The stablecoin wars are heating up after PayPal announced today that it will enable PYUSD for U.S. customers sending money across borders.
PayPal’s cross-border money transfer service Xoom will allow U.S. based customers to convert USD into the firm’s stablecoin, PYUSD, and send to residents in 160 countries.
According to today’s press release, there will be no transaction fees associated with sending the funds
"Enabling U.S. users of Xoom the option to fund cross-border money transfers using PYUSD builds on our goal of driving mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies while also offering an easy way to securely send money to friends and family at a lower cost,” said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, who leads PayPal’s blockchain team.
Bidding to capture a growing stablecoin market, and position itself as a TradFi player that operates in DeFi, PayPal launched its stablecoin, PYUSD, in August, 2023. After growing to a high of $290 million in market capitalization in January, it has fallen to a market cap of $190 million, sitting in 12th place on Coingecko’s stablecoin category.

Ripple Joins Race

PayPal’s move comes as Ripple joins the stablecoin use-case.
The company behind XRP announced today a new U.S. pegged stablecoin on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchain. According to the firm, the new stablecoin will be 100% backed by US dollar deposits, short-term US government treasuries, and other cash equivalents.
“A high-quality USD stablecoin on the XRPL – with its decentralized exchange and features like issued currencies, auto-bridging (that uses XRP as the native currency to facilitate trades between other assets), and the AMM — will be a gamechanger for users and devs,” wrote Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz today on X.
Ripple and PayPal are also joined by Ethena Labs’ controversial USDe, which has soared to a $1.3 billion market cap in less than two months since launching on Feb. 21.
Dethroning the top stablecoins will not be an easy feat, however.
The top two stablecoins, USDT and USDC, control more than 90% of the $154 billion sector’s market cap, as per data from Coingecko, both showing no signs of giving up market share any time soon. The two heavy-weights’ market caps have actually increased versus their smaller competitors this year.

AI-Powered Web3Firewall Raises $2.5 Million Round Led By Nomura's Laser Digital

Fusing AI and blockchains is a narrative that continues to permeate the crypto industry.
AI-powered Web3Firewall has closed a $2.5 million pre-seed funding round led by Nomura-backed Laser Digital, gumi Cryptos Capital (gCC), and SPEILLLP, a member of Susquehanna International Group.
Web3Firewall is an enterprise-grade security and compliance platform. According to a press release shared with The Defiant, the firm’s software can be easily integrated with APIs, detecting and responding to malicious transactions and AML/KYC threats before they occur.
This happens thanks to its proprietary AI models and machine learning, which simulate transaction outcomes.
“Artificial Intelligence can reduce the risks associated with Web3 transactions by detecting fraud, money laundering, scams, and other illegal activities,” said Samer Fayssal, CEO of Web3Firewall.
He explained to The Defiant that Web3Firewall’s advanced machine learning scans for transaction anomalies and identifies real-time threats to proactively prevent illicit transactions before they hit the blockchain.
Web3Firewall Enterprise is currently in a beta testing phase and is due to launch onto the market in Q2 this year.

Marrying AI and Blockchain

There’s actual substance behind the crypto-AI mashup.
As a number of AI-related projects have been popping up in the crypto space, the sector’s market cap has grown to a staggering $25 billion.
Bittensor, Fetch, SingularityNET, and Ocean lead AI and crypto platforms. The latter three recently merged assets in hopes of accelerating decentralized AI development.
For Fayssal, the convergence brings clear benefits.


“Blockchain's beauty lies in its decentralized ledger, which offers AI models unparalleled access to secure and reliable data,” he said, pointing out that the former can enhance transparency and the verifiability of user data within AI systems, which would be a step forward in preserving user privacy using the decentralized model.”
Fayssal added that his firm’s AI-blockchain combination can also automate decisions and guide users through an ever-evolving regulatory landscape, providing an additional use case.

Laser Digital Continues to Expand

Nomura-backed Laser Digital has been in the headlines of late, broadening its reach in the digital asset industry.
On March 27, the firm unveiled an institutional Polygon adoption fund embracing liquid staking, and on March 19, it revealed a successful USDC transfer with Keyring Network, highlighting with a proof of concept that large entities are experimenting with crypto-compliant tools.