Crypto’s stablecoins set to go mainstream

Significant growth: A woman passes a bitcoin monument in Ilopango, El Salvador. Unlike bitcoin and other tokens prone to price volatility, the use of stablecoins as actual currencies in transactions is gaining popularity around the world. — Reuters

NEW YORK: While bitcoin’s surge above US$100,000 captivated the headlines in 2024, many financial firms are more focused this year on a different type of cryptocurrency whose price is never meant to rise, or fall for that matter.

Mainstream players such as Visa, PayPal Holdings Inc, Stripe Inc and others are making investments in projects involving stablecoins, which are crypto tokens typically designed to be pegged to the value of the US dollar or another traditional currency.