Cobo Market Observation｜JD’s stablecoin ambitions are not just cross-border payments

Against the backdrop of a clearer global regulatory attitude, the capital market is setting off a new round of stablecoin concept craze. According to Wind data, the relevant index rose sharply for many consecutive days in mid-June. Under this prosperous scene, a division about the next generation of financial infrastructure is taking shape. China's Internet technology giant JD.com, with the public announcement of its top leadership, is stepping into this global game in a completely different way.

According to Sina Finance , Liu Qiangdong, chairman of the board of directors of JD.com, has made it clear that his goal is to apply for stablecoin licenses in all major currencies in the world, aiming to reduce the cost of cross-border payments between global enterprises by 90% and increase efficiency to within 10 seconds. Behind this announcement is a grand roadmap from solving one's own pain points to building a global financial network.

Deconstructing JD.com: From "local infrastructure" to "global card game"

It was not until June 17 that Liu Qiangdong placed his stablecoin strategy in the core territory of the company for the first time that the outside world was able to get a glimpse of JD's global financial blueprint. When talking to reporters about the company's strategy, Liu Qiangdong said , "JD's international business does not follow the cross-border e-commerce route, but local e-commerce, local infrastructure, local employees, local procurement, local delivery, and only sells branded products." This "localization" logic is the key to understanding its stablecoin layout.

If JD.com wants to replicate "local JD" in mainstream global markets, it needs to equip every node with local settlement capabilities. To operate efficiently in Japan, a yen stablecoin is needed; to be implemented in Europe, a euro stablecoin is needed. This business-inherited compliance demand has spawned a rigid pursuit of "local stablecoin license". The first phase of the stablecoin network is to create a unified and efficient financial operating system for distributed global businesses.

When the B2B settlement network is opened, JD.com's second phase goal is to move to the C-end market and realize Liu Qiangdong's vision of "one day everyone can use JD.com stablecoin to pay when they spend the whole world." The core challenge facing achieving this cross-border consumer experience is the traditional FX Friction. In fact, the current stablecoin market is highly dependent on US dollar stablecoins. Users in non-US dollar areas still need to frequently exchange currency when paying, which is costly and inefficient. To solve this problem, the multi-currency stablecoin system built by JD.com in the first phase will become the key to breaking through this barrier. Once the network matures, it will not only be a set of internal settlement tools, but will also evolve into a programmable and efficient "on-chain foreign exchange market", providing underlying support for seamless payment and instant redemption among global users.

It can be said that the focus of JD.com's stablecoin strategy is to directly cut into the traditional trade settlement market, take "compliance" as the core barrier, and focus on serving global physical enterprises that have rigid demand for transparent and efficient payment solutions. This strategy is highly consistent with Liu Peng, CEO of JD Coin Chain Technology . This veteran who has been deeply involved in the design of "WeChat Payment" has always been committed to embedding payment technology into real industrial scenarios in his career, and has also made JD.com's "industry priority" path not only pragmatic and feasible, but also credible.

Ultimately, when the financial network built by JD has sufficient liquidity and trust foundation, its stablecoin strategy will evolve from the internal settlement system of the enterprise into an open "international stablecoin settlement hub".

Two paradigms: Fuzzy boundaries of the US stablecoin bill

However, while Asian technology giants such as JD.com are accelerating their layout of the "vertical integration" model, the United States on the other side of the ocean is building a completely different system of rules. The highly anticipated GENIUS Act stablecoin bill has been passed in the U.S. Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 68-30 .

However, the passage of the stablecoin bill in the Senate is only the first step in this long march of regulation. It is reported that the bill has received more than 100 amendments , and a "interpretation battle" about the details of the rules has just begun. Among them, a widely-watched amendment clause is particularly critical. The clause proposes that a listed company with a main business non-financial business... shall not issue payment stablecoins unless the unanimous vote of a "stablecoin certification review committee" is approved. The final right to interpret this clause and the specific implementation details will be decided by regulatory agencies such as the Federal Reserve, the Ministry of Treasury and other regulatory agencies in a fierce game. If restrictions are strictly enforced, for technology giants such as Amazon and Walmart, the future will be to cooperate with licensed issuers rather than issue them themselves; for existing issuers like Circle, which have already made a large amount of compliance investment at the state level, this is tantamount to a "regulatory moat" solidified by federal law.

At this point, in addition to the digital RMB, China and the United States have shown two seemingly different models in the exploration of the future development path of the global stablecoin market: one is the Asian model represented by JD.com: driven by business giants, seeking "vertical integration." Second, it is a model represented by the United States: driven by regulation, its mainstream trend is to seek "separation of issuance and distribution", but the ambiguity of the final rules leaves huge uncertainty for the market.

Above the chess game: geofinance outside payment

All this happens against the grand background of global monetary system changes and reflection on the dependence of SWIFT systems. JD.com's strategic intentions have surpassed purely business efficiency considerations. It clearly expressed its support and promoted the issuance of offshore RMB stablecoins, but whether it can be finalized depends on mainland supervision. Once this multi-currency stablecoin network is built, it itself is an efficient global trade clearing layer that does not rely on the hegemony of the US dollar.

Therefore, JD.com's layout can be interpreted as a bottom-up exploration of the internationalization of the RMB led by market forces. The world's eyes are focusing on this, observing this great game that is driven by regulation and business that may determine the form of the next generation of financial infrastructure.