Global foreign exchange and payment systems are vigorously campaigning against stablecoins, which could substantially disrupt their business frameworks, investor Kevin O’Leary articulated during a keynote address at Consensus 2025.
Traditional forex and payment systems frequently impose high charges for managing international money transfers and risk losing substantial income if regulated stablecoins gain acceptance as a more economical, quicker alternative, O’Leary mentioned at the Toronto event.
“Currency trading is a multi-trillion dollar sector — and it’s outdated, unattractive, and ineffective,” O’Leary noted, adding that “[ t]he primary danger to that monopoly or oligopoly is a regulated stablecoin.”
“Once that’s sanctioned, the multi-trillion dollar FX sector transforms into a streamlined, transparent, and affordable system,” he remarked.
Stablecoin regulations
US legislators are devising laws that could hasten worldwide stablecoin implementation, added O’Leary.
US Senators aim to enact the so-called Genius Act — a framework for overseeing stablecoins — prior to the closure of May. “Once the SEC endorses the stablecoin act, every regulator within the US’s sphere — Abu Dhabi, Switzerland, England — will follow suit,” O’Leary stated.
“Who is apprehensive about this? The financial services sector. They despise this notion and are striving intensely to prevent that legislation from coming to fruition at this moment,” he continued.
O’Leary remarked that regulatory clarity for stablecoins could precede broader cryptocurrency reforms that might unlock trillions of dollars in institutional financing.
“When this language is released, individuals will witness considerable improvements, significant advancements, in areas such as consumer protection, bankruptcy safeguards, and ethics,” US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand expressed at an event organized by Coinbase’s lobbying arm, Stand with Crypto.
As of May 15, stablecoins have a combined market capitalization of almost $250 billion, according to data from CoinGecko. Tether’s US-dollar linked stablecoin USDT leads, boasting a market cap of approximately $150 million, as per the data. It is followed by Circle’s USDC, another US-dollar linked stablecoin with a market cap exceeding $60 billion.