Stablecoin Trends and Predictions 2026 - Mouloukou Sanoh & Tara Annison | ATC #599

The episode opens with Muluku, CEO of Mansa, outlining how his company built a global stablecoin settlement network that moved over $320 million in just 13 months. Backed by Tether, Mansa leverages the world’s largest stablecoin to onboard payment processors, virtual‑card issuers, and B2B platforms, offering instant cross‑border settlement that bypasses traditional SWIFT delays. The discussion highlights the pivotal role of the U.S. Clarity Act, which clarified interest‑earning rules and sparked a cascade of regulatory alignment worldwide, giving firms like Mansa a clearer compliance runway.

Listeners then hear a deep dive into 2025 trends. Muluku notes that emerging economies now account for roughly 70 % of stablecoin volume, using USDT and USDC as inflation hedges and cheap remittance channels. Fintechs and neobanks in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia are actively integrating stablecoins to reduce fees and improve liquidity. At the same time, the Clarity Act is expected to unlock interest‑bearing products, prompting traditional banks to explore stablecoin offerings and intensifying competition with crypto‑native platforms such as Coinbase and Kraken. A notable shift is the bottom‑up demand: consumers in volatile economies are driving adoption rather than top‑down central‑bank digital currencies.

Looking ahead to 2026, Muluku predicts a surge in locally‑issued sovereign stablecoins as nations seek to avoid full dollarization while still tapping into digital finance benefits. This could fragment the market, challenging the dominance of USD‑pegged tokens and pressuring players like Circle, whose compliance‑heavy model may struggle against bank‑backed alternatives from JPMorgan or Goldman Sachs. Geopolitical instability—ranging from sanctions to hyperinflation—will continue to fuel demand for stable, borderless money, cementing stablecoins as a core layer of the future global payments infrastructure.