The Good Tech Companies - Why Concordium’s Compliance First Blockchain Could Push Stablecoins Mainstream

Episode Date: September 9, 2025

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/why-concordiums-compliance-first-blockchain-could-push-stablecoins-mainstream. Concordium’s blockchain is adding new stablecoins in GBP, USD, and AED, aiming to make digital money safer and compliant for real-world payments. Check more stories related to web3 at: https://hackernoon.com/c/web3. You can also check exclusive content about #blockchain, #web3, #concordium, #stablecoins, #stabir, #concordium-news, #good-company, #cryptocurrency, and more. This story was written by: @ishanpandey. Learn more about this writer by checking @ishanpandey's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com. Concordium’s blockchain is adding new stablecoins in GBP, USD, and AED, aiming to make digital money safer and compliant for real-world payments.

This audio is presented by Hacker Noon, where anyone can learn anything about any technology. Why Concordium's compliance first blockchain could push stablecoins mainstream, by Ashan Pondi. Greater than why have stable coins processed trillions in transactions yet remain barely greater than used for everyday payments, despite over $7 trillion worth of stablecoin transactions in the past year. These digital dollars and euros are rarely used to buy groceries or paybills. One enterprise-focused blockchain company, Concordium, believes a lack of security and compliance is holding stable coins back and it's proposing a solution. This week, Concordium announced that three stable coin issuers, Stable R, Colb, and VNX

will launch their fiat pegged coins natively on its network, part of a broader push to bridge crypto and real-world finance. Three new stable coins joined Concordium's pay-fI ecosystem, Concordium, Al-A-Y-E-R-1 block. known for its built-in identity verification layer, revealed that Stable R, Colb, and VNX will issue stable coins directly on its chain as protocol-level tokens, not traditional smart contract tokens. This design means the stable coins live natively in user wallets without needing custom contract code, a setup the company says reduces counterparty and coderisks that have plagued other chains like Ethereum or Solana. Boris Borer Bilevitsky, CEO of Concordium, explains,

Greater than, we're thrilled to partner with Stable R, Colb, and VNX to bring their greater than stable coins to our pay FI ecosystem. The arrival of three new issuers showcases greater than how Concordium is becoming the home for compliance-ready stable coins looking greater than to be adopted for real-world use cases. The new stable coins are pegged to major fiat currencies, including the British bound, GbP, US dollar, USD, and UAE Deerham, AED, extending Concordium's reach across regions. These assets will leverage Concordium's identity layer and zero knowledge proof privacy features, which provide built-in compliance controls and lower security risks for institutional users. Concordium's infrastructure is designed to enable stable coin issuers to meet

regulatory requirements, such as know-your-customer checks or geographic restrictions, without compromising user privacy or security. Who are the new stablecoin partners? Stable R is a European stable coin issuer backed by prominent crypto firms Tether and Cracken, that offers both Euro, EURR, and U.S. Dollar, U.S.DR, stable coins and holds an electronic money institution license to comply with EU regulations. In just six months since launch, Stablers' coins have gained traction. They're listed on over 50 exchanges, including Cracken, Bitfinex, Bybit, and H.T.X, with more than 150 trading pairs, facilitating around 3 billion euros in transaction volume in the first half of 2025. The other two issuers target different markets. Kolb is a

USD-backed stable coin whose reserves are secured in Swiss banks. Beyond just a digital dollar, Kolb plans to give investors access to tokenized structured products, TKsps, essentially blockchain tokens mirroring the performance of traditional financial assets. Meanwhile, Lichtenstein-based VNX is introducing a British pound, GbP, stablecoin backed one to one by Sterling Reserve. held in banks across Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Together, these new coins broadened the currency mix on Concordium's network, signaling an ambition to support global payment use cases rather than just US dollar-denominated crypto trading. The push for real-world stablecoin payments. Concordium's expansion comes at a time of surging stablecoin activity and a realization that

most of it remains within the crypto markets. Over the last 12 months, stablecoins handled an eye-popping $1 trillion in on chain transaction value, rivaling the scale of major payment networks. Yet by Concordiums estimate, citing Visa data, only around 1% of that volume represents retail payments or everyday commerce usage. In other words, nearly all stable coin traffic today is for trading, arbitrage, or crypto-specific transfers, not buying goods and services in the real economy. Visa's own research has noted that even in the U.S., stable coin transactions account for under 4% of non-cash payments so far, underscoring the gap between crypto transaction volumes and actual payment adoption. This gap has spurred a wave of projects aiming to make

