Stablecoin

A leaked draft of the CLARITY Act is prompting fresh debate over whether stablecoin platforms could be barred from offering yield that resembles deposit interest, while some activity-based rewards may still be allowed. Circle's stock fell 20% to $101.17 amid the regulatory news. Separately, Tether says it has engaged a Big Four firm for its first full independent audit as scrutiny of the sector rises.

Digital asset industry representatives met with the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on March 23 to review a White House-backed compromise led by Sens. Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks focused on stablecoin rewards. The proposal would likely ban yield earned from merely holding idle stablecoin balances while allowing rewards tied to uses like payments, transfers, or active platform engagement. Senators also signaled a tight timeline, with an April markup target and warnings that missing a May Senate-floor window could stall the bill.

Tron’s stablecoin supply climbed to $86 billion while Q1 transactions reached 894 million, supporting TRX’s 10%+ rise into the end of March. The network also expanded its AI Fund from $100 million to $1 billion and added 162k TRX to its treasury, bringing the total to 688 million TRX. Together, the liquidity metrics and AI-focused spending signal a broader push to align Tron with growing interest in AI agents.

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals said it will exit biotech and rebrand as Stablecoin Development Corporation (SDEV) effective April 3, 2026, after which its stock rose 18%. The company said it has raised $134 million from investors including Tether and Framework Ventures and holds over 2.06 billion SKY tokens to pursue returns via blockchain protocols, while Deloitte Canada separately partnered with Stablecorp to build financial systems using QCAD.

Ark Invest added 161,513 Circle (CLCR) shares across ARKK, ARKW and ARKF on Tuesday, a purchase valued at $16.34 million based on the $101.17 close. Circle shares slid 20% during the session amid several developments seen as potential headwinds for its USDC business, then rose 1.5% in after-hours trading.

Stablecoins have become the dominant rail for USD-denominated spot crypto trading, making up 83.03% of volume in late-March 2026. Fiat USD pairs accounted for 16.97% on centralized exchanges, a drop from 2021 when stablecoins held 77.75% and fiat pairs 22.25%. The shift reflects stablecoins' growing role in liquidity and settlement across both centralized markets and DeFi.

Bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $71,000 at the time of writing, staying relatively steady despite escalating geopolitical tensions tied to the U.S., Israel, Gulf states, and Iran. The article argues that a resurfacing Bitcoin–gasoline “fractal,” alongside a $470 billion weekly drop in global M2 and stablecoin supply hitting $316.9 billion, points to cautious liquidity conditions that could keep pressure on BTC.

Circle minted $500 million USDC on Solana in the past 24 hours, adding fresh stablecoin liquidity as traders increased buying across crypto assets. After the mint, USDC supply on Solana rose 0.14% and topped $8 billion, while USDC's total circulating supply stood near $78.65 billion. The move coincided with a broader market rebound, with CRCL and SOL showing signs of recovery.

EDXM International says it will roll out a blockchain-based Korean won perpetual futures contract in April 2026, designed to track KRW/USD via a synthetic KRWQ/USDC pair. The product settles in USDC and uses an offshore won-backed stablecoin structure positioned as an alternative to traditional KRW non-deliverable forwards, a market cited at roughly $27 billion in average daily volume.

Tether said it has engaged a Big Four accounting firm to carry out its first full independent financial audit, expanding beyond the reserve attestations it has used in the past. The company said the audit will review complete financial statements covering digital assets, traditional reserves and tokenized liabilities, as USDT’s market value sits above $184 billion.