Weekly Roundup

What it means: If Treasury mandates non-interest-bearing reserves, stablecoin business models depend entirely on transaction volume rather than balance sheet leverage - forcing issuers to compete on infrastructure quality instead of yield arbitrage. Better outcome for corporate users who value settlement speed over returns. If SEC's securities framework prevails, expect yield-bearing stablecoins with equity-like disclosure requirements - creating regulatory burden that advantages established financial institutions over fintech challengers.

What it means: First time a payment rail incumbent is treating public blockchains as settlement infrastructure rather than competitor technology. If pilot succeeds, merchants processing $50M+ annually save $1-1.5M in fees while maintaining Visa's fraud protection and chargeback mechanisms. Corporate treasurers should note: Visa isn't abandoning legacy rails, it's creating optionality. The CFO question becomes “which settlement method for which transaction type” rather than “blockchain or traditional.”

What it means: Central banks are moving from “whether” to “how” on CBDCs. Corporate treasury teams should prepare for multi-currency CBDC environments where settlement occurs in seconds rather than days, but with embedded compliance requirements that may restrict transactional flexibility. The $120B savings won't distribute evenly - large corporates with existing banking relationships may see minimal benefit while mid-market firms could cut cross-border costs 40-60%.

What it means: DeFi stops being “code is law” and starts being “code plus disclosures.” Treasury teams evaluating DeFi yield strategies gain regulatory-mandated transparency on risks that previously required in-house modeling. But compliance costs will push smaller protocols to geo-block EU users, reducing available options. Larger protocols (Uniswap, Aave, Curve) likely welcome regulation as competitive moat - they can afford compliance infrastructure that marginal competitors cannot.

What it means: Gulf capital is moving from crypto-curious to infrastructure deployment. This isn't a sandbox - it's a regulated exchange with institutional backing targeting $50B in tokenized assets within 3 years. Family offices and PE funds should note: Dubai is offering liquidity for traditionally illiquid assets (private equity, real estate) without requiring traditional IPO or fund redemption mechanisms. Governance and custody remain questions - permissioned blockchain means DFSA controls who can validate transactions, creating regulatory dependencies that don't exist in public markets.