Metallicus CEO on Stablecoins & FedNow
The next generation of U.S. payments will see stablecoins and FedNow coexist, according to Metallicus CEO Marshall Hayner. In a recent interview, he argued that stablecoin pilots are informing the buildout of FedNow, with the goal being digital overlays that can move value across both blockchain and legacy bank rails.
FedNow adoption has surged, with over 1,600 financial institutions participating as of early 2026. The service saw a 460% year-over-year increase in transaction volume in 2025, settling over 8.4 million payments by January 2026. The total value of these transactions reached $853.4 billion in 2025, a significant jump from $38.2 billion the previous year. While FedNow's participant numbers have surpassed the bank-owned RTP network, which has around 1,135 institutions, RTP still leads in total payment value, processing over $1.3 trillion in 2025. The RTP network, operational since 2017, handles over 1 million transactions daily. Both networks are built on the ISO 20022 messaging standard but are not yet interoperable. The growth of instant payments has intensified the focus on fraud prevention, with AI and machine learning becoming critical. These systems analyze vast transaction data in real-time to detect anomalies and suspicious patterns that rules-based systems might miss. Financial institutions are leveraging behavioral biometrics—like typing speed—and real-time transaction analysis to identify and prevent fraud within the milliseconds before a payment is finalized. On the legislative front, the "Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins" (GENIUS) Act, signed into law in July 2025, established the first federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. The law mandates that stablecoins be backed 1-to-1 with reserves like U.S. dollars or short-term Treasuries and creates a licensing system for issuers through federal regulators or qualifying state regimes. Following the GENIUS Act, major financial technology firms are moving to integrate stablecoins. FIS announced a partnership with Circle to allow its financial institution clients to transact in USDC, connecting Circle's platform to its Money Movement Hub. This integration aims to combine USDC functionality with FIS's real-time payment and fraud detection tools, creating a scalable path for banks to adopt digital assets. Institutional adoption is being driven by the potential for stablecoins to reduce costs and settlement times, particularly for cross-border B2B payments. A recent survey indicated that while only 13% of financial institutions and corporations currently use stablecoins, 54% of non-users expect to adopt them within the next year. Companies like Circle are partnering with global financial infrastructure developers, such as OpenPayd and Matera, to bridge local payment rails with USDC liquidity.
