The Good Tech Companies - From Code to Capital: The Tech Architecture Driving the Stablecoin and Tokenization Revolution

Episode Date: December 30, 2025

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/from-code-to-capital-the-tech-architecture-driving-the-stablecoin-and-tokenization-revolution. In 2024, stablecoin transfer volumes will eclipse the combined settlement volume of traditional payment providers by more than 7%. Check more stories related to web3 at: https://hackernoon.com/c/web3. You can also check exclusive content about #stablecoins, #stablecoin-transfer, #stablecoin-transfer-volumes, #digital-asset, #reeve-collins, #stbl-chairman, #digital-money, #good-company, and more. This story was written by: @manasvi. Learn more about this writer by checking @manasvi's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com. In 2024, stablecoin transfer volumes will eclipse the combined settlement volume of traditional payment providers by more than 7%. This figure represents a fundamental inversion of the financial hierarchy. Leaders gathered to break down exactly how capital is moving from traditional settlement systems to on-chain environments.

This audio is presented by Hacker Noon, where anyone can learn anything about any technology. From Code to Capital, the tech architecture driving the stable coin and tokenization revolution by Manas V. Aria. In 2024, stable coin transfer volumes climbed to $27.6 trillion, eclipsing the combined settlement volume of traditional payment providers by more than 7%. This figure represents a fundamental inversion of the financial hierarchy. For years, digital assets were viewed as a speculative fringe market, distinct from the serious machinery of global payments. The data now suggests the opposite is true. The most significant shift in finance is not happening in asset prices, but in the underlying architecture of money itself, specifically, the transition

from legacy banking rails to blockchain-based settlement. While market observers often fixate on daily volatility, the real story is the silent replacement of outdated infrastructure. This migration was the central theme for speakers at Binance Blockchain Week 2025. Leaders gathered to breakdown exactly how capital is moving from traditional settlement systems tune chain environments. Their takeaway was simple. The era of experiments is finished, and the infrastructure buildout is now underway. Reeve Collins, co-founder of Tether and chairman of STBL, framed the current state of the industry during a panel on digital money. He noted that while retail adoption has been robust, the next phase relies on a different class of participants. The people who haven't leaned

in yet to truly bring the scale word talking about are the institutions, Colin stated. What's up next is more trust and more institutional money, the silent erosion of traditional fiat rails. The flight toward on-chain finance is accelerating against a backdrop of macroeconomic friction. The U.S. dollar has weakened approximately 11% against a global basket of currencies, while traditional financial finance grapples with the slow mechanics of trade deficits and debt imbalances. Yet, the migration toastable coins is driven less by currency devaluation and more by technological obsolescence. Legacy systems like Swift still rely on T plus two settlement cycles and operate within rigid banking hours. In contrast, the market cap for stable coins has jumped to $312.

$55 billion, marking a 49, 13% YTD growth by early December 2025. This liquidity is not sitting idle, it is active across 208, 17 million holder addresses, moving value globally without regard for banking holidays or borders. Capital is naturally seeking the path of least resistance. Investors and businesses are increasingly opting for programmable money that functions 24-7, abandoning the friction of the 9 to 5 banking window. The technology has simply outpaced the rails it was meant to supplement, leading to a gradual but decisive erosion of Fiat infrastructure. Infrastructure over speculation, the rise of the stable coin sector is fundamentally a story about settlement architecture. Traders are not just swapping tokens. They are utilizing

a superior mechanism for finality. This utility was highlighted at Binance Blockchain Week 2025 through a discussion on high-value transaction settlements. Zach Whitkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, pointed to a specific event that illustrates this capacity for scale. One United States dollar was used to settle the largest transaction in crypto history, MGX investing in Binance, Whitkoff said. Five years ago, no one would have imagined a $2 billion deal settling in stable coins. This architectural shift has been solidified by the passage of the Genius Act in the U.S. Rather than acting as a restriction, the regulation has served as a blueprint for institutional entry.

By mandating 100% reserve backing and enforcing rigorous monthly disclosures, the Act has effectively transformed private stable coins into regulated digital dollars. For Reeve Collins, the new rules are less about restriction and more about permission for institutions to enter. He argues that clear regulations provideth necessary foundation for genuine growth. When you talk about scale, what you're really talking about is trust, Collins said. The technical capabilities of modern blockchains further widen the gap between crypto and traditional finance. On high-performance networks, conversions between assets now occur in under half a second for a fraction of a cent. When contrasted with the fees and delays of legacy wire transfers, the friction of the old

system looks increasingly archaic. Bringing Wall Street on chain, as money moves on chain, the assets it purchases must inevitably follow. This isth logic driving the explosion of tokenized real-world assets, the definition of value in the crypto space is expanding from simple currency to complex collateral. The numbers reflect a sector in hypergrowth. The market cap for RWA's has reached $18, $25 billion, a staggering 229% increase. Tokenized U.S. Treasury Salone now account for over $9 billion, while major traditional players are making their presence felt. BlackRock's B-UIDL fund, for instance, now manages $2 billion in assets under management. This institutional interest is visible in user demographics. Despite historical regulatory uncertainty, institutional confidence has surged, with Binance reporting

a 97% growth in its institutional user base during 2024. Face entities are not just dipping a toe in, they are integrating blockchain into their operational stacks. The ultimate objective of this architecture is the creation of fully transparent, mobile collateral. In the current system, system, moving collateral between institutions can take days. On chain, it happens in minutes. This efficiency frees up capital that would otherwise be trapped in settlement limbo. As noted during the panel discussions, the industry is moving toward a future where all collateral eventually lives on chain, ushering in an era of fully transparent digital value.

The inevitable convergence, we have moved past the experimental era of cryptocurrency into the architectural phase of global finance. The Genius Act provided the necessary rules, whilst table coins and tokenization provided the rails. The result is a financial system that is becoming irrevocably digital, where code effectively functions ASCAPIDL. Taking a longer view on network demand, Aptos Labs CEO Avery Ching argued that future throughput needs won't come just from individuals.

We're not scaling for 10 billion people, we're scaling for a trillion AI agents acting on their behalf, Ching said. The transition is well underway. The infrastructure replacing the old banking rails is faster, cheaper, and transparent, setting the stage for a fully programmable global economy. This story was authored under Hackernoon's business blogging program. Thank you for listening to this Hackernoon story, read by artificial intelligence. Visit hackernoon.com to read, write, learn and publish.