What Do Amazon, GENIUS ACT, and $50B Have in Common?

Welcome to PayFi Weekly.

👀 This week, the crypto industry just witnessed a rare triple alignment: regulators moving fast, retail giants moving in, and stablecoin liquidity hitting all-time highs. Welcome to the new stablecoin era.

💱 Stablecoin Snapshot

🧮 Exchange Stablecoins Reserves Hit Record $50 B. Stablecoin reserves on exchanges surged to $50 billion on June 16, a new all-time high, signalling growing market liquidity and investor confidence. According to CryptoQuant’s on-chain data, this is the highest level since stablecoins were introduced. 🔗 Read full report

⚖️ Regulation

🇺🇸 Senate passes GENIUS Act to regulate stablecoins, with 68–30 in favor of the GENIUS Act, marking the first federal framework for stablecoins. The legislation mandates full reserves, AML/KYC compliance, regular audits, and federal oversight for issuers. It now moves to the House. More details

🔍 The largest crypto seizure in history. The U.S. Department of Justice confiscated $225.3 million in Tether linked to a global “pig butchering” scam. The case reflects how regulators are backing new laws with aggressive enforcement. Read more

🧩 The Ripple and SEC case took another turn this week as both sides asked the appeals court to keep the case on hold. While a settlement agreement reportedly exists, final approval awaits review by the district court, keeping regulatory clarity on hold. Read more

🌍 Adoption

💳 SenturoPay launches crypto payment card that enables everyday spending across major retailers globally. Learn more

🚀 South Korea’s KakaoPay surged over 200% after filing six KRW-stablecoin trademarks, backed by growing support from the government and President Lee Jae Myung, who endorsed local stablecoin initiatives in partnership with the private sector. Explore the full story

⚡️ Amazon and Walmart to enable stablecoin payments? Reports suggest that Amazon and Walmart are exploring their own stablecoins, potentially revolutionizing retail payment and mass adoption. Read more

🛠 Tech & Partnerships

🌍 UAE-based startup SaturnX has secured $3 million in seed funding from White Star Capital. The funds will help scale their stablecoin-powered payment infrastructure across the Gulf and South Asia corridors. Read the funding news

🔓 Alt‑coin ETFs are almost guaranteed by end‑2025. Bloomberg analysts estimate a 95–98% probability of spot ETF approvals for Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin, signaling a broader shift in how mainstream investors access crypto markets. Explore their predictions

🔐 Nectra launches Bitcoin-backed stablecoin protocol. Nectra has launched nUSD, a non-custodial, Bitcoin-backed stablecoin protocol on Citrea. It allows users to borrow USD-pegged assets using BTC collateral. Discover the details

🌍 Everything Else

🔐 Crypto crime supercycle drains $2B+ in Q1. More than $2 billion in losses were reported in Q1 2025 due to hacks, phishing scams ($96M), and rug pulls ($300M+). Memecoins and weak enforcement frameworks are fuelling the rise. Dig deeper

📊 Consensus 2025 flags stablecoin yield trends. The Consensus summit in Toronto spotlighted “yield-bearing stablecoins” as a major trend. Stablecoins are evolving into productive assets rather than just passive settlement tools. Read the recap

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