Stablecoins: podcast episodes, research and news

Stablecoins are crypto tokens designed to hold a steady value, usually one US dollar. They are backed by cash and short-term government debt, by crypto collateral, or by hedged trading positions. They have become crypto's most used product: the dollar people hold on-chain, the settlement asset for trading, and a cheaper way to move money across borders. Their growth has also raised harder questions about reserves, about yield, and about who keeps the interest the reserves earn. Laws such as the GENIUS Act in the United States and MiCA in the European Union now set rules for who can issue them.

Hodl Up has covered stablecoins from several sides. Xuling of Unitas Labs explains USDu, a stablecoin whose yield comes from hedged, market-neutral positions rather than directional bets. She also covers how designs like it held up during the market turbulence of October 2025. Ben Nadareski of Solstice joined us twice, at Breakpoint in Abu Dhabi and again at Proof of Talk in Paris. He talked about building a stablecoin and yield protocol on Solana and about the launch of the SLX token.

The payments side runs through the archive too. Merita Spahiu of CashXChain explains blockchain as B2B payment infrastructure. Pauline of WeSplit shows what happens when friends split a bill in USDC and SOL. Arthur and Ashna of Mercuryo cover the fiat on-ramps that turn local currency into stablecoins and back, while staying compliant. Gideon Greaves of Lisk argues that the first wave of real blockchain adoption is happening in emerging markets, where stablecoins already solve everyday problems.

Stablecoins are also spreading to chains that never had them. Orkun Kılıç of Citrea describes ctUSD, the stablecoin at the center of his Bitcoin layer. Jordan Jefferson explains how DogeOS wants to bring stablecoins to Dogecoin, one of the most decentralized proof-of-work networks.

This hub gathers those episodes with our stablecoin research, guides and news. If you're new, start with the guides on how stablecoins work and how USDT and USDC differ. Then move to the episodes to see how builders actually use them.