Stablecoins, Payments and Court Battles Define This Week in Web3

Cryptocurrency and Web3 technologies are supposed to represent the future of finance, offering a decentralized and borderless world where money, data and assets flow freely.

Despite progress and setbacks, however, the advance guard of a hypothetical future-fit financial sector is fighting the same historical battles on three major fronts: regulatory compliance, legal standoffs and the inherent complexity of digital assets.

Each week, PYMNTS rounds up the most pressing Web3 news, updates and announcements, tracking the key data points along the sector’s journey across global payments and commerce.

Read also: This Week in Web3: Unlocking Blockchain’s Potential Within Payment Ecosystems

The Traditional Financial Sector Finds Common Ground in Stablecoins

Coinbase announced Friday (Oct. 4) that it will potentially delist stablecoins that don’t adhere to Europe’s strict new rules by the year’s end. The move comes as the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) is introducing tougher oversight of cryptocurrency companies.

Stablecoins, like Tether’s USDT, may soon be kicked off the platform unless they get the necessary permissions. That means more hoops for crypto companies to jump through, and it’s a reminder that the Wild West of crypto isn’t so wild anymore.

Coinbase said European Economic Area users will be provided with the option to convert to compliant stablecoins, such as Circle’s USD Coin.

PYMNTS last week examined efforts by PayPal and Visa to push into the stablecoin space, arguing that it marked the maturation of the ecosystem.

“These heavyweights are not only expanding the use cases for stablecoins but also working on enhancing their stability and legitimacy, an effort that could mark a shift in how stablecoins are perceived and used in the broader financial world,” PYMNTS reported Friday.

For years, stablecoins were seen as niche — useful but not ready for prime time. Now, they’re being touted as the future of payments and business transactions.

PayPal, for example, completed its first business payment, to EY, with its in-house stablecoin, PYUSD, Thursday (Oct. 3). Visa launched a new platform Thursday for banks to issue fiat-backed tokens, such as stablecoins and tokenized deposits.

The Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP) is designed to use the payment company’s expertise in technologies like smart contracts to let banks issue and transfer fiat-backed tokens over blockchain networks.

Meanwhile, Coinbase is also expanding the ways businesses can pay via the Coinbase Prime brokerage platform.

“An increasing number of Fortune 500 companies are approaching Coinbase to explore crypto payments,” Coinbase Director of Institutional Sales Steven Capozza said Thursday. “Many are quickly moving from proof-of-concept exploration to full adoption.”

Still, people don’t just need a financial reason to use blockchain; they need it to be as easy as swiping a credit card. Simplifying how to use and access crypto remains a key hurdle in moving from niche to mainstream adoption.

Legal Showdowns: Ripple vs. SEC and FTX’s Recovery

Ultimately, the success of crypto will rest on how well it defeats the demons from its past, particularly the regulatory and legal ones.

Blockchain firm Ripple said it is prepared to continue its legal battle against the Securities and Exchange Commission after the SEC said it was appealing a ruling in its case against the company.

The ruling distinguished between sales of XRP to institutional investors and sales to the public on exchanges. While sales to institutional investors were found to meet the legal definition of an investment contract, sales to the public did not qualify as a security.

In a statement on social platform X, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse chastised the SEC, saying the regulator and its chairman, Gary Gensler, need to move on.

Elsewhere, Crypto.com, a cryptocurrency trading platform, filed a lawsuit against the SEC that accuses the agency of exceeding its legal authority by attempting to regulate the cryptocurrency sector.

Meanwhile, most of FTX’s creditors will profit from their investments in the failed cryptocurrency exchange. A bankruptcy agreement approved Monday (Oct. 7) by a federal court, gives 98% of FTX’s creditors approximately 119% of their claim.

Finally, in Web3 metaverse news, MindArk, the developer behind Entropia Universe, announced Wednesday (Oct. 9) new advancements that could help it create the first artificial intelligence-generated and -operated metaverse with a real cash economy.