What has been happening around stablecoins in recent months truly demands attention. Although Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market remain sluggish, every major player is focusing on launching stablecoins in various currencies. Not just dollars — Swiss francs, Japanese yen, British pounds. In recent months, we've seen a German joint venture launching a Swiss franc-based token, Japanese companies bringing out yen versions, and Hong Kong announcing the start of stablecoin licensing in March.

But the biggest news? Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is planning to bring back stablecoin-based payment capabilities in the second half of this year. This is an intriguing moment because Meta previously tried with Libra, which later became Diem, but faced fierce opposition from regulators.

So what’s different this time? Christian Catalini, co-creator of Libra, now a professor at MIT and founder of MIT CryptoEconomics Lab, clarified this. According to him, stablecoins are now moving into the background — provided by various providers and becoming part of the payment infrastructure. It’s no longer a branded product; it’s becoming a commodity.

Catalini said that tech giants like Google and Apple will use multiple stablecoin providers — just as they do with payment processing. Looking ahead to May, this trend is likely to strengthen. The market is maturing toward a commoditized landscape.

Andy Ston, Vice President of Communications at Meta, confirmed this — the move is solely about giving users and businesses the ability to use their preferred payment methods. The real competitive advantage now lies in distribution — whoever maintains a direct relationship with the end user captures the most value.

Meta controls about 3.6 billion users across Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. That’s a huge advantage. This focus on communication and reach marks a significant shift — moving away from wallet-based stablecoin provision, or the old model of fiat-to-crypto and back.

We are already seeing companies withdraw their investments from stablecoin orchestration firms. This is positive news for card networks, fintechs, neobanks, and wallet companies — those directly connected to end users.

Stripe, a long-term payment partner of Meta, is an interesting player here. Their CEO, Patrick Collison, joined Meta’s board a year ago. Last year, Stripe acquired stablecoin specialist Bridge for $1.1 billion and built its own blockchain tempo. But Catalini raised a question — will other major payment providers want to build on Stripe’s network? Probably not. It circles back to the core challenge of creating a truly open and neutral network — the fundamental purpose of crypto. But in practice, that’s difficult unless you’re building on already established platforms like Ethereum, Bitcoin, or Solana.