Author: a16zcrypto
Translated by: TechFlow
We have mentioned multiple times that stablecoins are gradually disrupting the payment industry. Looking back at the past month, many top global payment companies have finally begun to focus on this trend. Within just six weeks, we saw a series of important events: Circle, the issuer of USDC, submitted an application to list on the New York Stock Exchange; Coinbase launched a stablecoin API payment standard, officially entering the agency payment field; Visa and Mastercard further strengthened their support for stablecoins; Stripe released a series of new features, including stablecoin account balances, programmable stablecoins, and payment cards supporting stablecoins.
Behind these events is a common core: meeting user needs. This can be seen as the "Skype moment" in the payment field. Looking back to 2003, Skype launched a disruptive feature that allowed users to make landline calls at a lower cost through computers. However, as more people joined the digital calling network, people eventually completely abandoned traditional phones and turned to WhatsApp calls based on the internet. This marked a seamless transition of technology from landline to mobile communication, and then to internet-based voice and data connections.
Similarly, connecting stablecoins with traditional payment systems can allow more people to access and use stablecoins, even if they still need to rely on compatible features provided by traditional payment companies. As individuals and businesses gradually adopt stablecoins through existing products, new opportunities will emerge - stablecoins will be widely used in scenarios such as self-custody, shopping, remittances, and DeFi.
[The rest of the translation follows the same pattern, maintaining the original structure and meaning while translating the text into English.]
