Stable News: GENIUS Act, Stripe, and Visa’s new partnerships

Stable News is Lumx’s weekly curation, focused on updates about the stablecoin ecosystem and its impact on the digital financial market. In this edition, we highlight regulatory movements in the United States, such as the recent setback in the GENIUS Act’s progress, innovations in the stablecoin payments market, including Visa’s strategic partnerships and Stripe’s advancements in stablecoin-based solutions.

GENIUS Act: A setback for stablecoin regulation in the US

Recently, the United States Senate failed to pass the GENIUS Act, a crucial regulatory proposal for the future of stablecoins in the country. The bill aimed to establish a robust regulatory framework for the use and issuance of stablecoins, with the goal of ensuring a safer and clearer environment for businesses in the sector. However, the rejection of the proposal represents a significant setback, leaving the future of stablecoin regulation more uncertain.

The bill, which had support from various prominent figures, was blocked after internal political disagreements, particularly around national security and anti-money laundering issues. This impasse has created uncertainty among those involved in the stablecoin market, as the lack of clear regulation could negatively impact the competitiveness and innovation of the sector.

Why this matters:

✅ Rejection of the GENIUS Act could delay regulatory progress for stablecoins, creating an uncertain environment for businesses in the sector.
✅ The lack of clear regulation increases the risk of fragmented regulations, which could hinder market growth.
✅ On a global scale, the lack of progress in the US may open the door for other countries to advance their own regulations more quickly.

Visa and Rain: A partnership in stablecoin payments

Visa, in collaboration with Rain, has launched a new solution for payments with stablecoins. Rain, a platform that already offers infrastructure for credit cards linked to stablecoins, was selected by Visa to participate in its pilot program for settlement with stablecoins. With this partnership, Rain can now guarantee settlement in stablecoins like USDC, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

What makes this partnership stand out is the use of stablecoins as the foundation for a new payments model, especially in emerging markets that seek faster, more accessible solutions with less friction. This move represents a significant expansion in the use of stablecoins for everyday transactions, reaffirming their role as an alternative to the traditional financial system.

Why this matters:

✅ Visa strengthens its position as a leader in digital payment innovation, promoting the adoption of stablecoins in a more agile and modern financial system.
✅ Rain expands its infrastructure to support daily settlement in stablecoins, offering a more efficient solution for the global payments market.
✅ The partnership between Visa and Rain demonstrates how stablecoins can bridge the gap between the traditional financial system and the new digital economy.

Coinbase x402 and native internet payments

Coinbase has just launched x402, a new payment protocol that uses stablecoins to facilitate transactions directly over HTTP. The goal of x402 is to simplify online payments, enabling businesses and consumers to make transactions with stablecoins quickly and without the barriers typical of traditional systems.

By integrating payments directly into the web infrastructure, x402 eliminates the need for intermediaries, which can reduce costs and increase transaction speeds. With this move, Coinbase seeks to create a new standard for digital payments, making stablecoins more accessible for everyday use and accelerating their adoption.

Why this matters:

✅ x402 connects stablecoins to the HTTP protocol, making web payments simpler and more direct.
✅ Integrating stablecoin payments could accelerate the adoption of these digital currencies, enabling faster and cheaper transactions for businesses and consumers.
✅ This innovation from Coinbase can strengthen the integration of crypto payments with the traditional financial system, opening new possibilities for the global market.

Visa invests in BVNK and doubles down on stablecoins

Visa, through Visa Ventures, has announced a strategic investment in BVNK, a stablecoin-focused payments platform. This move reflects Visa’s commitment to integrating crypto solutions into the traditional financial system. BVNK, with its infrastructure focused on stablecoins, is positioned to be a reference for companies seeking digital alternatives to conventional banking systems.

This investment reinforces Visa’s confidence in the evolution of stablecoins, which have become a viable option for cross-border payments and global financial solutions. As regulation of crypto assets begins to take shape, Visa is positioning itself as an essential facilitator in adapting the financial sector to the innovations of the crypto market.

Why this matters:

✅ Visa strengthens its position in the digital payments market, focusing on stablecoins as a key infrastructure for global transactions.
✅ The investment in BVNK could accelerate the adoption of stablecoins as an international payment method, enabling faster and cheaper transactions.
✅ Stablecoins are consolidating as a point of intersection between the traditional financial system and new decentralized financial solutions.

Stripe and Its new stablecoin product

Stripe, one of the world’s largest payment platforms, announced that it is developing a new stablecoin-based product following its acquisition of Bridge for $1.1 billion. This move aims to enable companies outside the US, UK, and Europe to use stablecoins as native currency for their global transactions, highlighting the growing relevance of stablecoins in emerging markets.

With the integration of Bridge, Stripe plans to improve liquidity in emerging markets and offer faster, more accessible financial solutions without relying on traditional intermediaries. This development also paves the way for greater integration of stablecoins with mainstream finance, offering more accessibility and efficiency for businesses and consumers.

Why this matters:

✅ Stripe positions itself as a leading facilitator of stablecoin adoption in markets outside the traditional ones, like the US and Europe.
✅ With Bridge, Stripe offers a more efficient and accessible solution for international transactions, especially in emerging markets.
✅ This new product from Stripe could accelerate the adoption of decentralized financial solutions, driving a transformation in global payments.

Lumx Webinar: Content now available on YouTube!

The Lumx Webinar: How to Prepare for Stablecoin Regulation: Legal Risks, Compliance, and Impact on Operations was a landmark event for discussing the practical and strategic challenges and opportunities in the stablecoin ecosystem, compliance, and regulation in Brazil and globally. During the event, we had enriching conversations with experts, lawyers, and executives who are leading the most important discussions in the sector.

Now, all the panels are available on our YouTube channel for you to watch or revisit the discussions.
👉 Access the videos here
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The future of stablecoins is being shaped now

The past weeks have shown that the stablecoin market is at a crucial moment of transformation. Strategic partnerships, regulatory movements, and technological innovations are helping to define the next steps for this ecosystem. As major players like Visa, PayPal, Coinbase, and Stripe intensify their movements and governments prepare to implement clearer regulations, we can expect a profound impact on the adoption of stablecoins in the global financial system.

At Lumx, we continue to closely track these movements, staying attentive to the evolution of this ever-changing ecosystem. Stay tuned for upcoming editions of Stable News for more updates on the future of digital payments.