Everyone is in a hurry to the stablecoins, but the numbers look … the same.
In Q2, it feels like you can’t go one day without a major stablecoin announcement. JPMorgan launched Its USD deposit token at the base. Coinbase Debuted Stack of stablecoin payment following Shopify partnership. Digital anchorage obtained USDM Issuer Mountain Protocol. Ubyx lifted $ 10 million for stablecoin to cover infrastructure. Bitcoin based on plasma filled The $ 1 billion deposit of the deposit in 30 minutes. All in a few weeks of each other.
But despite all this activity, Stablecoins remains a brutal concentrated, the “winner takes” market. Of almost $ 250 Billion in the shifting -moving Stablecoin supply, Tether claims $ 158 billion (2.5x Circle’s $ 62 billion)While the USDC dwarfs are the third largest largest dollar pegged asset, USDE ($ 5.3 billion)by 11x.
While yield-bearing stablecoins and tokenized treasury products such as USDE, SUSDS, Buidl, and M0 have created new competition vectors, the distribution still won. The final winner cannot determine the maximum yield from a novel mechanism, but by distribution and utility. The most important stablecoin is the one that is seamlessly integrated, trusted, and accepted anywhere.
I have no doubt that a lot of money will continue to flow to Stablecoins as “dollars to a blockchain” has established themselves as one of the largest markets to win in crypto. Even the more interesting question to me is how can you help users use their stablecoins once they touch them?
Mini Apps: Mobile-first crypto finally arrives
For years, Defi’s complexity has been the greatest obstacle to adoption. The Q2 is marked by a point of view as the industry rallies around a new access layer: Mini Apps.
- Coinbase wallet (Building in Farcaster Frames Framework) Investing in revamping the Coinbase Wallet on a Mini App platform.
- The world’s mini-app ecosystem explodes and captures the builder’s attention.
- Opera launched the standalone minipay app for iOS and Android.
The approach is clear: Defi’s power is embedded within the familiar, easy-to-use interfaces.
Mini-Apps finally dragged Defi to the mobile age. Unlike previous cycles, UX is not a thought – UX is the product. Platforms with distribution now want to be Superapp-like structures where developers are fighting to tap on captive user bases, similar to WeChat in China.
By abstracting gas fees, seed phrases, and hexadecimal addresses, these apps make the on-chain finance accessible without forcing users to understand the underlying complexity.
Sophisticated capital structures are back (Without luggage)
One of the most friendly -interesting Q2 development is the silent return of structured products to defi.
Protocols such as Resolv, Aave’s umbrella initiative, and infinifi.xyz build products that seem familiar to any Trade professional. By offering glass features in the uprising and promoting harvesting, they provide different risk profiles that can accommodate the specific mandates of institutional investors, from pension funds to corporate (and defi) Treasury.
It is a move beyond the simple, high risk of production of the yield and towards a financial system that can priced and at risk in a sophisticated way. This is the infrastructure needed to manage capital in size.
A blurring of the financial worlds
The difference between “crypto” and “tradfi” is further melted.
The SUPERSTATE’s opening platform facilitated the first direct release of registered public shares of the SEC, and Kraken launched the trading without a stock commission along with crypto offerings.
When traditional ownership can move to new metals and users can access both systems from a single interface, it doesn’t make sense to think of them as “crypto” or “fintech” products.
Of course the two examples above highlight the “stock” to come to crypto, but the opposite is also true where almost all of the main applications of fintech have or increase crypto in some capacity. The market has moved from the experiment to important.
Looking forward: a different type of bull market
Q2 2025 was likely to be remembered as a quarter when Defi stopped trying to recreate finance and began improving it. Stablecoin infrastructure built by traditional institutions, mobile-first experiences that appear through mini-apps, and sophisticated products developed by mature protocols all point to the same conclusion: Defi found its walking.
Getting activity tells the story: Strategic deals such as Privy came out to Stripe and The acquisition of anchorage of Mountain Protocol Continue the trend of crypto infrastructure companies that are appreciated and acquired by larger players.
This is not the speculation of the mania of previous cycles. It is more accessible, efficient, and global financial services in size.
The mentality of the Gold Rush that characterizes the first years of crypto gives way to the railroad building. And historically, companies that build railroads tend to surpass them just digging for gold.
