Stable News is Lumx’s weekly roundup covering the main moves in stablecoins, digital infrastructure, and the future of global payments.
This week brought updates on multiple fronts: the CLARITY Act passed its first Senate committee vote 15-9, the Bank of England acknowledged its limits were overly conservative, KB Financial completed an offline stablecoin pilot in South Korea, Circle jumped 15% as Wall Street bets on adoption, and Polygon executed its first block-time upgrade since genesis with a focus on payments.
What stands out is simultaneous acceleration across jurisdictions, with stablecoins at the center of each move.
Reading time: 5 minutes
CLARITY Act passes Senate committee in 15-9 vote
In brief:
Approved on 05/14 with all Republicans + 2 Democrats (Gallego and Alsobrooks)
Van Hollen ethics amendment failed 11-13 — remains the main point of contention
Needs 60 votes on the floor; legislative window narrows through August
The CLARITY Act passed its first vote in the Senate Banking Committee 15-9, winning bipartisan support. All 13 Republicans voted in favor, joined by Democrats Ruben Gallego (AZ) and Angela Alsobrooks (MD). Markets reacted immediately: Bitcoin touched $82,000, Circle rose 19.9%, and Coinbase gained 6.1%. Prediction markets bumped approval odds 8 points to 70%, favored, but far from guaranteed.
The largest unresolved issue is Senator Van Hollen’s ethics amendment, which would bar government officials from holding interests in crypto businesses. The proposal failed 11-13 in committee and remains the primary sticking point for the floor vote. Alsobrooks has signaled that her committee vote does not guarantee floor support without ethics language.
Next steps: the bill needs 60 votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster, meaning roughly six Democrats would need to cross. Then reconciliation with the House version passed in July 2025. Senator Lummis warned that missing this window would push the next viable opportunity to 2030. The GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025, is already moving into implementation. The CLARITY Act addresses broader classification of digital assets; the two are complementary but operate on very different timelines.
Bank of England backtracks on "overly conservative" stablecoin limits
In brief:
Deputy governor admits the £20,000 per-person cap was too conservative
FCA calls sterling stablecoins a "major priority" for 2026
UK directly competes with US and EU for regulatory leadership
The Bank of England signaled it will ease its stablecoin proposals after pushback from the private sector. The BoE deputy governor admitted the proposed £20,000 per-person holding limit for systemic sterling stablecoins was "overly conservative" and that the approach will be revised to balance financial stability and competitiveness.
The consultation, opened in November 2025, set rules for sterling stablecoins designated as systemic: up to 60% of reserves in short-term UK government debt, the remaining 40% in non-interest-bearing accounts at the BoE, and statutory trust protection for consumers, guaranteeing legal claim on reserves in issuer insolvency.
This move is meaningful alongside the FCA’s stance, which declared sterling stablecoins a "major priority" for 2026. Firms can apply for authorization starting September 30, 2026, with full rules in October 2027. The retreat reflects a global dynamic: while the US and EU define frameworks (GENIUS Act, MiCA), the UK recognizes that excessive conservatism is not prudence but a risk of losing relevance. The regulatory race among the three jurisdictions is on.
KB Financial completes offline stablecoin pilot for payments in South Korea
In brief:
Won-denominated stablecoin on Kaia network, QR-code payments at Hollys cafes without a crypto wallet
Remittance to Vietnam under 3 minutes with 87% cost savings vs SWIFT
KB preparing commercial launch once regulation is approved
KB Financial Group, the parent of KB Kookmin, South Korea’s largest bank, completed a pilot for offline and cross-border payments using a won-denominated stablecoin on the Kaia network. The test covered the full stablecoin lifecycle: issuance, merchant payment, settlement, and remittance.
The most revealing detail was the user experience. Offline payment was executed at Hollys cafes via QR code, without requiring consumers to install a crypto wallet or understand blockchain. It’s an invisible stablecoin experience, exactly what’s needed for scale adoption.
On remittances, results were even more striking. A won-stablecoin converted to a dollar stablecoin and delivered to a bank account in Vietnam completed in under 3 minutes, with an 87% cost reduction compared to the same transfer via SWIFT. The pilot was run with KG Inicis (payment processor) and OpenAsset (digital-assets fintech).
KB is preparing to launch commercial services as soon as the Digital Asset Basic Act is approved, though the bill has faced delays due to regulator disagreements. South Korea is one of Asia’s most relevant markets for stablecoins, the country paused its CBDC tests as banks eyed stablecoins as a faster route to modernizing payments.
Circle jumps 15% as Wall Street bets on stablecoin adoption
In brief:
USDC reaches $77 billion circulating (+28% YoY)
Revenue +20% to $694M; adjusted EBITDA +24%
Raised $222M presale for ARC token with a16z, BlackRock, and Apollo
Circle shares rise nearly 16% after beating expectations and announcing a $222 million presale for the ARC token. The stock closed at $131.76, its highest since March, and is up 66% year-to-date with an approximate $35 billion market cap.
Fundamentals support the optimism. USDC hit $77 billion in circulation in Q1, up 28% year-over-year, consolidating its position as the second-largest stablecoin after Tether’s USDT ($189 billion). Revenue grew 20% to $694 million and adjusted EBITDA rose 24% to $151 million.
The ARC presale, a blockchain utility token designed to support transactions on the Arc network, attracted a16z Crypto, BlackRock, Apollo Global Management, and ARK Invest. CEO Jeremy Allaire called Arc a "flywheel" for Circle’s stablecoin network. Wall Street analysts took constructive views: Peter Christiansen (Citi) has a $243 target, and Gautam Chhugani (Bernstein) projects $190. The market narrative is clear: Circle is no longer just a USDC issuer; it’s positioning as stablecoin infrastructure, and Wall Street is pricing that role.
Polygon cuts block time to 1.75s and accelerates stablecoin payments push
In brief:
First block-time reduction since genesis, from 2s to 1.75s
Max theoretical throughput up 14%, to ~3,260 TPS
Launched private payments with ZK proofs for institutions the same week
Polygon executed its first block-time reduction since genesis, lowering it from 2 to 1.75 seconds. The upgrade, part of PIP-86, raises the network’s max theoretical throughput by 14% — to roughly 3,260 transactions per second, and reduces congestion time, which is critical for high-frequency use cases like payments and settlement.
The timing was deliberate. In the same week, Polygon launched private payment functionality for stablecoins, routing transactions through a protected pool verified by zero-knowledge proofs, hiding sender, recipient, and amount on-chain while maintaining compliance via Know Your Transaction (KYT) and auditable records. It’s institutional privacy by design.
Context makes the upgrade more relevant. In April, Visa expanded its stablecoin settlement program to include Polygon, along with Base, Canton, Arc, and Tempo, raising the total to nine supported networks. The program’s run rate reached $7 billion annualized, growing 50% quarter-over-quarter. Polygon is positioning itself as the network of choice for institutional stablecoin payments by combining performance, privacy, and integration with major payment incumbents.
This week confirms that the stablecoin story in 2026 isn’t about if, it’s about who gets there first. The CLARITY Act survived its first test but needs more votes and time is running out. While Washington debates ethics amendments, the Bank of England recalibrates, South Korea tests in the real world, Wall Street prices Circle as infrastructure, and Polygon builds the network Visa chose for settlement. Each jurisdiction moves at its own pace. The direction is the same.
See you next edition.
