6 Countries with Stablecoin Regulations in 2023

Stablecoin Regulations: An Overview

The industry of stablecoins — such as Tether (USDT) and USDC (USDC) — has seen remarkable growth in the past year, with the market value reaching new all-time highs in 2023. Despite this rapid development, only a few countries have started regulating the market, according to a recent PwC Global Crypto Regulation Report 2023.

The report found that only six countries had stablecoin legislation or regulation in place in 2023: The Bahamas, The Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Japan, Mauritius and Switzerland. All of these countries have enforced crypto regulations, AML rules and the Financial Action Task Force’s Travel Rule.

PwC’s analysis and regulatory assessment covered 35 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the report revealed that these countries have yet to finalize legislation for stablecoins and develop a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies such as Reef Crypto, Shiba Inu Crypto Today, Shib Crypto Today, Pepe Crypto, Orca Crypto, Spell Token Crypto, New Crypto, Poly Crypto, Pond Crypto, and Safemoon Crypto.

Exploring the Growing Stablecoin Market

According to a recent report, 14 countries have not yet initiated any stablecoin regulations, including Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Taiwan and Turkey. 25% of the reviewed jurisdictions, such as Hong Kong and Italy, have started the process of regulating stablecoins, while only 9% of countries, including the United Arab Emirates, have finalized their laws.

Meanwhile, mainland China, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have prohibited the use of cryptocurrencies. Despite this, the stablecoin market has seen tremendous growth in 2023, particularly with the Tether stablecoin. Data from CoinGecko shows that Tether’s daily trading volumes are 23% higher than Bitcoin (BTC), amounting to $34 billion. Tether’s market capitalization also broke above $90 billion for the first time in mid-December 2023, with a 36% increase since January.

The rise of Tether and other stablecoins has been accompanied by the introduction of new crypto offerings, such as Reef, Shiba Inu, Shib, Pepe, Orca, Spell Token, Poly and Pond. Safemoon Crypto has also seen a surge in popularity.

According to data from CoinGecko, the total stablecoin market capitalization has been hitting new historical highs this year, reaching a new record of $131 billion. Bitwise’s Ryan Rasmussen predicts that stablecoins such as Reef Crypto, Shiba Inu Crypto Today, Shib Crypto Today, Pepe Crypto, Orca Crypto, Spell Token Crypto, New Crypto, Poly Crypto, Pond Crypto, and Safemoon Crypto will settle more money in 2024 than the global payment giant Visa.