Robinhood and Revolut Are Now Considering Promoting Stablecoin

Key Points:

• Fintech giants Robinhood and Revolut are considering launching their stablecoins but have not yet confirmed final plans.
• New EU crypto regulations under MiCA require stablecoin issuers to hold specific licenses.

Robinhood and Revolut, two of the most well-known fintech companies, are considering offering their own stablecoins, reports say, as the two companies weigh options to enter the fast-growing $170 billion market.

Read more: Robinhood Crypto Ban Leads Platform to $3.9 Million Fine

Robinhood and Revolut May Launch Stablecoins

According to sources who asked not to be identified and who was cited in a Bloomberg report, Robinhood and Revolut are considering issuing stablecoins of their own, though they may never actually launch such a product.

These stablecoins strive to maintain a constant value and have become a juggernaut in the crypto landscape, led by Tether’s USDT which outruns more than two-thirds of the players.

At present, USDT circulates close to $120 billion, and the closest rival, USDC, has $36 billion, per CoinGecko data. Many upstarts have looked at taking on USDT with few having gained serious steam or momentum.

Stablecoin Adoption Expands into the Emerging Markets

The potential launches from Robinhood and Revolut also come amidst regulatory ambiguity in the European Union. New rules under the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework are supposed to take full effect before the end of 2024.

These regulations require stablecoin issuers to have e-money licenses and also enact strict reserve requirements. Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, doesn’t have the EU license it needs but also won’t find it easy to follow the new rules. Circle, a USDC issuer, is already in possession of the necessary license and will be well-positioned for new changes in regulation.

Still, in spite of such regulatory pressures, the usage of stablecoins is growing outside of crypto exchanges. As a trend in emerging markets, stablecoin usage for payments and savings in U.S. dollars continues to increase in countries like Brazil, Turkey, and Nigeria. Most notably, Russian companies have turned to USDT as a way to circumvent sanctions and make international payments.

While Robinhood and Revolut are playing cautiously, the lucrative financial incentives that come with stablecoins remain hard to ignore. For the first half of 2024 alone, Tether reportedly pulled profits of $5.2 billion from its reserve assets