Blockchain firm Polygon Labs (CRYPTO: POL) said on Tuesday it would buy crypto payments company Coinme and crypto infrastructure provider ​Sequence for $250 million to make its foray into the stablecoin-based payments market. At the time, Sandeep Nailwal, founder of the Polygon Foundation said in a press release, “We aspire Polygon to be the biggest stablecoin money movement avenue in the world.&#34;



Stablecoins are digital tokens pegged to fiat currency, namely the dollar, and are increasingly being used as a payments tool. Stablecoins seemingly got their blessing from the White House last year after the passage of ‌the Genius Act. 



This year is shaping up already to be &#34;the year stablecoins graduated from a crypto trading primitive to a payments primitive,&#34; said Steven Willinger, General Partner at Blockchain Builders Fund in Palo Alto.



That doesn't mean the world needs 50 new stablecoins, even if startups will try their luck at it. 



Around six distinct stablecoin projects have been announced or launched globally since Dec. 1, 2025. JP Morgan launched JPM Coin in November. This is a fast moving target for investors.



<h2>New Stablecoin Projects Since December</h2>



SoFiUSD — Launched Dec. 18, 2025



Fully reserved U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin by SoFi Bank on a public blockchain. SoFi is the first national bank to issue such a stablecoin.



USD1 stablecoin partnership for Pakistan — Announced Jan. 14, 2026 Pakistan government signed a memorandum of understanding to integrate the USD1 stablecoin into its digital payment infrastructure.



EURXM, USDXM, RONXM — Dec. 8, 2025 These three new stablecoins were formally announced with plans to launch this summer by a Romanian bank.



Wyoming FRNT stablecoin — Launched



Wyoming's official state-issued Frontier stablecoin began public launch around early January 2026, following mainnet testing phases in August. 



Despite the newcomers, the network effects in payments push value toward a small number of highly liquid, widely integrated settlement assets. Today, Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) and U.S. Dollar Coin (CRYPTO: USDC) issued by Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) account for most of the stablecoin market cap. 



Do we need more stablecoins?



&#34;For broad, everyday payments, probably not,&#34; said Willinger. Merchants and payment service providers (PSP) &#34;will prefer the tokens with the deepest liquidity, clearest compliance posture, and easiest integration paths.&#34;



Where new stablecoins make sense includes when they're product-specific, such as engineered for a protocol's own liquidity and incentive system, or for a particular yield design, said Willinger. 



For example, Cap – a stablecoin protocol – positions itself as a stablecoin protocol with cUSD backed by a basket of regulated payment stablecoins and stcUSD as their yield-accruing variant.  



Unitas positions their USDu as a decentralized, yield-bearing stablecoin. 



New stablecoins also make sense if they are coming from highly liquid banks or payment systems like the privately held PSP giant Stripe, Willinger said. In May, Stripe introduced stablecoin-based accounts to clients in over 100 countries.



<h2>Willinger Explains: How merchants integrate stablecoins into real cash flows</h2>



<ul>
<li>&#34;Accept stablecoins, settle in fiat&#34; — Stripe's stablecoin payments flow lets customers pay with stablecoins while the merchant settles in dollars. </li>



<li>Abstract stablecoins behind the card networks — Immersve is a principal member of Mastercard and markets non-custodial APIs/smart contracts that let partners create experiences where users spend digital cash anywhere Mastercard is accepted; it also offers stablecoin &#34;issuing as a service.&#34; </li>
</ul>



Visa (V) is working to integrate stablecoins into existing payment systems, Reuters reported on Jan. 14.  The hype is real. But mainstream merchant acceptance is still limited. There are more than $270 billion worth of stablecoins in circulation, more than twice the $120 billion from 2023, Reuters reported citing data from blockchain indexers Allium Labs.



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img width="1024" height="556" src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://contributor-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/15162402/CRCL_2026-01-15_11-23-17-1024x556.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://contributor-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/15162402/CRCL_2026-01-15_11-23-17-1024x556.png"/><figcaption>Circle and Polygon both underperforming the Nasdaq, as seen here using Invesco’s QQQ Trust ETF. Could this be a buying opportunity?</figcaption></figure>
</figure>



<h2>More To Come. Segments Poised for Growth</h2>



Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) recently released a new draft of what he described as a “negotiated market structure bill” for stablecoins. The bill text states that digital asset service providers be prohibited from paying any form of interest or yield for holders with the exceptions given for activity-based rewards and staking, providing liquidity, or posting collateral. If passed, this could make it harder for investors in yield bearing coins like Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) from easily unstaking. They might have to hold onto their positions similar to holders of bank CDs. 



