Stablecoin "First Share" Listing, Will the Web3 Payment Era Come Early?

Written by: OKG Research

According to research data from OKG Research, as of June 2025, 62.5% of the global population and 76.56% of the countries and regions with GDP are advancing the construction of regulatory frameworks related to stablecoins. Recently, Hong Kong's "Stablecoin Ordinance" was officially published, and the U.S. "GENIUS Act" has also accelerated the legislative process, marking a key breakthrough in stablecoin regulation worldwide. Today, stablecoin "first stock" Circle officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange, once again bringing this topic to the forefront.

Recently, OKG Research, together with the Institute of Financial Studies of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Crypto-Fintech Lab of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, held a conference titled "Stablecoin Legislation Opens the Gate, Web3 Payment Goes Out of the "Pilot Zone"? and conducted in-depth exchanges with OKX Pay, Solana Foundation, JD Chain, ZA Bank and other important representative institutions in the current Web3 payment field. Together, they form the key pieces of the current Web3 payments ecosystem, spanning payment infrastructure, technology solutions, financial services, and compliance pathways. As the initiator of this symposium, OKG Research is also committed to clarifying the practical significance of stablecoin legislation for the implementation of Web3 payments through multiple perspectives, and promoting forward-looking conversations about the future of payments.

OKG Research releases trend report: Stablecoins enter the "regulatory acceleration period"

At the conference, OKG Research officially released the Web3 Payment Research Report, a joint research result jointly developed by the Crypto-Fintech Lab of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. According to the report, as of May 2025, the global stablecoin supply has approached $250 billion, an increase of more than 54% in the past 12 months, and the circulating market value has been equivalent to 1.13% of the US M2 (broad money supply), and the annual trading volume is expected to exceed $10 trillion. According to the report, with the improvement of user experience, the expansion of merchant coverage and the promotion of compliant stablecoins, Web3 payment will release more growth dividends in the next two years, and the penetration rate is expected to increase to about 20%.

Source of the image OKG Research: Global Stablecoin Supply

The research results of the report also received positive responses from the participating academics and industry representatives. Bo Tang, Assistant Dean of the Institute for Financial Research at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said, "The stablecoin legislation is a significant opportunity for Hong Kong. Hong Kong's strength lies not only in its financial system, but also in its unique positioning as a link between East and West. In the next step, we should not only think about how to make good use of Web3 infrastructure to empower the real industry, reduce costs and increase efficiency, but also attract more global Web3 companies to develop in Hong Kong." Ka Chen, Director of the Crypto-Fintech Lab at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, further pointed out that "the key to the promotion and adoption of stablecoins lies in grasping two core elements: one is to ensure that their 'stable' characteristics can be continuously realized, and the other is to establish sufficient market scale and application scenarios."

Deconstructing the Web3 payment ecosystem: Why are they important?

In the roundtable session of the seminar, OKG Research invited Adam Jin, Consultant of Solana Foundation, Teddy Liu, CEO of JD Chain, Miles Mok, Head of Web3 Business of ZA Bank, and Brain Tsang of OKX Pay Product Leader to participate in the discussion on "How far are we from the mass adoption of Web3 payments?" As the core topic, it covers multiple dimensions such as public chain technology, stablecoin pilot, payment scenario landing and traditional financial linkage, and jointly analyzes the real path of Web3 payment development.

Multiple guests mentioned that the true value of Web3 payments lies not only in the "on-chain" transaction clearing and settlement but also in its ability to construct a verifiable trust structure, which allows for the reconstruction of traditional challenges such as cross-border payments and cross-platform transactions.

The head of OKG Research also pointed out in the discussion that, "As one of the earliest established blockchain technology companies in the world, OKG Research sees that with the continuous development of blockchain technology and the current advancement of stablecoin legislation across various jurisdictions globally, it has provided fertile ground for the large-scale adoption of blockchain technology. In the future, a new value exchange method centered on stablecoins as the core medium, with blockchain as the settlement layer and smart accounts/wallets as the interaction entry point, is not far from us."

Miles Mok expressed his agreement and analyzed that "from a technical foundation perspective, the infrastructure of Web3 is rapidly improving, and the use and regulatory framework of stablecoins are still developing. To truly achieve bank-level trust and scalable applications, more institutional and ecological support is needed."

Teddy Liu also added the future development prospects of stablecoins, "There are three main trends: first, there will be stronger international integration in regulation, and issuers will need to actively communicate with global regulators in addition to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority; Second, market acceptance continues to improve, and stablecoins are expected to become an important part of the global mainstream payment system; The third is to build a strong and healthy stablecoin ecosystem, including compliance, technology and liquidity."

The head of OKGResearch shared the forecast data of OKG Research. In an optimistic scenario where the global compliance framework gradually unfolds and institutions and individuals widely adopt it, the global stablecoin market supply is expected to reach $3 trillion by 2030, with an annual trading volume exceeding $100 trillion, becoming an important bridge connecting Web3 and the real world.