Daily Crypto Briefs 
SAN FRANCISCO, December 19, 2025
Stablecoins are turning into the internet’s dollar rail. At the time of writing, DefiLlama’s stablecoin dashboard shows roughly $307.7 billion in USD-pegged stablecoins in circulation, with USDC around $77.1 billion.
That scale is why the “Coinbase branded stablecoin” idea is getting traction with operators, not just crypto traders. Coinbase already sits in the middle of USDC distribution and runs Base, a low-fee chain built for consumer payments. If the next step is a way for companies to offer their own branded dollar token through Coinbase rails, it changes how businesses think about checkout, refunds, payroll, and cash buffers.
This is not a prediction that Coinbase has launched a merchant stablecoin program. It is a framing for what the market is signaling: branded dollars are the logical product after USDC rails, Base settlement, and web-native payments standards like x402.
What Coinbase branded stablecoins mean
First, define the term.
A stablecoin is a token designed to track $1. The clean version is simple: you can redeem 1 token for 1 dollar, so the price stays close to $1 in normal markets.
“Coinbase custom stablecoins” means we can now have private-label stablecoins for businesses.
These stablecoins would not sit next to, or compete with, USDC. That path is politically and commercially hard because Coinbase already promotes USDC heavily on its platform via its USDC product page, and USDC is issued by Circle with published reserve disclosures on Circle’s USDC page.
The most interesting business story is the following:
A “branded stablecoin” that is a merchant token backed 1:1 by USDC or cash-like reserves held with a regulated custodian, then issued and redeemed through a Coinbase-managed stack. To customers, it looks like a dollar token tied to a brand. Under the hood, it can behave like USDC with different branding and different rules about who can hold it.
If you are not technical, this is the mental model: think of a private-label credit card, but for dollar tokens that can move 24/7.
Why big brands want a stablecoin
For a large company, a stablecoin is not about “crypto.” It is about control over payment flow and settlement timing.
Settlement speed and treasury control
Card payments come with delay, reconciliation work, and chargeback risk. Stablecoin settlement can move dollars in minutes, and it runs on weekends.
That matters to treasury teams. When cash can settle outside banking hours, companies can shrink the buffer they keep idle for payroll, refunds, supplier payments, and weekend spikes.
Loyalty that can travel across apps
Most loyalty points are trapped inside one app. A branded dollar token can move between a brand’s apps, marketplaces, and partners if the rules allow it. That is a direct reason PayPal created its own stablecoin, PYUSD, instead of only supporting other stablecoins.
Cross-border and B2B payments that feel like domestic transfers
A stablecoin does not remove taxes or compliance, but it can remove routing friction. If your supplier accepts USDC, an invoice can settle without waiting for international bank rails to open. For global businesses, that is a cash flow weapon.
If you want proof this is moving beyond crypto-native apps, Visa says it now supports USDC settlement with select U.S. partners in the U.S., detailed in Visa’s USDC settlement press release.
What it changes for small businesses
Small businesses do not need to issue a token to benefit. They need to collect dollars faster, pay people with less overhead, and keep more of their margin.
The simple win: accept USDC where it beats cards
If your customers already hold stablecoins, USDC can become a checkout option where cards feel expensive or fragile. Refunds are also cleaner when the same asset moves back to the same wallet.
On Base, fees can be low enough for smaller tickets, which is why I keep pointing builders to Base when they ask “which chain makes payments usable.”
Micropayments, metered access, and pay-per-use pricing
Small internet businesses also have a pricing problem: subscriptions convert poorly, and ads are a race to the bottom.
That is why Coinbase’s x402 protocol matters. It turns HTTP 402 into a way to charge per API call or per page view in stablecoins. We detailed how that happens in: Make Money With Coinbase’s x402.
But for now, for most small operators, launching a token is a distraction. The better move is to accept USDC, learn wallet operations, and only think about branding once you already have stablecoin revenue.
The risks businesses need to price in
Stablecoins are not magic cash. They are software-backed dollars with rules, and those rules can bite.
Regulation changes who can hold what
In the U.S., stablecoin rules are now a business risk variable, not a crypto debate. If you have not read it yet, The Genius Act and the Stablecoin Market is the cleanest starting point for what “payment stablecoins” are allowed to do and what they are not allowed to do.
The policy backbone is in the White House GENIUS Act fact sheet and the bill text on Congress.gov.
Freeze and block controls are real
Many regulated stablecoins can be frozen under lawful orders. If your business wants fewer chargebacks, you also need to accept that some coins come with controls that look more like banking than bearer cash.
Banks will fight for your stablecoin flow
Banks do not want to lose deposits and payment fees to stablecoin rails. They will copy the features, lobby around them, and ship their own versions inside bank apps. That is the real thread behind Banks Are Coming for the Stablecoin Market.
Accounting and security are not optional
If you accept stablecoins, you need a policy for who controls wallets, how keys are secured, how you reconcile inflows and outflows, and how you handle mistakes. A stablecoin checkout that saves 2% is not worth a single key-management failure.
How to get ahead before it’s crowded
If Coinbase ever productizes “branded stablecoins,” early winners will already be comfortable running stablecoin flows. You do not need a token launch to start.
Start with one stablecoin rail and one business flow
Pick USDC and one flow you already run: refunds, contractor payments, cross-border invoices, or a small pay-per-use product.
Build a stablecoin playbook that your team can repeat
Document who approves transfers, how much sits in hot wallets, when funds move to cold storage, and how accounting reconciles on-chain activity. Treat stablecoins like cash, because attackers treat them like cash.
Watch the product signals, not the marketing
If Coinbase pushes harder on Base payments, merchant tooling, and x402 adoption, private-label stablecoins become the natural follow-on product. When that happens, the competitive edge is not “being early to crypto.” It is being early to better payment unit economics.
The stablecoin endgame is simple: dollars that move like APIs. If your business can accept, send, and reconcile stablecoins without drama, you are already ahead of the next wave.
If you want the fastest way to turn stablecoin rails into revenue, Make Money With Coinbase’s x402 is the playbook.
Primary sources and further reading
| Source | Title |
|---|---|
| | DefiLlama: Stablecoins dashboard |
| | Coinbase: USDC |
| | Circle: USDC |
| | Base: Official site |
| | x402: Official site |
| | Coinbase x402: GitHub repo |
| | PayPal: PYUSD |
| | Visa: USDC settlement in the United States |
| | White House: GENIUS Act fact sheet |
| | Congress.gov: GENIUS Act public law PDF |
Fact-checked by: Daily Crypto Briefs Fact-Check Desk
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Coinbase branded stablecoin?
It is a dollar-pegged token issued or powered through Coinbase rails that carries a brand’s name in the user experience, while still aiming to redeem 1:1 for real dollars or a regulated dollar stablecoin like USDC.
Is a branded stablecoin the same thing as USDC?
Not necessarily. USDC is a specific regulated stablecoin. A branded stablecoin could be its own token that is backed by USDC or cash-like reserves, with Coinbase handling custody, compliance, and distribution.
Why would a business want its own stablecoin?
The business can settle payments faster, reduce card-style friction in some flows, and build loyalty features that work across apps and marketplaces.
What are the biggest risks?
Regulatory limits, redemption and reserve trust, wallet security, and the reality that stablecoins can be frozen or blocked when required by law.