stable coins useful for payments. Concordium's announcement name drops several fellow issuers, including startups like Spico, Agant, RIs, Euro dollars, Noon, Deep Blue, and AEDX, all experimenting with stable coins for mainstream use cases. The common thread is A push to move beyond. using stable coins just for trading liquidity and start using them to settle real bills, remittances, e-commerce purchases, and more. Concordium is positioning its chain as an ideal home for these efforts by providing off-the-shelf compliance features and a safer token model. The idea is that regulated entities, like fintech firms, banks, or payment companies, would be more willing to use and accept stablecoins if the underlying blockchain offers identity-verified transactions,

governance controls, and reduced risk of hacks are fraud. From a regulatory standpoint, this approach aligns with increasing scrutiny on stable coins. Major economies are drafting rules to ensure stable coins are fully backed and traceable, fearing issues around money laundering or consumer risk. By baking identity and compliance into the base layer, Concordium offers an answer to the question regulators often pose greater than, how do we know who is transacting, and can we enforce the rules on Concordium, every wallet can be tied via an ID layer using zero knowledge proofs to a real-world

identity that has been verified, though identities remain private and less revealed under approved circumstances. This way, a transaction can be compliant, E. G, not involving sanctioned parties or restricted regions, without exposing personal data on the public ledger. That combination of privacy and accountability is aimed at enabling real-world financial applications that both users and regulators can be comfortable with. Where traditional smart contracts fell short, Concordium's strategy also addresses a technical critique of how stable coins and many crypto tokens operate today. Most popular stable coins, such as those on Ethereum, are built using smart contracts, self-executing code that defines the tokens behavior. This model, pioneered by platforms like

Ethereum a decade ago, allowed anyone to create programmable digital assets and spurred a boom in decentralized finance. But it also came with downsides that have become increasingly apparent. The very flexibility that made smart contracts powerful also made them dangerous. Bugs or vulnerabilities in widely used contract code have led to billions of dollars in losses from exploits and hacks. A notorious example was the Dow Hackin 2016, where an attacker exploited a flaw in an Ethereum smart contract to drain about $60 million worth of ether, forcing a controversial chain fork tour cover the funds. More recently, numerous defy protocols and cross-chain bridges have suffered similar fates, as hackers find loopholes in complex contract

logic. Smart contracts can also be inefficient for high-volume use. Every token transferer operation invokes custom code, consuming more computational resources and gas fees than a simple native token transfer would. For users, this has meant higher costs and slower throughput when when using stable coins on congested networks. And then there's the issue of compliance and control. Standard smart contract tokens don't inherently know anything about who's using them or where they're being sent. Features like KYC know your customer checks, geo-fencing certain jurisdictions,

or age restrictions have to be built on top, if at all, and are not natively enforced by the blockchain. In regulated markets, where a payment provider might need to ensure a transaction involves an identified, authorized party, this lack of. built-in identity makes life complicated. It often requires third-party identity oracles or off-chain checks, undermining the efficiency and, trustless, nature that smart contracts were supposed to offer. The result is a feeling that smart contracts alone haven't delivered the fully secure, scalable, and trustworthy financial infrastructure that early visionaries hoped

for. The concept was sound, as envisioned by cryptographer Nick Sabo in the 1990s, smart contracts were meant to be tamper pro of agreements executed with the speed and certainty of software, but in practice the implementation has strayed from those foundational principles of safety, efficiency, and trust. If stable coins and other crypto tokens are to power everyday finance, many believe the technology needs a tune up to address these shortcomings. Concordium's answer to status quo, protocol level tokens, PLTs. Concordium's solution comes in the form of what it calls protocol level tokens, PLTs, essentially tokens like stablecoins that are issued and managed by the blockchain's core protocol code rather than through user-deployed smart contracts.

By moving token logic into the base layer of the blockchain, Concordium aims to eliminate many of the risks and inefficiencies outlined above. The three new stablecoins joining Concordium will be among the first Todake this approach. Instead of each issuer writing their own smart contract. With the possibility of bugs or malicious code, they will use Concordium standardized token framework built into the network itself. How is this different in practice? For one, efficiency should improve, with no custom contract execution on each transfer, transactions become as lightweight AS native coin transfers on the chain, minimizing gas fees and complexity. Concordium also touts security gains, a smaller attack surface due to the standardized,

vetted token code that's the same for all, rather than numerous bespoke contracts. Because these protocol level tokens are first-class citizens of the blockchain, they carry unique identifiers at the protocol level, preventing the common spoofing problems, where scammers create fake tokens with similar names on other chains. Another key feature is compliance integration. Concordium's identity layer can be directly tied into token operations. This means an issuer can enforce all lists or block certain addresses from whole holding or transferring the stable coin if required, all baked into the tokens logic.

