Circle Says Clearer Stablecoin Rules Will Speed Adoption, Reshape Cross-Border Payments [SEABW 2026]

Clearer regulation of stablecoins will sharply accelerate their adoption across global financial markets, Circle said.

David Katz, Circle’s vice president for strategy and public policy, made the remarks during a fireside chat at Southeast Asia Blockchain Week 2026 at ICONSIAM in Bangkok on May 20. He called regulatory clarity the most important recent shift in the market and said the U.S. GENIUS Act could become a key milestone in completing the global regulatory trend for stablecoins.

The European Union, the U.K., the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates have already spent years building regulatory frameworks for stablecoins, Katz said. With the U.S. now stepping up its regulatory efforts, conditions for institutional capital to enter the market are also improving quickly.

The early stablecoin market was built mainly around digital-asset traders. Now, infrastructure is reaching a level that can support the real economy and institutional finance. Compliance engines, price transparency and institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure are advancing rapidly, he said.

Katz said those shifts are expanding real-world stablecoin use. Regulatory clarity, institutional-grade infrastructure and payment demand are emerging at the same time, helping stablecoins establish themselves as a global means of payment.

In countries where financial systems are inefficient or costly, stablecoins can serve as an alternative to traditional banking systems, Katz said. In countries such as Thailand, where financial infrastructure is already well developed, they can be used as a faster and more efficient payment mechanism.

He said stablecoins are likely to gain traction quickly in cross-border payments because they can offer lower costs and faster settlement than traditional international remittance systems.

Stablecoins can effectively enable T+0 settlement, Katz said. They can also bypass the traditional correspondent banking structure, creating a far more efficient global payments environment. As competition develops, the use cases best suited to each country and market will naturally take hold, he added.