Stablestats Dispatch September 1 - 5, 2025

Industry News 

Stripe’s ‘Tempo’ payments chain surfaces with Paradigm as a partner to power instant stablecoin checkout. New details released this week confirm that Tempo will be EVM-compatible and optimized for sub-second, low-fee USDC/PYUSD settlement at the wallet/merchant edge, with Paradigm supporting this effort as Stripe develops a dedicated on-chain payments rail.

Rain Raises $58 M to Expand Enterprise Stablecoin Payments Platform. The Series B, led by Sapphire Ventures, brings Rain’s total funding to $88.5M as the startup’s API and Visa card programs (now powering payments for over 1.5 billion users via partners) enable businesses to embed stablecoins for global transactions under new U.S. and EU regulatory clarity.

Japan Post Bank to Launch Digital Yen Stablecoin in 2026. The $1.3 trillion-deposit bank plans to introduce “DCJPY,” a blockchain-based deposit token fully backed 1:1 by fiat yen, allowing its 120 million customers to convert deposits into digital yen for seamless transactions instantly.

M0 Secures $40 M to Build Out Stablecoin Network Infrastructure. Stablecoin startup M0 closed a Series B led by Polychain and Ribbit Capital – with participation from Pantera and Bain – to accelerate its interoperable digital dollar “layer 0” network, as venture capital piles into projects aiming to boost on-chain liquidity and cross-platform stablecoin flows.

PetroChina Pilots Stablecoins for Cross-Border Oil Trade Settlements. The Chinese energy giant has launched a feasibility study on using stablecoins to streamline its annual oil transactions of 300 million tons. The move coincides with Hong Kong’s new licensing regime and could significantly reduce payment delays and foreign exchange costs. However, any yuan-pegged tokens likely won’t emerge until Hong Kong’s USD/HKD stablecoin trials prove successful. 

Hong Kong Opens Stablecoin Licensing but Sets High Entry Barriers. The HKMA drew 77 applicants for its new stablecoin regime but will approve only a “handful” by early 2026, requiring issuers to hold HK$25 million (~$3.2 million) in capital and back their tokens entirely with liquid assets, such as Treasury bills. This strict framework favors large financial institutions over startups.

Utila’s Valuation Triples with $22 M Stablecoin Infrastructure Round. New York/Tel Aviv-based Utila extended its Series A to $40 M (total funding now $51 M+) just six months after its prior raise, reflecting surging demand for its “operating system for stablecoins” that already handles $15 B in monthly volume for hundreds of institutions using stablecoins in payments, treasury, and trading. 

Keyrails Unlocks Tokenized Treasurys and AAA CLO Yields via Self-Custody. Fintech startup Keyrails debuted its Stable OS Treasury service – built with Centrifuge and Janus Henderson – letting businesses globally invest stablecoins into tokenized 0–3 month U.S. T‑Bill ladders (~4.0% APY) and AAA-rated loan portfolios (~5.5% APY) directly from a KYC’ed non-custodial wallet, without any bank or broker intermediaries. 

Citi Survey: 10% of Global Markets Could Be Tokenized by 2030, Led by Stablecoins. Citi’s Securities Services Evolution report, which aggregates the views of 537 industry leaders, projects that a substantial portion of asset trading will shift to blockchain-based tokens over the next five years – with bank-issued stablecoins emerging as the key enabler, as they improve collateral mobility and fund transfers.

Federal Reserve to Host Conference on Stablecoins and Tokenization of Finance. The U.S. Federal Reserve Board announced a public “Payments Innovation” forum for October 21, bringing together regulators, banks, and tech leaders to discuss emerging stablecoin use cases, the tokenization of bonds and real estate, and other DeFi trends alongside AI’s impact on payments. 

What I am Reading 

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