Why Ethereum is the Dominant Stablecoin Settlement Layer

Chiara Munaretto sits down with James Smith, Head of Ecosystem at the Ethereum Foundation, at Bluechip Crypto Safety Conference 2025 in Vienna to explore why Ethereum has become the dominant settlement layer for stablecoins globally. With monthly stablecoin volume hitting $2.82 trillion in October 2025 (up 45% from September's $1.94 trillion), James reveals the strategic shifts happening at the Ethereum Foundation and why credible neutrality is Ethereum's greatest competitive advantage.

This conversation unpacks the permissionless infrastructure enabling anyone from an 18-year-old coder in Italy to a consortium of 9 European banks to launch stablecoins without special access. James discusses real-world adoption stories including an Ethereum Foundation team member from Afghanistan who uses stablecoins for rent and groceries because he can't access traditional banking, why Mercedes and BMW would never use each other's blockchains but will use Ethereum, the 40-person team at EF working on enterprise privacy solutions, and the definitive answer on whether Ethereum will ever launch its own stablecoin.

Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction: Ethereum Foundation's ecosystem expansion
01:21 - Supporting stablecoin projects: From grants to introductions
02:34 - Why Ethereum Foundation supported Bluechip as a public good
03:21 - $2.82 trillion monthly stablecoin volume: 45% surge from September
04:25 - Credible neutrality: Why Ethereum attracts stablecoin projects
05:17 - Hot take: The payment stack is being unbundled
06:05 - Afghanistan case study: Banking the unbanked with stablecoins
07:21 - 9 European banks building Euro stablecoin on Ethereum
08:30 - L2s for stablecoins: Celo in Africa, Codex for payments
10:17 - Why public blockchains beat permissioned for institutions
11:47 - Morpho and Uniswap: Innovation through permissionless building
13:22 - Maintaining decentralization as institutions adopt Ethereum
14:04 - The Mercedes-BMW problem: Why neutrality matters
15:00 - 40 people at Ethereum Foundation working on privacy solutions
16:21 - Why private blockchains failed: The adoption problem
17:09 - Will Ethereum ever launch its own stablecoin? The definitive answer

About Ethereum Foundation:
The Ethereum Foundation is a research-led organization building protocol-layer infrastructure for Ethereum alongside many ecosystem actors. Recently expanded to offer ecosystem support including founder success, enterprise adoption, and app relations teams. The Foundation maintains Ethereum's credible neutrality by not picking winners, supporting diverse experiments from synthetic stablecoins to non-USD denominated options.

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment or legal advice.