Reports: Beyond Concentration: Where Non-USD Stablecoins Can Scale; Stablecoin Strategy for Asia 2026; Global Banking Annual Review 2026

---

This week’s reports collectively describe a financial system shifting from bank-led infrastructure toward programmable, AI- and stablecoin-enabled networks. State of Stablecoin & Crypto Payments 2026 shows stablecoins moving into real production use by major institutions, though adoption is still limited by merchant acceptance and fragmented user experiences. Stablecoin Strategy for Asia 2026 highlights Asia as a key growth region, where stablecoins could streamline large remittance and trade flows that current cross-border rails handle inefficiently. Beyond Concentration: Where Non-USD Stablecoins Can Scale suggests future growth beyond USD dominance in markets where local currency stability and access matter more than global liquidity. Project Acacia – Exploring the role of digital money in wholesale tokenised asset markets emphasizes tokenization benefits in settlement efficiency but notes regulatory and coordination barriers. Meanwhile, KPMG Global AI in Finance 2026 and Global Banking Annual Review 2026 show AI and fintech pressure reshaping banking competition, while Five shifts powering payments points to agentic AI changing how commerce is discovered and executed.

---

Video of the Week

---

---

Deep Dive of the Week

---

Inside Wise’s Products, Licenses, Rails, and the Technology Stack

On May 11, 2026, Wise began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker WSE, a dual listing alongside its existing London Stock Exchange presence. The moment was symbolic. Wise isn’t just adding liquidity or broadening its investor base. The Nasdaq move signals something more deliberate: Wise is reframing itself not as a consumer fintech, but as financial infrastructure, the kind institutions and regulators think about differently than apps.

To understand why that framing matters, you have to understand what Wise has actually built over fifteen years, and where it’s now pointing that infrastructure.

Deep Dive: Inside Wise’s Products, Licenses, Rails, and the Technology Stack

---

This week’s reports

---

1️⃣State of Stablecoin & Crypto Payments 2026

2️⃣Stablecoin Strategy for Asia 2026

3️⃣Project Acacia – Exploring the role of digital money in wholesale tokenised asset markets

4️⃣KPMG Global AI in Finance 2026

5️⃣Beyond Concentration: Where Non-USD Stablecoins Can Scale

6️⃣Global Banking Annual Review 2026

7️⃣Five shifts powering payments

---

State of Stablecoin & Crypto Payments 2026

In 2025, Stripe, PayPal, Visa, and JPMorganChase all moved from evaluating stablecoin payments to running them in production.

Three drivers converged:

Infrastructure readiness — Major PSPs and banks went live with stablecoin payments. The rails no longer felt like an experiment.

Regulatory clarity — The US, EU, and Asia-Pacific now have frameworks in force or taking effect. The uncertainty that held institutions back is clearing.

Market demand — User adoption signals are strong, and stablecoins now dominate crypto payment volume.

If 2025 was the year stablecoins scaled, 2026 is the year they must prove their utility.

Key findings from the data are explored in detail across Sections 4–9.

Highlights include:

Stablecoin ownership is surging — surpassing Solana in the WalletConnect user base, with 51% of users aged 18–34 holding stablecoins (Section 5)

USDT and USDC dominate — held by 82% and 80% of survey respondents; onchain data shows USDC leads globally by holder count (759K) while USDT dominates Asia (Section 5)

The market is concentrated but fragmenting — two issuers control 94% of supply, but bank-issued and DeFi-native stablecoins are emerging fast (Section 5)

1.11 million WalletConnect wallets hold $36.3 billion in stablecoins — but the top 0.4% of wallets hold 98% of all value, revealing extreme concentration beneath the surface (Section 5)