Corporate and tech giants that initially bashed crypto are now seeking to control and profit from them | Photo: Fotor AI Generated
As far back as 2021, Chainalysis suggested Bitcoin had been dwarfed by a more versatile and business-friendly form of cryptocurrency. They, of course, were speaking of stablecoins. And yes, stablecoins have quickly evolved from a niche tool for trading crypto to a legitimate financial instrument, finding their way into global finance.
This year, the US Senate Banking Committee has prioritised stablecoin legislation, backing legal and legitimate dollar-pegged stablecoins, while calling for a permanent ban on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) to guarantee that stablecoins remain aligned with US financial priorities.
The stablecoin market is projected to grow 10x from its current value of approximately $254 billion to over $2 trillion by 2028, the US Department of the Treasury forecasted in a recent Digital Money report (April 2025).
So it’s no wonder that the big corporate players, such as JP Morgan, Bank of America, Visa, PayPal and Stripe, are hopping on the bandwagon, posing an existential threat to the blockchain OGs, who have long advocated for decentralisation, democratisation and financial inclusion. Meanwhile, market leader Tether recently announced Q1 profits in excess of $1 billion, including $149B in assets and over $5.6B in excess reserves.
This is the core of this interview with Michelle O’Connor, TaxBit’s Global VP of Global Market Expansion and Innovation, a Top 5 Woman in Blockchain, Chief Strategy Officer and Board Chairwoman for The Association of Women in Crypto, and the US Ambassador for the Global Blockchain Business Council.
The silent workhorses of crypto
“Stablecoins have long been the quiet workhorses of the digital asset world—reliable, liquid, and often overlooked,” O’Connor said. “But those days are over. With billions in daily transaction volume and growing scrutiny from policymakers and institutions alike, stablecoins have become crypto’s most consequential talking point today.”
The TaxBit VP expressed her concern over who will control stablecoins moving forward. “It’s not just about use cases anymore—it’s about infrastructure and power, and who controls the rails of tomorrow’s financial system.”
She believes one clear signal of what the crypto community can expect is Ripple’s launch of its USD-backed stablecoin. It signals, she added, a much larger shift, implying they are becoming the front line of programmable money and the next competitive frontier for financial and fintech giants.
The new stablecoin battleground
“Just a few years ago, the dominant narrative in crypto revolved around DeFi protocols, NFT booms, and Layer 1 wars,” O’Connor said. “But as the dust settles from the speculative cycles, what’s left standing—and growing—is the demand for stable, composable, and interoperable digital dollars,” she added. “The stablecoin layer has become the foundational infrastructure layer for the on-chain economy.”
O’Connor explained that stablecoins are the glue that bridges payments, lending, tokenised securities, and enterprise adoption because they provide the trust and liquidity needed for real-world applications without requiring users to hold volatile assets.
“They are the bridge between traditional finance and the blockchain-based future in many ways, a bridge still under construction today – and the question is who will own it?” she asked.
Now they’re interested
Stablecoins are on track to play a central role in how money moves across public and permissioned blockchains, said the VP of TaxBit, an API-powered compliant crypto tax and accounting solution provider for enterprises, governments, and individuals.
“With regulatory frameworks beginning to take shape in the US. and Europe, such as MiCAR in the EU and new stablecoin laws proposed in the United States, the fiat currency-pegged crypto market is at the threshold of a validation and acceleration phase.
Financial giants are scrambling to take their stake. And although Tether and Circle might hold first-mover advantages, they will not go unrivalled, O’Connor said. The bigwigs are already lurking. She added that the next wave of M&A is inevitable and won’t be limited to crypto firms buying other crypto firms.
An existential threat to the web3
“Expect traditional financial institutions, private equity, and tech giants to make moves. Why? Because owning the infrastructure layer—the wallets, the rails, the issuance, the APIs—is the equivalent of owning the operating system for the future of digital finance.”
Michelle’s comments are a wake-up call for the blockchain community, similar to Kevin Rusher of RAAC and his thoughts on DeFi.
Many in the blockchain and crypto space have long feared the institutional takeover of Web3, similar to the Dot-Com era in the early days of the internet. Governments are watching. Institutions are testing. And the public sector, especially in emerging markets, is starting to see the value in alternatives to legacy rails,” O’Connor explains.
“Think Stripe for stablecoins. Or the AWS of tokenised dollars. That’s where this is headed,” she said in a stark warning that if the crypto and blockchain natives don’t get moving now, they will be overtaken by the centralised giants.
“The stablecoin story is no longer niche—it’s macro. We’re talking about the potential reshaping of the global payments system, the modernisation of financial infrastructure, and a new model for monetary sovereignty in a digital world,” she concluded.
