SS #122 - Payment Giants Double Down on Stablecoins

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Visa and PayPal used back to back earnings calls to stake competing claims on stablecoin infrastructure, but the vague language around "investing across the stack" and unspecified OpenUSD integration timelines suggests both companies are hedging on execution while racing to avoid ceding ground to native crypto payment rails.

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In Today's Edition:

• Headline: Payment Giants Double Down on Stablecoins

• Quick Bites: Bernstein Cuts Circle Price Target to $140

• Yield of the Week: PT sUSD3 (USDC)'s 22.97% Fixed APY

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HEADLINE

State of play: Visa and PayPal both used their latest earnings calls to frame stablecoins and AI as complementary growth engines, signaling traditional payment rails are racing to embed crypto infrastructure before agentic commerce scales.

• Visa posted $11.6B in Q3 revenue, up 14% YoY, and joined the OpenStandard consortium to help issue the OpenUSD stablecoin.

• Visa's stablecoin platform will integrate with Pismo to support tokenized deposits, with more infrastructure providers planned.

• PayPal reported $8.68B in Q2 revenue, above consensus, alongside an $81M non-GAAP adjustment tied to crypto holdings.

• PayPal is expanding into agentic payments and stablecoins, with its PayPal World platform processing about $200M in volume.

• Both companies described AI-driven commerce as the next growth layer built on top of stablecoin infrastructure.

What’s Next: Watch for OpenUSD's rollout details and whether PayPal follows Visa into a formal consortium, plus how quickly agentic commerce features reach merchants.

Why it Matters: When Visa and PayPal treat stablecoins as core infrastructure rather than a side bet, it signals the technology has moved past experimentation into mainstream payment rails.

Our Take: Both companies are hedging the same bet, stablecoins as plumbing, AI as the interface, but vague language like "investing across the stack" suggests neither has committed to a clear product yet.

QUICK BITES

• PayPal expands stablecoin push.

• South Korea plans stablecoin rules.

• Bernstein cuts Circle price target to $140.

• Visa outlines stablecoin strategy during Q3 earnings call.

• Tether’s GENIUS-compliant USAT stablecoin launches on Celo.

• Visa CEO sidesteps labeling Open USD a challenger to Tether and USDC.

• Stablecoin firm Brale says it can remove major hurdle to scaling custom tokens.

YIELD OF THE WEEK

PT sUSD3 (USDC) via Pendle: 22.97% APY

• The market accepts sUSD3 deposits, the junior tranche vault token of 3Jane's lending markets backed by uncollateralized crypto loans and off-chain fintech installment loans, maturing December 17, 2026, while also earning $JANE points.

• Capital is deployed via Pendle Router into the sUSD3 market, with 1 sUSD3 converting to 1.28992 USDC at maturity, subject to a 30-day lock period with native withdrawal available after staking.

• Yield is generated from 3Jane's lending pool returns compounded into sUSD3's exchange rate, with the PT locking in a fixed 22.97% APY while YT holders capture remaining variable yield and points.

USDat/USDat LP (Pendle): 14.67% APY

• The pool accepts USDat deposits, a stablecoin backed by M0's tokenized US Treasuries and fully redeemable 1:1 for US dollars via Saturn, maturing January 14, 2027, on Monad, with ~$51.5k in pool liquidity and earning 38x Saturn points.

• Capital is split across USDat SY (~$30.7k, 59.6%) and PT USDat (~$20.8k, 40.4%), earning a blended yield from LP fees and underlying USDat yield.

• Yield is generated from Saturn's Treasury-backed returns, with LP APY composed of 10.97% LP fees and 3.70% USDat yield, with no PENDLE rewards.

sUSDe/USDe LP (Pendle): 14.03% APY

• The pool accepts sUSDe deposits and provides liquidity for Ethena's yield-bearing synthetic dollar, maturing October 22, 2026, on Monad, with ~$11.31M in pool liquidity and earning 20x Sats points.

• Capital is split across sUSDe SY (~$9.46M, 83.58%) and PT sUSDe (~$1.86M, 16.42%), earning a blended yield from MON rewards, underlying USDe yield, PENDLE incentives, and LP fees plus 99 daily PENDLE rewards.

• Yield is generated from Ethena's staked ETH and basis spread strategies, with LP APY composed of 9.45% MON rewards, 4.10% USDe yield, 0.45% PENDLE rewards, and 0.03% LP fees.

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