic tokenization of US assets such as Tesla and Google. However, it faded away due to regulatory issues and market volatility. Now, with the advancement of the RWA regulatory framework, the market's interest in stock tokenization has reignited.

In the current context of a gradually clarified regulatory environment, traditional financial institutions represented by BlackRock and cryptocurrency institutions are actively lobbying regulators to drive the resurgence of stock tokenization.

The report indicates that the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is seeking approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission to offer users "tokenized stock" trading services. Established exchange Kraken has already taken action by announcing a collaboration with Backed Finance to launch the "xStocks" service, initially covering over 50 US-listed stocks and ETFs including Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia.

The analysis in the report suggests that this service not only provides cryptocurrency investors with a channel for traditional financial asset allocation but may also significantly increase the circulation of stablecoins by expanding their use cases.

The report estimates that the massive scale of the U.S. stock market is sufficient to drive rapid expansion in stablecoin demand. As an on-chain "fiat currency," stablecoins play a foundational role in U.S. stock tokenization trading and are poised to become the next key application scenario for stablecoins.

AI Agent Unleashing a New Era of Intelligent Payments

The deep integration of stablecoins and AI Agents is also seen as another significant market potential. Especially in future AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) scenarios, AI Agents may replace humans in performing extensive payment operations.

The report points out that the complex authorization process of traditional financial accounts is not AI-friendly, often requiring multiple steps such as user authorization and financial institution review. In contrast, the blockchain-based light account system of stablecoins is naturally suitable for AI Agent manipulation.

The introduction of blockchain smart contracts further strengthens the integration of AI decision-making and payments, allowing AI Agents to not only provide analytical recommendations but also directly operate user accounts, achieving true intelligent payments.

Moreover, blockchain accounts are essentially smart contracts, inherently possessing AI genes, with features such as flash loans and Automated Market Maker (AMM) protocols reflecting this characteristic.

The report mentions that in Intent-centric applications, for example, users only need to "one-click" authorize, and AI can optimize the transaction path through algorithms to achieve efficient exchange from Token A to Token B without requiring manual user intervention. This high degree of integration between AI and blockchain accounts provides a broad imaginative space for stablecoin payment scenarios, especially in automated trading and intelligent payment fields.

However, the report also adds that AI Agent payments are still in the early stages, and the decentralized architecture of blockchain networks results in significant efficiency bottlenecks.

For example, the Ethereum mainnet can only process double-digit transactions per second, far below the efficiency of traditional payment systems (such as Alipay's peak of 256,000 transactions per second on Singles' Day). Technical scalability and network congestion issues urgently need to be addressed; otherwise, it will be challenging to accommodate large-scale user demand.

Payment Scene Competition Growing Fiercer, Stablecoin's Enormous Potential

The application potential of stablecoins in international payments is also significant, with their point-to-point, payment-cum-settlement characteristics offering a clear advantage over the high costs and inefficiencies of the traditional financial system.

The report points out that in underdeveloped regions, stablecoins have even achieved a "fast lane overtaking," allowing USD payments to be made through mobile-registered blockchain accounts, addressing the lack of banking service coverage. In addition, payment giant Stripe's $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge to launch stablecoin financial account services spanning 101 countries has further bridged the gap between stablecoins and fiat payment systems.

The report also mentioned that different stablecoin variants have "non-fungible" characteristics, making the market competition unusually fierce.

Even Coinbase's USDC, for example, only accounts for one-eighth of USDT's trading volume in its trading pairs. The stablecoin PYUSD launched by the payment giant Paypal has a scale of only about 950 million US dollars, far below market expectations.

The report further added that for stablecoins to be widely used in the payment field, they still need to address the efficiency bottleneck caused by the blockchain's "impossible triangle" restriction. Traditional payment systems such as Alipay saw a peak of 256,000 transactions per second during the "Double 11" period in 2017, while the Ethereum mainnet can only process double-digit transaction volumes per second.

The main points of this article are from a research report titled "The Next Stop for Stablecoins: International Payments, Tokenization of US Stocks, and AI Agent" published by Guosheng Securities analysts Song Jiaji and Ren Heyi on June 24.

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