For example, a stable coin issuer could automatically prevent tokens from being sent to sanction listed accounts or implement region-based restrictions, so a stable coin version of a digital GbP could be programmed not to leave certain jurisdictions if regulators mandate. Such controls are optional tools, but the point is that the chain supports them out of the box, which could be crucial for banks or businesses that need to follow strict rules. Concordium's unique ID capabilities make this possible at scale, in a way that typical ERC20 tokens on Ethereum cannot easily match. There are also user experience benefits. With protocol tokens, users don't have to manually add contract addresses to their wallets to recognize a new coin.

The wallet software can automatically detect any official token issued on Concordium. This reduces friction, especially for less tech-savvy users or in-customer-facing payment apps. Concordium has implemented on chain governance for token creation, meaning that launching a new PLT, such as a new stable coin, requires a governance committee transaction for approval. Once approved, an authorized issuer account controls the token supply, minting and burning, but the initial creation step ensures that totally rogue or unvetted tokens can't just appear. This governance layer might reassure participants that every stable coin on Concordium has passed some level of due diligence by the network community, adding a layer of trust.

Importantly, Concordium is rolling out these capabilities hand in hand with industry partners. The current cohort of stablecoin issuers working with Concordium including Stable R, Colb, VNX and others have been involved in testing this infrastructure on Concordium's Devnet. By collaborating early, Concordium hopes to tailor the platform to real business needs. And stable coins are just the beginning. The company hints at a broader pay-fi payments finance toolkit and development, envisioning things like one-click digital payments that combine identity verification with instantaneous stablecoin settlement. The ultimate vision, according to Concordium, is a seamless experience where a user could verify their identity privately and send a payment anywhere in the world in a compliant manner, all in one quick action, as easily as using a mobile payment app, a compliance-first crypto bet that faces big tests. Concordium's compliance-centric approach to blockchain represents a notable shift from the move fast and break things, ethos that characterized early crypto.

By prioritizing built-in identity, security and governance, they are trying to bring blockchain back to the original promise of trust while avoiding past pitfalls. In my view, this strategy addresses some of the key reasons traditional institutions have been wary of crypto, namely, the unpredictable risks of smart contracts and the unclear regulatory compliance of public blockchains. If Concordium and its partners can demonstrate that Stable Coins own a network like this are both safe and regulator-friendly, it could encourage banks and payment companies to finally embrace crypto tokens for everyday uses. The presence of issuers like Stable are already complying with EUE money regulations, and others suggests there is demand for such trustworthy, stablecoin infrastructure. However, the real challenge will be adoption and user trust. Technology O one doesn't guarantee that people will start using stable coins to pay for coffee or that merchants will accept them. Competing networks,

from established ones like Ethereum and Tron, to other regulated chains and upcoming central bank digital currencies, are vying to dominate digital payments. Concordium will need to prove that its model is not only safer but also practical and convenient on a global scale. That might involve partnerships with payment processors, fintech apps, or even governments to get stablecoin-based payments rolling in the real world. It's encouraged to see VISA's data highlighting the tiny fraction of stable coin volume going to real commerce, it means there's immense room for growth if the right solution clicks. But it also means changing user behavior and building new acceptance networks, which is no small feat. In the end,

Concordium's initiative can be seen as part of a broader maturing of the crypto industry, a recognition that to go mainstream, crypto must play by the rules and earn trust. By engineering, trust and compliance, into the fabric of its blockchain, Concordium is taking a thoughtful step in that direction. Whether this ultimately leads to a breakthrough in stable coin adoption remains still be seen, but it's a development worth watching. If successful, it could mark a turning point where digital currencies finally become as routine in daily transactions as swiping a credit card. And even if hurdles remain, efforts like this are valuable in testing what it really takes to connect decentralized tech with the demands of the real economy. The road to a

crypto-powered payment future will require both innovation and cooperation with regulators and Concordium as betting that a little more structure at the protocol level might be the key to unlocking that future. Don't forget to like and share the story. This author is an independent contributor publishing via our business blogging program. Hacker Noon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims here and belong to the author. Hashtag DYO thank you for listening to Listening to this Hackernoon story, read by artificial intelligence. Visit hackernoon.com to read, write, learn and publish.