Stablecoins: A $9 Trillion ‘Economic Operating System’ in a16z’s Arc Investment Approach

a16z’s Arc thesis redefines stablecoins as a $9 trillion “economic operating system” for global finance, enabling accounts, payments, foreign exchange, and credit, rather than just serving as crypto payment mediums.

Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto division has introduced a new investment thesis on Arc, asserting that stablecoins have progressed from being merely a payment tool to forming the foundation of a new economic operating system for global finance. Titled “The new stack for global finance: Stablecoins edition,” the document characterizes stablecoins as a fundamental element of a modular ecosystem connecting wallets, orchestration services, and credit networks to programmable dollars operating on public blockchains.

a16z asserts stablecoins now compete with traditional payment systems

The primary metric a16z focuses on is scale. According to its State of Crypto research, stablecoins processed about $9 trillion in adjusted transaction volume in the past year, reflecting an 87% year-over-year growth, positioning them at “over half of Visa’s volume and around five times PayPal’s” when compared directly. At the same time, the supply of USD-denominated stablecoins has exceeded roughly $270 billion, with estimates suggesting that the total sector surpasses $300 billion as tokenized dollars increasingly replace bank wires and card systems in contexts like remittances, B2B transactions, and on-chain trading.

From a16z’s viewpoint, stablecoins have emerged as “the fastest, cheapest, and most global method to send a dollar in under one second for less than one cent, almost anywhere globally,” solidifying their role as an internet-native alternative to correspondent banking. This viewpoint resonates with trends observed by bankers and regulators, who are progressively acknowledging stablecoins as a macro-economic force; a recent report from crypto.news highlighted U.S. community banks alerting Congress about the potential impact on insured deposits from yield-bearing stablecoins offering dollar returns outside conventional banking systems.

Arc as the stablecoin “operating system” layer

In this context, a16z frames Arc as a platform that envisions stablecoins as the essential building blocks for accounts, payments, foreign exchange, and credit, rather than just tokens being transferred between wallets. The firm describes a model where companies stop “renting bank licenses and accessing legacy systems,” choosing instead to build directly on wallets, programmable stablecoin balances, and APIs that integrate account management, merchant payments, foreign exchange, and lending into comprehensive products.

This vision of an “economic OS” coincides with advancements in on-chain finance, as established companies and startups alike adopt tokenization and stablecoin infrastructure. A recent crypto.news article noted that post-trade giant DTCC is developing a tokenized securities platform in collaboration with over 50 traditional and crypto firms, while another piece discussed Kraken’s xStocks initiative aimed at creating parallel equity systems on-chain. In a broader DeFi context, an earlier article on earning passive income through decentralized finance highlighted stablecoins as a critical funding source for lending, liquidity provision, and structured products, reinforcing why a16z now considers them as the core “OS” for a new financial stack rather than a mere supplementary feature of speculative crypto markets.