Testing stablecoins with JD.com: Exploring the next rise in the Web3 industry.

We are experiencing the "Suez moment" for stablecoin.

Written by: Niu Xiaojing

How much is a channel worth?

We begin with an ancient yet groundbreaking story.

In 1859, the Suez Canal began construction, taking a full ten years to excavate an artificial waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. At that time, the cost was 416 million francs, equivalent to 1.5% of France's GDP. In today's terms, this is an investment comparable to national-level infrastructure.

Why did we have to pay such a high price to dig an "artificial river" back then?

You'll understand after looking at a set of data:

• Each ship passing through the Suez Canal has to pay about $250,000;
• 18,000 to 21,000 ships pass annually;
• Annual revenue exceeds 6 billion dollars;
• Averaging over 15 million dollars in revenue daily.

Because it is not an ordinary river, but a "golden passage" that connects Europe and Asia.

Without the canal, all ships would have to go around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, which would have taken four or five days longer and cost 2–3.7 times as much as it does today. Each detour can cost hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars more.

So, it's not a matter of water; it's a matter of the "channel." An efficient, safe, and legal channel brings not only time and cost savings but also the key to mastering the initiative in global trade.

The channel value of stablecoins is being rediscovered

Today, we are also standing at a new starting point of the "channel revolution". Several countries around the world are pushing for stablecoin legislation to open the main road to the real financial system for the on-chain world. In other words, it opens a fast channel for on-chain finance for traditional commerce. It is predicted that the global stablecoin market capitalization will reach $250 billion in 2025; Standard Chartered, on the other hand, is more optimistic, expecting its potential to scale up to $2 trillion, which in turn will leverage $10 trillion in capital flows.

More importantly, regulators are beginning to recognize the legitimacy of stablecoins.

Just as the Suez Canal is not just about "water transportation", but also about "trade"; the moment the legislation for stablecoins is passed, it means that capital can finally enter the blockchain legally and directly. No longer relying on intermediary companies, nor going through gray channels, reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

This is a landmark moment: the compliance channel is officially open.

The Story of USDT: It's Not Just About Issuing a Coin, It's About Capturing Structural Position

Before talking about JD.com, we need to take a look at the "big brother" Tether - the issuer of USDT.

What opportunity did Tether seize? Bitcoin was born for peer-to-peer payments, but it is too volatile to be used for everyday settlements. And USDT fills that gap. It was not born out of thin air, it was born out of real market demand: anchor assets, liquidity hubs, and hedging tools that provide on-chain transactions. Someone said it well: after each round of bull market bubble bursts, stablecoins are the "spark" left in the market, so that funds do not have to leave the whole body, and can wait for the next wave of market at any time. Tether's returns are also staggering:

In 2024, the net profit is 13.7 billion USD, with a team of only 100 people, resulting in an average output of over 68 million USD per person, far exceeding JPMorgan, American Express, and Berkshire.

Is it technology? No. It relies on a structural position - it stands on the necessary channel for the flow of funds on the chain. Even though it has been investigated and fined by regulators, it has not evaded compliance, but has improved as it goes, and finally made hundreds of millions of users around the world "dare to use it". This is the structural dividend. And now, a new bonus window has been opened.

Why is JD.com creating a stablecoin?

Many people say that JD has entered Web3. But I don't see it that way.

JD is not creating a stablecoin to "issue coins", but to solve the old problem of cross-border e-commerce:

• Long settlement period
• High cost
• Capital occupation is severe
• The banking process is complicated

The value of stablecoin lies in that it is the shortest path between reality and the chain. It can:

• Real-time arrival
• Cross-border payments without intermediaries
• The transaction fees have been significantly reduced.
• The system can automate orchestration and is auditable.

So, stablecoins are not necessarily exclusive to Web3, but rather a new tool for Web2 companies to build financial infrastructure.

This is not just an opportunity for JD.com, but for all Chinese companies that hope to go global and connect with the world.

Stablecoin 2.0 Era: System-Level Solutions

In the past, stablecoins were meant for trading coins. Today's stablecoins serve enterprises. They are no longer just a "coin" but a system module, a part of the financial settlement system, and are integral to user incentives, supply chain loops, and cross-border settlement processes. The next phase of stablecoins is systematic, compliant, and structured development. The opportunity behind this is to provide enterprises with "stablecoin infrastructure" services.

The Role Transition of Web3 Practitioners: From "Speculators" to "Architects"

The real opportunity does not lie in whether you can issue a coin, but in whether you can:

• Design a payment system for stablecoin integration
• Build cross-chain settlement bridge
• Implement automatic revenue distribution and risk control strategies
• Help enterprises achieve compliance implementation

If you understand both the chain and the structure, as well as the enterprise, then you are precisely standing at this intersection.

If you just wander around in Web3, it's not enough; you also need to become a service provider, architect, and channel builder for more Web2 enterprises.

We are experiencing the "Suez moment" of stablecoins.

Back to the original question: How much is a channel worth?

No one complains about the toll for the Suez Canal, because everyone knows: taking a longer route is expensive, slow, and dangerous.

The channel for stablecoins is the same. You can take the gray route, engage in arbitrage, or use a springboard, but those risks are "temporary bonuses," not a long-term moat.

What is truly valuable is the structure and the channel. The next explosive point in this industry is not the bustling trend of issuing coins, but the steady construction of structures. Those who can truly earn long-term value are the ones who "build channels" for businesses.

I command the opening of this river, so that ships can navigate it straight to Persia, fulfilling my wishes. The oath of Darius, the king of Persia, is still applicable today. Now, it is time for our generation of Web3 people to carve out a new passage.