Key Takeaways:
- The GENIUS Act, a law aiming to regulate stablecoins, was recently signed into law.
- In response, major retailers like Amazon and Walmart are exploring their own stablecoins. Companies like PayPal have already launched their own.
- These currencies might offer rewards, savings, and yields from digital wallets.
- Experts are concerned that digital retailer wallets will result in less financial freedom and decreased data protection for consumers.
Imagine going to the mall and spending a different currency at every store. This future might be closer than you think, thanks to a new law that makes it easier for companies like Walmart and Amazon to set up their own stablecoins.
A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency that is pegged to the value of a widely traded asset, like the U.S. dollar. The GENIUS Act, or the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, creates a regulatory framework for companies to issue their own stablecoins.
The New Age of Store Currencies: Who’s Creating What
Below is a list of some of the companies reportedly looking to launch their own stablecoins:
Retailers: Walmart (WMT), Amazon (AMZN), Expedia (EXPE), JD.com, Inc.(JD), and Alibaba-backed Ant Group.
Financial Institutions: Revolut, Standard Chartered Bank (via a joint venture with Animoca Brands and HKT), Bank of America (BAC), U.S. Bancorp, and other large commercial banks, including Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC).
Others: Apple (AAPL), Airbnb (ABNB), Google (GOOGL), Meta (META), Uber (UBER), and Davis Commodities (DTCK).
Some companies have already launched their own stablecoins. They include PayPal (PYPL), Fiserv (FI), Robinhood (HOOD) (via a joint venture with Kraken and Galaxy Digital), and President Trump’s World Liberty Financial (DJT). JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has launched something similar to a stablecoin called a “deposit token.”
How Retailer-Backed Money Could Change Your Shopping Experience
The rise of stablecoins could have immediate and large impacts on how consumers shop.
“We’re witnessing a shift in how money flows through our economy,” explains Sung Choi, Chief Operating Officer at Coinme, an operator of bitcoin ATMs. “It will make our shopping experiences smoother while giving big retailers more control over our spending.”
A transition to stablecoins could make cash management more complex because shoppers will need to keep track of multiple wallets. They will also need to think strategically about where to keep money.
“These retailer stablecoins will likely offer benefits, potentially even yield. It will be like earning interest on your gift card balance,” Choi says. “When you have $500 in Amazon coin, earning 2.5% annually or getting 3% cash back, you’re more likely to default to Amazon for purchases. This loyalty is exactly what retailers want, creating customer retention through financial incentives.”
Protecting Your Finances in a Multi-Currency Future
Despite the potential yields and discounts that may come from retailer stablecoins, experts warn that there may be a long-term tradeoff of decreased consumer freedom.
“Brands try to turn loyalty into locked-in spending,” says Julian Merrick, founder and CEO of automated trading journal SuperTrader. “When I hear companies like Walmart or Amazon launching their own digital currencies, I don’t see innovation—I see control dressed up as convenience.”
Merrick says store-brand currencies could act more like store credit than cash, with companies limiting the ways their currencies can be redeemed or spent. Once you trade your dollars for Walmart coins, for example, it may be difficult or expensive to trade them back.
There are also additional risks, as consumers may lose the risk protections that are normally provided by banks and credit cards.
“These tokens cut Visa/Mastercard fees for merchants, but they also shift fraud, compliance, and solvency risk onto shoppers,” says Will Reeves, CEO and founder of Fold, a bitcoin financial services company. “If a retailer stumbles, there’s no FDIC backstop for your store dollars.”
And a stablecoin system could also give retailers more power when it comes to understanding consumer behavior.
“We already live in a world where major platforms know almost everything about us. A stablecoin like this only tightens the loop,” says Michal Moneta, Chief Strategy Officer at Onchain Foundation, a blockchain-focused nonprofit. “Every transaction becomes a clean, on-chain datapoint: transparent, immutable, and directly linked to identity. And for AI systems trained to predict what you’ll buy next, it’s pure gold.”
The Bottom Line
With the passage of the GENIUS Act and a pro-crypto federal government, retailer-backed stablecoins could be in our pockets sooner rather than later. While there may be advantages in shopping with stablecoins, consumers should exercise caution before they lock up their money in these digital wallets.
