Legacy forex, payments platforms ‘hate’ stablecoin adoption — Kevin OLeary

Stablecoins offer a cheaper, faster alternative to legacy global payments systems, the popular investor said at Consensus.

Global foreign exchange and payments platforms are lobbying hard against stablecoins, which stand to significantly disrupt their business models, investor Kevin OLeary said during a keynote address at Consensus 2025.

Legacy forex and payments platforms often extract large fees for servicing cross-border cash transfers and stand to lose out on revenue if regulated stablecoins become accepted as a cheaper, faster alternative, OLeary said at the Toronto conference.

“Currency trading is a multi-trillion dollar market — and it‘s old and ugly and inefficient,” O’Leary said, adding that “[ t]he biggest threat to that monopoly or oligopoly is a regulated stablecoin.”

“Once thats approved, the multi-trillion dollar FX market becomes efficient, transparent, and inexpensive,” he said.

Kevin OLeary speaking at Consensus. Source: CointelegraphStablecoin legislation

US lawmakers are working on legislation that stands to accelerate global stablecoin adoption, OLeary added.

US Senators are aiming to pass the so-called Genius Act — a framework for regulating stablecoins — before the end of May. “As soon as the SEC approves the stablecoin act, every regulator in the US‘s circle — Abu Dhabi, Switzerland, England — will follow,” O’Leary said.

“Who‘s worried about this？ The financial services industry. They hate this idea, and they’re working very hard to stop that bill from happening right now,” he added.

OLeary said regulatory clarity for stablecoins may be a precursor to broader cryptocurrency reform that could potentially unlock trillions of dollars in institutional capital.

“When this language comes out, people will see really good refinement, a lot of progress, on things like consumer protection, bankruptcy protection, and ethics,” US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said during an event hosted by Coinbase's lobbying arm, Stand with Crypto.

As of May 15, stablecoins are collectively worth nearly $250 billion in market capitalization, according to data from CoinGecko. Tether‘s US-dollar pegged stablecoin USDT is the leader, with a market cap of around $150 million, the data showed. It’s followed by Circles USDC, another US-dollar pegged stablecoin with a market cap of more than $60 billion.