The stablecoin market is heating up: the second currency regulated by the GENIUS Act is launched in the US.

The digital market has welcomed a new stablecoin proposal, called FIDD, which will operate on the Ethereum blockchain and be regulated under the GENIUS Act. This is the second regulated stablecoin launched in the United States and aims to challenge the dominance of the major stablecoins. 

Fidelity, the asset management firm that manages $17,5 trillion in capital, confirmed the filing of Fidelity Digital Dollar or FIDD, a new digital asset that will operate on the Ethereum blockchain network and will be backed entirely by US dollars. 

The new stablecoin is presented as the second of its kind to meet the strict requirements set out in the United States' GENIUS Act, which was enacted in July 2025, and with which the definitive federal framework for the issuance of digital money was established.

This launch occurred just 24 hours after Tether, the market leader in stablecoins, introduced USAT, the first stablecoin issued under the new regulations. Experts believe the speed of these launches underscores the intensity of the competition to capture institutional liquidity in a regulated environment. 

Mike O'Reilly, president of Fidelity Digital Assets, stated that the GENIUS legislation has finally provided the necessary safeguards for stablecoin payments and believes the timing is right to respond to growing customer demand. With this step, the institution aims to integrate the robustness of traditional banking with the efficiency of decentralized networks, offering a tool designed for both retail payments and large-scale institutional settlements, he explained. 

FIDD: transparency, support and access to the DeFi world

Fidelity has designed its new stablecoin with one central premise: to guarantee trust through transparency and real backing. As explained in a recent releaseThe Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD) is structured on a solid foundation where each unit is fully backed by cash, cash equivalents, and short-term U.S. Treasury bills. These funds will be managed by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, which ensures the token's one-to-one convertibility to fiat currency. Through this approach, the firm seeks to minimize liquidity risks and offer holders the peace of mind of owning a stable and verifiable asset.

On the other hand, the launch of this new stablecoin represents a significant step forward within the US regulatory framework. In the middle of last month, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted conditional approval to the managing firm to operate as a national trust bank, marking a decisive step toward the implementation of this new product. 

Even so, before its full rollout, the company must complete certain additional requirements, but it has already made its commitment to transparency clear. Fidelity plans to publish both the number of tokens in circulation and the total value of the backing assets daily on its official website, as a fundamental practice to bring digital asset trading closer to the standards of traditional financial markets.

Regarding access, Fidelity explained that the stablecoin will be rolled out gradually and will initially be available only to partner wealth managers. Once these participants acquire the stablecoin, it can be transferred without restrictions to any Ethereum-compatible wallet, thus expanding its utility within the decentralized finance ecosystem. For Fidelity, this interoperability will allow its stablecoin to transcend traditional banking environments and integrate seamlessly with a growing range of protocols and applications in the crypto world.

Ethereum consolidates its hegemony in the stablecoin market

Fidelity's entry into the stablecoin arena comes amid unprecedented expansion for the sector. Market data indicates that the total value of stablecoins amounts to 296.950 million After processing a transaction volume of $33 trillion during 2025, the volume of monthly transfers with this asset class registered a notable increase of 52,91% compared to the previous period, reaching $9,67 trillion. These figures demonstrate that fiat currency tokenization has become a systemic payment rail in the global digital economy.

On the other hand, Fidelity decided to launch its stablecoin FIDD on the Ethereum network, a choice that reflects the network's leading position in institutional adoption. As seen in RWAxyz data, the blockchain Ethereum holds over $166.400 billion in stablecoins, far ahead of other networks like TRON, which totals around $83.400 billion. 

Tomas Lee, president of Bitmine, is one of the figures in the financial world who has highlighted this leadership, indicating that major financial institutions are using Ethereum as a base platform for their tokenized products, convinced that its smart contract ecosystem offers the necessary strength and compatibility to move large volumes of capital safely and efficiently.

However, despite the introduction of two new stablecoins under the GENIUS Act, the market remains dominated by Tether, which maintains nearly 60% market share thanks to USDT, with a total value of $177.000 billion. Circle, with USDC, retains a significant position, with approximately $70.000 billion in circulation. Meanwhile, the stablecoins launched by PayPal and Ripple in 2023 and 2024 together account for less than 10% of Circle's market capitalization. 

Experts anticipate that the entry of new players regulated under the GENIUS Act, such as USAT and FIDD, could alter this balance by offering alternatives designed to meet federal standards and attract institutional capital to a more trusted and supervised environment.

Towards greater integration between traditional finance and crypto

The implementation of the GENIUS Act six months after its enactment has catalyzed a rapid evolution in the supply of digital assets, allowing regulated entities to compete directly with native players in the crypto sector. Fidelity's strategy aligns with a macroeconomic trend where the distinction between traditional finance and blockchain technology is becoming increasingly blurred. 

By offering an asset backed by the US Treasury and overseen by the OCC, the firm seeks to attract a segment of conservative capital that has so far stayed away from digital asset markets due to regulatory uncertainty.

The simultaneous deployment of FIDD and USAT marks the beginning of a new stage of maturity for the ecosystem, where legal compliance becomes a product attribute as important as technological efficiency.