This is where traditional finance is seeking to differentiate from fintech before they get steam rolled by digital assets, including yield bearing stablecoins.



Stablecoins are not money makers. Retail investors use them to hold digital cash in their trading accounts before cashing out for fiat, or exchanging for another cryptocurrency. 



For venture capital, investment opportunities tend to be into startups that are in distribution, compliance, and workflow integration. The Blockchain Builders Fund, for example, invests in Immersve, Levl, Efexpay and Moni.



&#34;I think the real investment opportunity is in infrastructure, distribution, and regulated local variants,&#34; said Przemek Kowalczyk, CEO &amp; Co-Founder of Ramp Network, a regulated payments infrastructure provider.



&#34;The true value of a stablecoin is how they're used; payments, treasury management, merchant settlement, cross-border flows, and increasingly, everyday financial products,&#34; Kowalczyk said. &#34;For merchants, I think the appeal is straightforward. Stablecoins can reduce foreign exchange costs, enable faster settlement, and open access to global customers without relying entirely on legacy banking. Once stablecoins integrate more deeply into payment stacks, they'll start to feel less like ‘crypto' and more like a better version of digital cash,&#34; he said.



This is what Polygon is banking on.



<figure class="wp-block-pullquote"><blockquote>&#34;For merchants, the demand isn't for stablecoins themselves, but for what they unlock. They don't want to think about tokens or blockchains. They want money to move better. We are entering a new phase of payments, where infrastructure providers that can bridge stablecoins and fiat seamlessly will define the next generation of payment companies.&#34;<cite>Michael Treacy, Director of Marketing &amp; Business Development at OpenPayd</cite></blockquote></figure>



Industry sees stablecoins as the real digital dollar. This is especially true in countries where the local currency is highly undervalued versus the dollar. Some 30% of international payments in emerging markets could shift to stablecoins, experts predict. 



Bullish sentiment stems from regulatory clarity from Europe and the U.S., boosting adoption. 



Jean Rausis, Co-founder of Everything (formerly SMARDEX), predicts that Tether will still be dominant on volume and in liquidity, citing the TRON Network's $7 trillion dollar Tether move last year, but thinks USDC will excel in traditional finance circles. 



Competition will likely erode USDT’s share this year as rivals like PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL) PYUSD and World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin move in. Merchants will integrate via Visa, PayPal, Stripe and Cash App for real-world flows, Rausis said, citing the Rumble (NASDAQ:RUM) and Tether hook up for tips sent to Rumble show hosts, bypassing banks. 



&#34;Two stablecoins are truly dominant, but the market isn’t saturated. Do we need more? Yes,&#34; said Rausis. &#34;For niche needs like DeFi yields, up to 20%  in some protocols, or for chain-specific liquidity, and real-world asset tokenization, you need more.&#34;



&#34;Competition matters,&#34; said Kowalczyk from Ramp Network. &#34;There's going to be different use cases, jurisdictions, and user needs benefit from choice, whether that's dollar-based stablecoins, euro stablecoins, or local and regulated alternatives. We don't rely on a single bank or a single payment network globally. Digital money won't be any different,&#34; he predicted.



Meanwhile, 2026 will still see USDT and USDC as the main stablecoins in use, but risk venture investors are seen putting their money into companies that are seeing merchant acceptance. Risk capital will be flowing to companies that can &#34;turn stablecoins into something businesses can use to run payroll, Treasury and merchant settlement on,&#34; said Willinger.



The writer is an investor in Solana. Featured Image created by the author. Chart from TradingView.



Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

Stripe

CRCL

Polygon Labs is acquiring Coinme and Sequence for $250 million to enter the stablecoin payments market. Founder Sandeep Nailwal aims to make Polygon a leading avenue for stablecoin transactions. The stablecoin sector is evolving, with new projects emerging, but experts suggest that the market may not need many more stablecoins. Major players like Tether and USDC dominate, while Stripe and Visa are integrating stablecoins into payment systems. A new draft bill could impact yield-bearing stablecoins, highlighting the ongoing tension between traditional finance and digital assets.

Polygon Labs' $250M Coinme Acquisition Shows Stablecoin Payments Entering A New Phase In 2026