Disclaimer: This article was republished with updated data from the PwC Global Crypto Regulation Report 2023, as it previously erroneously referred to the PwC Global Crypto Regulation Report 2022.
The industry of stablecoins — or cryptocurrencies like Tether (USDT) and USDC (USDC) — has seen massive growth over the past year, with the market value hitting new all-time highs in 2023. With stablecoins rapidly growing, global jurisdictions have been rushing to regulate the market, according to a new report.
As many as 25 countries had stablecoin legislation or regulation in place in 2023, according to the PwC Global Crypto Regulation Report 2023 published on Dec. 19. These countries include Austria, The Bahamas, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Japan, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and others, according to the PwC’s analysis and regulatory assessment.
The vast majority of countries that enacted stablecoin laws have also secured or enforced all the other reviewed regulations, including a crypto regulatory framework, licensing or registration, and the Financial Action Task Force’s Travel Rule.
In its new crypto regulation report, the professional services firm PwC assessed the status of crypto regulations in a total of 43 countries including the United States and the United Kingdom.
According to the PwC’s analysis, countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada are yet to finalize legislation for stablecoins as well as come up with a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. Some crypto-friendly countries like Singapore and the United Arab Emirates have adopted all crypto-related regulations apart from stablecoins, according to PwC’s data.
About 18% of analyzed countries, or just 8 jurisdictions, have not initiated any stablecoin regulations at all, according to the report. Such countries include Bahrain, Brazil, India, Taiwan, Turkey and others. 23% of the reviewed jurisdictions, including Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, have the stablecoin regulation process initiated and actively engaged in adopting stablecoin laws.
Related: Stablecoins ‘not a safe store of value’ — BIS
Stablecoins are a major part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, with the Tether stablecoin being the most traded assets on a daily basis. According to data from CoinGecko, Tether’s daily trading volumes are 23% higher than those of Bitcoin (BTC), amounting to $34 billion.
The stablecoin market has been on the rise in 2023, adding billions in value due to massive growth of Tether and other stablecoins. Tether’s market capitalization for the first time broke above $90 billion in mid-December 2023, securing 36% growth since January.
According to data from CoinGecko, the total stablecoin market capitalization has been hitting new historical highs this year, reaching a new record of $131 billion.
According to some analysts, stablecoins will continue to grow further in the coming years. Bitwise’s Ryan Rasmussen believes that stablecoins will settle more money in 2024 than the global payment giant Visa.
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