Autor Cointelegraph By Sam Bourgi

Carolyn Wilkins, a member of the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee, says the rise of stablecoins could reinforce the US dollar’s global dominance and increase demand for US Treasurys, underscoring how the growing market for digital dollars could have consequences well beyond crypto.In a Tuesday speech at Queen’s University Belfast, Wilkins said dollar-denominated stablecoins could strengthen the greenback by making cross-border settlement easier, expanding access to dollar-linked assets outside the US and increasing demand for Treasurys held as reserves.The largest stablecoin issuers are already significant buyers of US government debt. Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC) held nearly $150 billion in Treasury bills at the end of 2025 and bought roughly $33 billion during the year, according to data cited by Wilkins.However, Wilkins argued that the relationship cuts both ways. At sufficient scale, mass stablecoin redemptions could force issuers to sell Treasury bills, potentially amplifying volatility in an already stressed market.Stablecoin issuers have become significant holders of US Treasury debt. Source: Bank of EnglandWilkins’ comments come as stablecoin adoption continues to grow, with more than $300 billion now in circulation. The market remains overwhelmingly tied to the US dollar, which accounts for 98% of stablecoin value and gives the currency what Wilkins described as a “considerable first-mover advantage.”Related: BofA, Citi, Goldman Sachs among 21 institutions planning stablecoin launchUK ramps up stablecoin efforts By contrast, British pound-denominated stablecoins have been much slower to gain traction, although UK regulators have taken several steps this year to encourage their development.The Financial Conduct Authority began testing prospective stablecoin issuers through a dedicated regulatory sandbox and finalized rules for UK stablecoin issuance in June. The Bank of England has also been experimenting with digital money, including a recent test of whether stablecoins and a simulated digital pound could work together for cross-border trade payments.The shift comes as the Bank of England takes a more accommodating approach to stablecoins following industry criticism that its proposed rules could stifle innovation.Related: Fragmented regulations limit stablecoin adoption in international finance: WTO headCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Standard Chartered says layer-2 network Arbitrum could emerge as one of the digital asset industry’s top performers through 2030 as traditional financial firms move more assets onchain, giving the network a potentially lucrative revenue source beyond crypto-native activity.In a note shared with Cointelegraph, Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, said Arbitrum’s economics offer considerable upside because the network receives 10% of the net protocol revenue generated by companies building on it. Robinhood Chain, developed by the online brokerage, is the first major example.According to Kendrick, Robinhood Chain has already materially changed Arbitrum’s economics. At its current run rate, Arbitrum is expected to generate $5 million in revenue in September, more than five times its level before Robinhood Chain launched in July.Kendrick expects those economics to support a steady rise in Arbitrum’s native ARB token over the coming years, reaching as high as $10 by 2030. From current levels, that would represent a roughly 70-fold increase, far exceeding Standard Chartered’s projected returns for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) over the same period.ARB was valued at around $0.14 on Tuesday, having gained 86% over the past month, according to Coingecko.ARB 1-month performance. Source: CoingeckoKendrick said the biggest risks to his ARB price projection include “a slower-than-expected pace of asset tokenization and more competition from alternate blockchains.”Related: Arbitrum vote to release $71M in frozen Kelp exploit ETH set to passArbitrum outlook hinges on tokenized assetsStanChart’s bullish thesis is heavily influenced by the growth of tokenized real-world assets, which have reached a cumulative value of nearly $39 billion, according to RWA.xyz data.In the note, Kendrick reiterated Standard Chartered’s forecast that tokenized assets will reach $4 trillion by the end of 2028 as banks and asset managers bring more assets onchain. The bank sees Arbitrum as a potential beneficiary because it provides the infrastructure for companies to build their own layer-2 networks and receives a share of the revenue they generate.Standard Chartered has also cited the growth of tokenization as part of its bullish outlook for Chainlink and the broader decentralized finance sector.Related: Crypto Biz: AI took a back seat when Bitcoin started climbing

The CLARITY Act is heading for a crucial US Senate procedural vote on Tuesday after President Donald Trump agreed to most of a bipartisan proposal to strengthen ethics restrictions around public officials’ crypto interests, according to various reports. However, the latest compromise hasn’t resolved all of the opposition, with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general now urging senators to reject the bill over concerns that it would weaken state oversight of the crypto industry.A coalition of 18 state attorneys general, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, argued in a letter to Senate Banking committee leaders that the CLARITY Act would make it harder for states to take action against crypto companies accused of fraud or other misconduct.“While the current draft of the CLARITY Act reserves certain powers for states to prosecute fraud, the language is often ambiguous, unclear, or confined in ways that either create the opportunity to challenge state police powers or outright deprive the states of their ability to continue to combat the scam epidemic,” the letter said.Their opposition adds another complication for the legislation. While the revised bill would give state attorneys general a role in enforcing new ethics restrictions, the group argues that other provisions would weaken their authority to police the crypto industry.The CLARITY Act is considered a landmark piece of US crypto legislation that would establish a federal market structure for digital assets, clarify when crypto assets fall under securities or commodities laws and delineate oversight responsibilities between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).As Cointelegraph reported, Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed the cloture motion on CLARITY last month after lawmakers failed to advance the legislation before leaving Washington for their August recess. Tuesday’s procedural vote will determine whether the bill advances to Senate debate.Related: CLARITY Act vote meets Fed rate hike: Five things to know in Bitcoin this weekTrump agrees to tougher crypto ethics rulesThe state AGs weighed in just as lawmakers appeared to be making progress on another major sticking point in the CLARITY Act. The Associated Press reported Sunday that Trump had agreed to “about 80%” of a proposal from Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego, according to a senior GOP aide. The bill already barred federally elected officials, their spouses and federal judges from issuing digital assets, but the latest compromise would go further. Officials with a “significant” financial interest in a crypto issuer would be required to divest or place the interest in a blind trust. State attorneys general would also be given a role in enforcing the restrictions.The concessions address some of the concerns raised by Democrats and Tillis, who had argued that earlier ethics provisions did not go far enough to address potential conflicts involving Trump’s crypto holdings and business interests.Crypto in America, a publication co-hosted by Eleanor Terrett, said the weekend developments sparked a “renewed sense of optimism” across the digital asset industry. Republicans described the revised legislation as their “last, best and final offer” to Democrats ahead of Tuesday’s vote.Source: Eleanor TerrettThe crypto industry has pushed for the CLARITY Act to establish a federal market structure framework for digital assets, including clearer boundaries between the regulatory roles of the SEC and the CFTC.Related: BofA, Citi, Goldman Sachs among 21 institutions planning stablecoin launch

