Standard Chartered Pushes $2T Stablecoin Forecast to 2030; Kraken Buys Saldo Bank

Standard Chartered has delayed its projection for the stablecoin market to reach $2 trillion, pushing the timeline from 2028 to 2030 due to slower-than-expected supply growth despite rising transaction volumes. According to Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank's head of digital assets research, stablecoin market capitalization has plateaued near $309 billion this year, even as existing tokens like Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC see increased usage. The bank identified four major stablecoin segments: USDT dominates savings in emerging economies, USDC leads payments in developed markets, USDC and Ethena's USDe power crypto trading, and USDC is emerging in agent-to-agent AI transactions. Kendrick noted that proposed US accounting changes treating qualifying stablecoins as cash equivalents could accelerate corporate adoption.

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Saldo Finance Oy, a holding company whose subsidiary Saldo Bank UAB operates as a licensed digital bank in Lithuania. The acquisition is part of Payward's broader infrastructure strategy to integrate traditional banking with crypto services. Saldo Bank's EU banking license will allow Kraken's parent to operate in Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, and Germany, where it already offers retail term deposits, with its authorization also passported into the Netherlands. The deal is expected to close in 2027, subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger has suspended reseller sales across parts of Asia amid an investigation into tampered hardware wallets, raising fresh security concerns for self-custody users. The company has not yet disclosed the specific regions affected or the scope of the compromise. The news comes as competition in the crypto self-custody market intensifies, with institutional and retail investors increasingly relying on hardware wallets to secure significant holdings. Ledger said it is cooperating with local authorities to identify the source of the tampering and prevent further distribution of compromised devices.