Why will everyone be talking about stablecoins this year? The CEO of Circle predicts 40%

Source: CritpoTendencia Original Title: Why Will Everyone Talk About Stablecoins This Year? The CEO of Circle’s 40% Prediction Original Link: During the World Economic Forum discussions in Davos, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire dismissed concerns that interest-bearing stablecoins could trigger massive withdrawals from traditional banks, calling warnings about a potential deposit run exaggerated.

In fact, during an interview on Squawk Box, Allaire analyzed the growth of stablecoins and stated that a 40% compound annual growth rate is a reasonable benchmark, driven by real utility in payments and settlements, not by speculative demand.

Jeremy Allaire: “Everyone Must Participate”

The CEO revealed that Circle is in talks with virtually all major banks worldwide to integrate stablecoins into payment systems and tokenized assets. Far from viewing them as a competitive threat, Allaire positions stablecoins as a complementary technology for networks like Visa and Mastercard, ensuring that, in the long run, everyone will have to participate in this infrastructure.

This vision is supported by ARK Invest, whose report “Big Ideas 2026” states that stablecoins are already displacing BTC as a savings and payment method in several emerging markets.

The Regulatory Dilemma: Deposits or Payment Instruments?

Mass adoption faces a key challenge: regulation of yields. As new legal frameworks for cryptocurrencies are being prepared, the debate revolves around how to structure the regulation of stablecoins and the associated yields.

The conflict arises because industry representatives warn that allowing third-party platforms to offer yields on stablecoin holdings could divert deposits from regulated financial institutions.

In this scenario, Allaire argues that stablecoins are primarily cash payment instruments, and that the current discussion is not existential but a dispute over how to structure the economic incentives surrounding them.

The Money of Machines

Beyond the banking debate, sector leaders have also begun positioning stablecoins as critical infrastructure for transactions by artificial intelligence agents, although adoption timelines remain uncertain.

In Allaire’s words: “Billions of AI agents will need a payment system. There is no alternative to stablecoins to do that right now.”

This view is not isolated. Galaxy Digital CEO Michael Novogratz stated in September 2025 that AI agents will become the largest users of stablecoins in the near future.

Similarly, the founder of a major sector player made comments along the same lines during Davos, pointing to cryptocurrencies as the backbone of AI-driven commerce, highlighting that the scale-tested includes exchanges and stablecoins, while the next frontier involves asset tokenization at the state level, cryptocurrencies as an invisible payment lane, and AI agents conducting autonomous transactions.

I close with this quote from Naval Ravikant: “Money is one of humanity’s oldest technologies, and like all technologies, it is destined to be upgraded by something more efficient.”