Bitmine Immersion Technologies added to its Ether holdings last week while projecting hundreds of millions of dollars in annual staking revenue, highlighting how its massive ETH treasury could generate income even during volatile market conditions.In a Monday announcement, Bitmine said it acquired 27,180 ETH last week, bringing its holdings to more than 5.95 million ETH, worth roughly $15.4 billion and representing about 4.9% of Ether’s circulating supply. Including cash and other crypto assets, Bitmine reported total holdings of approximately $15.8 billion.Bitmine said more than 5.06 million ETH is now staked, generating an estimated $334 million in annualized staking revenue at current rates.With roughly 85% of its ETH now staked, Bitmine is turning its crypto treasury into a potentially significant source of recurring revenue. For comparison, Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF (ETHE), the first spot Ether US exchange-traded product, has 84.6% of its Ether holdings staked, according to the fund’s webpage.The company’s strategy also offers a key advantage over Bitcoin treasury companies, whose core BTC holdings do not generate native staking yield. Bitmine shares were little changed on Monday, trading just below $25 in morning trading. The stock has gained nearly 38% over the past month but remains down year to date, according to Yahoo Finance data.Related: Bitmine buys 28k ETH, completes 97% of treasury accumulation goalStrategy skipped Bitcoin purchases last weekWhile Bitmine continued adding to its Ether treasury, Michael Saylor’s Strategy went a second consecutive week without buying Bitcoin (BTC), directing capital toward its preferred stock instead.Strategy repurchased about 1.42 million shares of its STRC preferred stock for $139.3 million between Sept. 8 and Sept. 13. The company also bought back $176.3 million worth of STRC the previous week, according to a Monday filing.Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings remained unchanged at 845,050 BTC as of Sept. 13. Its last purchase came in late August, when the company acquired 4,603 BTC for $369.7 million.In the final week of August, Strategy purchased 4,603 BTC for roughly $370 million, marking its first Bitcoin purchase since June. The subsequent pause, alongside the significant STRC buybacks in recent weeks, shows how the company is balancing Bitcoin accumulation with support for its preferred stock.Related: Crypto Biz: AI took a back seat when Bitcoin started climbing

Payment giant Visa is connecting its settlement network with onchain lending, giving stablecoin-linked card programs another way to access working capital, potentially expanding the role of onchain lending from crypto markets into payment settlement.The company announced Tuesday that settlement data from VisaNet will be combined with blockchain-based lending infrastructure, allowing lenders to finance payment obligations using data from the Visa network. The initiative enables lenders to use Visa settlement records alongside onchain transaction data to assess borrowers and finance their settlement obligations.Visa highlighted Credit Coop, a blockchain-based protocol that extends credit lines to businesses, as an early example of the model. Credit Coop has financed more than $2.5 billion in cumulative settlement volume since 2023 across participating facilities, involving more than 3,000 borrowing events and 9,000 repayments.Rubail Birwadker, Visa’s global head of growth products and partnerships, said stablecoins are “changing how money moves” and creating opportunities to rethink the financial infrastructure supporting payments.The initiative comes as Visa’s stablecoin-related payment business expands. More than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs now operate on its network, with payment volume up nearly 200% year over year. Visa also said its stablecoin settlement volume has surpassed a $20 billion annualized run rate, more than 15 times year-ago levels.Related: Autonomous AI agent economy faces infrastructure gaps: Visa, ArtemisVisa deepens its stablecoin pushVisa has made stablecoins a growing part of its payments strategy, with management saying during its fiscal third-quarter earnings call in July that the company is “investing in each layer of the stablecoin stack,” including blockchains, wallets, infrastructure and applications.The push includes joining the OpenStandard consortium, which plans to issue the OpenUSD stablecoin and counts Stripe among more than 140 participating businesses.Visa’s expansion also comes as stablecoin activity continues to grow. Adjusted stablecoin transaction volume reached a record $1.79 trillion in June, while volume over the past 30 days stands at roughly $1.2 trillion, according to Visa’s analytics dashboard.Source: Visa Onchain AnalyticsRelated: Visa works with Upbit parent on stablecoin payments, AI commerce