Weekly Harvest Recap: Stablecoins, Full Steam..Somewhere?
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This one’s all about a journey, both literally and figuratively. Igor Tomych and Dumitru Condrea had just returned from SIBOS 2025 in Frankfurt, Germany. Having explored a wide range of truly impressive innovations by exhibitors, it was the announcements by high-profile names that truly caught their attention.
Cutting to the chase, Igor and Dumitru talked about what seemed to be the Belle of the night, or rather of the conference; stablecoins in Europe.
To keep you up to pace: stablecoins are digital currencies that private corporations develop with the intention of keeping their values pegged to the value of a popular currency, the US dollar, for example.
“Europe is cautious about crypto..I’m not surprised.” - Dumitru Condrea #
SIBOS wasn’t exactly a moment of revelation when it came to the European Union’s stance on crypto. Those familiar with the topic will know that since the inception of digital currencies, the EU has been vehemently opposed to allowing them into the mainstream market. As Dumitru noted, the decentralized nature of digital currencies opens the door to many undesired potentials, including illegal actions. On top of that, the time, effort and coordination required to regulate the use of digital currencies is the kind of stuff the EU really does not want to put forth.
In contrast, the US adopted the ‘let the market regulate itself’ approach. While the system has its own flaws, it does allow the continuous innovation of advanced products in the field, and more importantly, avenues in which the government can develop its understanding of how to regulate the market.
Visa Direct puts pressure on European central banks #
Visa’s announcement regarding using Visa Direct as its platform of choice to power a stablecoin-based international transfers ecosystem sometime next year is a prime example of what we mentioned above. When a market is given longer reins to develop and innovate, it opens the door for its tech giants to somewhat dictate the market.
This point can be perfectly summed up by looking at each of Igor’s and Dimitru’s points of view. While both cheering on the innovation and market push, Dumitru points out that European central banks will eventually have to accept the use of stablecoins, simply because Visa says so. Building upon that, Igor is more curious about the potential of this “perfect marriage between fiat and digital currencies” within the coming years.
Better late than never: Instant transfers are almost EU-wide #
Shifting the focus to fiat transactions, the EU is setting the stage for instant transfers anywhere in the EU. Long story short, many of the EU member states already had the proper infrastructure for safe and secure instant fiat transfers across borders. However, a few others still had some technical kinks to work out.
Consistent with its ‘slow and steady wins the race’ mentality, the EU is applying mandatory rules for instant transfers. Essentially, financial institutions, both public and private, will need to prove a credit reserve before engaging in instant transfers, eliminating the potential for credit failure in a worst-case scenario.
Igor and Dumitru seem to get a kick out of having different perspectives on each news title throughout the harvest, so make sure you tune in!
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