Walcoin and BezoBucks Are Coming to a Wallet Near You (Maybe?), Stablecoins Galore…

Just when you thought the American financial system couldn’t get any weirder, Walmart and Amazon are apparently one Genius Act away from handing you change in the form of Walcoin and BezosBucks. Translation: Walmart dreams of a day where you can walk in, buy a 40-pack of Mountain Dew, a kayak, and a 12-gauge shotgun, while the AI cashier asks, “Will you be paying with cash, card, or Buttcoin?” LOL 

 

(Source: Giphy) 

In short, Walmart and Amazon, along with a few other corporatocracies (Expedia, airlines, probably Chuck E. Cheese if they get desperate enough), are sniffing around stablecoins. If you’re only familiar with crypto from that time your cousin lost his inheritance on Dogecoin, here’s the elevator pitch: stablecoins are the mullet of crypto… business in the front (backed by real assets like USD or Treasurys), party in the back (still subject to the whims of Congress and whatever wet dream Michael Saylor had last night). 

The whole point of this is to cut out Visa and Mastercard, presumably in the same cold-blooded way Van Halen cut Sammy Hagar out of the picture (David Lee Roth can kick rocks). Those card networks hoover up billions in interchange fees from retailers every year… a.k.a. Fees so egregious they make college tuition look like a thrift store haul. Meaning stablecoins would let Walmart and Amazon instantly settle transactions, avoid those fee-sucking middlemen, and probably buy a few more Super Bowl commercials with the savings. 

(Source: Wall Street Journal) 

If (big if) this happens, it’s an extinction-level event for the traditional payments mafia: regional banks, card issuers, and anyone else still pretending “ACH” is a cutting-edge technology. And investors agree as both Visa and Mastercard tumbled a mere 5% on Friday's news. 

But, but, but …isn’t this just… like a Gift card with extra steps? More or less. If you recall, Meta tried to do this with Libra, but Congress saw Zuck coming and slammed the door so hard it gave the entire Bay Area a migraine. The difference here is that Walmart and Amazon have actual Main Street pull and aren’t letting a little thing like “the entire banking lobby” stand in their way this time. 

(Source: Giphy) 

The Genius Act (which, despite the name, was not drafted by anyone who’s ever actually used Venmo) would create the regulatory sandbox for this madness to play out. And yet, if it makes it through the Senate, expect every retailer with a pulse to try launching their own “coin”. Bigly. 

In the end, don’t ever don’t underestimate how much Amazon and Walmart hate paying fees, or how quickly they’ll burn the old system to the ground if given half a chance. And half a chance they have with stablecoins. Of course, we’ll see how this all plays out, but the cards are on the table… and it could be big if actually executed. Meaning, keep your eyes on this story and place your bets accordingly, friends. Until next time…

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News holds positions in Amazon and Meta as mentioned in the article.