SS #88 - Stablecoins Flip Automated Clearing House in February

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Good morning.

Stablecoins quietly crossed a line in February that traditional finance cannot ignore: $7.2T in monthly volume surpassed the ACH network, the backbone of US salary payments, while total supply hit a record $315B and stablecoins claimed 76% of all crypto trading volume in Q1.

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In Today's Edition:

• Headline: Stablecoins Flip Automated Clearing House in February

• Quick Bites: Deal on Stablecoin Yield is Close

• Yield of the Week: PT reUSDe’s 13.96% Fixed APY

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HEADLINE

State of play: Stablecoins crossed a landmark threshold in February, with $7.2T in monthly transaction volume surpassing the ACH network's $6.8T, cementing their role as a legitimate payments rail alongside traditional finance infrastructure.

• Total stablecoin supply hit a record $315B in Q1 2026, up $8B from Q1 2025, even as the broader crypto market contracted.

• Stablecoins accounted for 75% of total crypto trading volume in Q1, the highest share on record, with transaction volume topping $28T for the quarter.

• Retail transfers dropped 16% in Q1, the steepest decline on record, while bots drove roughly 76% of all stablecoin transaction volume.

• USDC grew by ~$2B in Q1 while USDT declined by ~$3B, marking the first notable divergence between the two since Q2 2022.

• Analysts at Standard Chartered project total stablecoin market cap could reach $2T by 2028, a 530%+ increase from current levels.

What’s Next: Yield-bearing stablecoins are the next regulatory flashpoint, with banks already lobbying against them. Positioning in compliant, non-yield issuers may carry less legislative risk heading into the market structure bill debate.

Why it Matters: Flipping ACH volume signals they are competing directly with core US payment infrastructure, with institutional adoption and favorable regulation accelerating the transition.

Our Take: The ACH milestone is real, but the bot-driven volume surge undercuts the narrative. 76% automated flows means organic, retail-led adoption is still thin.

QUICK BITES

• Kulipa raises $6.2M seed round.

• Crypto super PAC names Tether exec chairman.

• Hong Kong misses March target for first stablecoin licenses.

• BitGo launches stablecoin minting and redemption for institutions.

• SBI Holdings' B2C2 designates Solana as primary stablecoin network.

• Coinbase CLO says Clarity Act 'very close' to reaching deal on stablecoin yield.

YIELD OF THE WEEK

Reservoir wsrUSD Looping Vault: 10.96% APY

• The vault accepts rUSD deposits and provides leveraged exposure to srUSD, Reservoir's yield-bearing stablecoin backed by a multi-collateral balance sheet of digital strategies and RWAs, with ~$4.09M in TVL.

• Capital is deployed via leveraged looping at 11.21x effective leverage through Morpho wsrUSD/USDC and wsrUSD/rUSD markets, with $45.8M in total assets against $41.7M in liabilities.

• Yield is generated from the spread between assets APY (4.74%) and liabilities APY (3.81%), amplified by leverage to produce a 14.24% net APY, after a 1% management fee and 10% performance fee, while also earning Fusion Points.

PT reUSDe (USDe): 13.96% Fixed APY

• The market accepts reUSDe deposits and provides fixed-yield exposure to re.xyz's insurance-backed stablecoin, maturing June 25, 2026, while also earning 5x Sats and 30x Re points for KYC-verified users.

• Capital is deployed into re.xyz's insurance underwriting platform via Pendle Router, with 1 reUSDe converting to 1.33907 USDe at maturity.

• Yield is generated from underwriting low-volatility personal and commercial insurance lines on re.xyz, with the PT locking in a fixed 13.96% APY while YT holders capture remaining variable yield and points.

Gauntlet EURC Core: 9.83% APY

• The vault accepts EURC deposits and allocates liquidity across curated Morpho lending markets following Gauntlet's CORE framework, balancing security and yield for a moderate risk profile, with ~$4.7M in TVL.

• Capital is primarily deployed into WBTC/EURC (~3.31M EURC) and wstETH/EURC (~747.56k EURC) markets at near-full utilization of 97.93% and 98.49% respectively.

• Yield is generated from lending demand across high-utilization collateralized markets, with individual market APYs ranging from 11.03% to 11.04%, net of a 10% performance fee.

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Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.