A New Track for Stablecoins Rises, with US Stock Tokenization and AI Agents Poised to Attract Global Liquidity.
Driven by accelerating legislation, active corporate involvement, and rapidly growing transaction volumes, stablecoins are moving from the peripheral role in cryptocurrency to the core of financial innovation, attracting global market attention.
According to the trading desk, Guosheng Securities analysts Song Jiaji and Ren Heyi stated in their latest research report that stablecoins, with their advantages of payment-as-settlement and lightweight account systems, not only show disruptive potential in traditional payment fields but also become a key driving force in US stock tokenization (RWA) and AI Agent payment scenarios.
The report suggests that US stock tokenization provides cryptocurrency investors with more asset allocation options, potentially driving rapid expansion of stablecoin scale, while AI Agent payments may liberate user operational burdens and generate entirely new payment modes. These two emerging tracks' innovative fusion is expected to be a noteworthy catalyst in the second half of the year.
US Stock Tokenization Reignites RWA Boom
As an important branch of real-world asset tokenization (RWA), US stock tokenization is approaching a critical period of accelerated implementation.
Previously, stock tokenization briefly emerged on platforms like Mirror Protocol, supporting synthetic tokenization of stocks such as Tesla and Google, but became dormant due to regulatory and market fluctuations. Now, with the advancement of RWA regulatory frameworks, market interest in stock tokenization is heating up again.
With the regulatory environment gradually clarifying, traditional financial institutions represented by BlackRock and cryptocurrency institutions are actively lobbying regulators to restart stock tokenization.
The report shows that cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is seeking SEC approval to provide "tokenized stock" trading services to users; veteran exchange Kraken has already taken action, announcing a partnership with Backed Finance to launch "xStocks" service, initially covering over 50 US-listed stocks and ETFs including Apple, Tesla, and NVIDIA.
The report analyzes that this service not only provides cryptocurrency investors with a channel for traditional financial asset allocation but may also significantly enhance stablecoin circulation by expanding its usage scenarios.
The report anticipates that the massive US stock market scale is sufficient to drive rapid stablecoin demand expansion. As an on-chain "fiat currency", stablecoins will play a fundamental infrastructure tool role in US stock tokenization trading, potentially becoming the next important application scenario.
AI Agent Opens a New Era of Intelligent Payments
The deep integration of stablecoins and AI Agents is also viewed as another major potential market. Especially in future AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) scenarios, AI Agents might replace humans in completing numerous payment operations.
The report points out that traditional financial account complex authorization processes are not AI-friendly, often requiring multiple steps like user authorization and financial institution review. In contrast, stablecoins' blockchain-based lightweight account system is naturally suitable for AI Agent control.
The introduction of blockchain smart contracts further strengthens the fusion of AI decision-making and payments, enabling AI Agents to not only provide analytical suggestions but directly operate user accounts, achieving truly intelligent payments.
Moreover, blockchain accounts are essentially smart contracts, inherently possessing AI genes, with features like flash loans and automated market maker (AMM) protocols embodying this characteristic.
The report mentions that in intent-centric applications, users only need to "one-click" authorize, and AI can optimize transaction paths through algorithms, achieving efficient conversion from token A to token B without manual user intervention. This high degree of AI and blockchain account integration provides broad imaginative space for stablecoin payment scenarios, especially in automated trading and intelligent payments.
However, the report also adds that AI Agent payments are still in early stages, with the decentralized architecture of blockchain networks causing obvious efficiency bottlenecks.
For instance, Ethereum mainnet can only process double-digit transactions per second, far below traditional payment systems' efficiency (like Alipay's Double 11 peak of 256,000 transactions per second). Technical scaling and network congestion issues urgently need resolution, otherwise, they cannot bear large-scale user demands.
Payment Scenario Competition Intensifies, Stablecoin Potential Immense
Stablecoins' application potential in international payments is equally significant, with their point-to-point, payment-as-settlement characteristics showing clear advantages over traditional financial systems' high costs and inefficiencies.
The report indicates that in underdeveloped regions, stablecoins have even achieved "overtaking on a curved road" by enabling dollar payments through mobile blockchain account registration, solving issues of inadequate banking service coverage. Additionally, payment giant Stripe's $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge, launching stablecoin financial account services covering 101 countries, further connects stablecoins with fiat payment systems.
The report simultaneously mentions that different stablecoin varieties exhibit "non-homogeneous" characteristics, making market competition exceptionally fierce.
Even Coinbase's USDC trading pair transaction volume is only one-eighth of USDT's; payment giant Paypal's launched PYUSD stablecoin scale is merely around $950 million, far below market expectations.
The report adds that for stablecoins to achieve large-scale payment field application, they must resolve efficiency bottlenecks caused by blockchain's "Blockchain Trilemma" limitations. Traditional payment systems like Alipay reached a payment peak of 256,000 transactions per second during 2017's "Double 11", while Ethereum mainnet can only process double-digit transactions per second.
The main points of this article are derived from Guosheng Securities analysts Song Jiaji and Ren Heyi's research report "Stablecoins' Next Stop: International Payments, US Stock Tokenization, and AI Agents" published on June 24.
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