China Plans Yuan-Backed Stablecoins to Boost International Use

China’s State Council is reviewing a roadmap to launch yuan-backed stablecoins as part of a broader push for yuan internationalization. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) will lead implementation, with Hong Kong and Shanghai fast-tracking local regulatory approvals. This move follows guidance issued to curb fraudulent stablecoin schemes and counters the U.S. emphasis on dollar-backed stablecoins, which account for over 47% of global transactions. Target markets likely include Belt & Road Initiative countries, where Chinese tech firms like JD.com and Ant Group seek lower cross-border transaction costs. Meanwhile, EU officials are rethinking digital euro rails, considering public blockchains (e.g., Ethereum, Solana) to accelerate launch and improve accessibility. The European Central Bank aims for 50 billion annual transactions and a 40% share of card payments, despite euro stablecoins holding only 0.2% of the $271 billion market cap. In the U.K., industry leaders urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to adopt a national stablecoin strategy or risk falling behind, noting sterling-denominated stablecoins currently total under £500,000. In the U.S., Wyoming’s Frontier Stable Token (FRNT) has been deployed on seven networks—including Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon, and Solana—with a public launch set for September and plans to add yield products later. MetaMask is also gearing up to issue its own dollar stablecoin (mUSD) on Ethereum and Linea, marking the first stablecoin from a self-custodial wallet and expanding DeFi access.