The stablecoin war: Wall Street vs crypto over the future of money - Financial Times

The contest over stablecoins has become a proxy for a larger question: who sets the rules for digital money. As the Financial Times frames it, the "stablecoin war" pits Wall Street institutions against crypto-native firms, with each side pressing its vision for how tokenized dollars should operate, be regulated and earn returns.

For markets, the stakes are structural rather than incidental. Stablecoins already underpin much of crypto trading and settlement, and their growing role touches payments, treasury management and cross-border transfers. How regulators treat reserve requirements, redemption rights and interest-bearing features will shape which business models survive and how quickly traditional finance absorbs tokenized cash instruments.

What to watch: the direction of stablecoin legislation and regulatory guidance, the entry of banks and asset managers into issuance or custody, and whether crypto-native issuers can retain share as compliance costs rise. The outcome is likely to influence liquidity conditions in digital-asset markets and the pace at which tokenized settlement reaches mainstream finance.