Stablecoins Over Dapps
The idea
I think crypto apps never found real users, but digital dollars did, so this take skips the app-platform tokens and instead owns the companies and coins making stablecoins actually move. It holds issuers and exchanges, card networks and payment processors adding stablecoin settlement, the banks custodying reserves, remittance firms shifting to these rails, and a small slice of payment-focused coins, with cash held back for flexibility. It is built as a multi-year position, and I would rethink it if stablecoin volume stalls or banks and card networks stop building on these rails.
What it owns
- Companies that issue stablecoins earn interest on the dollars backing them, so their revenue grows as digital dollar circulation expands. · Circle Internet GroupIt issues USDC and earns interest on the dollars backing it, so its growth tracks how much digital dollar circulation expands globally., Coinbase GlobalIt collects a share of Circle's stablecoin revenue and is building stablecoin-backed payment cards, so its earnings depend on digital dollar adoption.22%
- Card networks are adding stablecoin settlement capabilities, which means they collect fees whether payments move through traditional or digital rails. · VisaIt's positioning itself to settle stablecoin payments through its network, ensuring it collects fees whether customers pay with traditional or digital dollars., MastercardIt's the second major card network positioned to route stablecoin payments through its infrastructure the way it routes all other payments.20%
- Stablecoins only reach everyday shoppers and businesses through merchant-facing payment systems and checkout platforms. · PayPal HoldingsIt issues PYUSD and processes stablecoin payments, so its business benefits as digital dollar checkout becomes part of mainstream payment flows., FiservIt provides back-office systems that banks use to issue and move stablecoins, so it earns fees as traditional banks adopt digital dollar infrastructure., ShopifyIt lets merchants accept USDC at checkout, so its revenue exposure to digital payments grows if stablecoin checkout adoption keeps accelerating.17%
- Blockchains and tokens built specifically for moving money represent the direct cryptocurrency exposure to stablecoin adoption. · XRPIt represents Ripple's payment network and RLUSD stablecoin, which operate on the XRP Ledger and track the adoption of those payment rails., Stellar LumensIt's a blockchain built for low-cost payments where stablecoins move, so its adoption depends on real transfer volume growing on those rails.13%
- Major banks hold the cash reserves backing stablecoins and are issuing their own tokenized dollars, making them central to mainstream adoption. · JPMorgan ChaseIt holds reserves backing stablecoins and issues its own bank-issued digital dollar, so it profits as tokenized money goes mainstream., CitigroupIt operates tokenized treasury and payment services on blockchain rails and holds stablecoin reserves, so it profits as those services scale.12%
- Remittance and cross-border payment companies can reduce costs and undercut legacy players by settling transfers on stablecoin rails. · Remitly GlobalIt sends money across borders through digital rails and can cut costs by settling transfers on stablecoin networks instead of legacy systems., Western UnionIt's moving remittances onto stablecoin rails to lower costs and compete with faster digital competitors in the cross-border money transfer market.7%
- Cash10%