Getting Inked
“Getting Inked” – A cartoon that illustrates how the recently passed Genius Act in the USA is meaning Blockchain technology is starting to go mainstream and on trend. Tattoos were long seen as unprofessional, a silent career limiter in corporate environments. Today, they’re worn openly by founders, investors, and executives – with nearly 40% of Gen Z and over a third of Millennials in the U.S. now have at least one, reflecting a shift in what signals credibility and individuality in the workplace.
Stablecoins are undergoing a similar reframing. “Sometimes when you scroll through LinkedIn or attend conferences, it feels like stablecoins are being hyped as the solution to everything — like they’re about to solve world hunger or cure cancer,” says Eric Barbier, CEO of Triple-A.
But behind the noise, adoption is accelerating for practical reasons. Amazon and Walmart are exploring proprietary stablecoins to avoid the 1% to 3% interchange fees merchants pay, with potential savings of up to $14Bn a year. These internal stablecoins also allow them to hold customer balances and capture U.S. Treasury yield, rather than leaving that value with banks or card networks. Meanwhile, organizations like FIFA, JPMorgan, Citi, and South Korea’s SK Group are building their own EVM-compatible blockchains using Avalanche’s Subnet technology. These Subnets are custom EVM-compatible networks that give enterprises full control over throughput, fees, and data, while staying interoperable with Ethereum.
As the Financial Times reports, “Stablecoins, once confined to niche crypto trading and illicit activity, are now gaining mainstream traction as corporations and financial institutions explore their potential.”
