August 21, 2025

MetaMask announced the official launch of its native stablecoin, MetaMask USD (mUSD). MetaMask stated that mUSD will be issued by Bridge, a stablecoin issuance platform owned by Stripe, and minted via the decentralized infrastructure of M0.

What are the key details worth noting about MetaMask USD (mUSD)? What prompted the emergence of mUSD? What is the new paradigm for future stablecoin issuance?

I. mUSD Key Information at a Glance

MetaMask USD is issued by Bridge, a stablecoin issuance and orchestration platform under Stripe, and powered by M0, a decentralized stablecoin infrastructure and liquidity platform.

mUSD will be deeply integrated into the MetaMask wallet, providing users with a seamless, dollar-denominated stablecoin experience for holding, spending, and transacting in web3. MetaMask USD is designed for composable cross-chain use via the M0 liquidity network, setting a new standard for stablecoin utility within the MetaMask ecosystem, from dapps to DeFi and payments. mUSD is a neutral, highly liquid asset that enables seamless 1:1 fiat-to-crypto onramps for certain payment methods, thereby unlocking a range of upcoming product integrations and user benefits.

MetaMask USD will initially launch on Ethereum and Linea. MetaMask plans deep integration with Linea's DeFi stack, covering lending markets, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), and custody platforms, to inject liquidity and reduce user onboarding friction. After launch, users will be able to deposit, hold, swap, transfer, and bridge mUSD within MetaMask itself. As the network grows, mUSD will be integrated into various core protocols, including lending markets, DEXs, and custody platforms, thereby releasing deep liquidity and utility for users. By enabling native liquidity provision and seamless fiat onramps, mUSD will help drive sustained growth in Linea's TVL and protocol activity.

MetaMask USD introduces an unprecedented model: a self-custodied wallet-native stablecoin, accessible to MetaMask's millions of users across multiple blockchains. It will enhance the experience for users who frequently onramp, hold, trade, borrow, and spend directly within their MetaMask wallet. This innovation simplifies web3 and self-custody processes while unlocking native utility for DeFi and real-world payments. MetaMask also plans to enable spending functionality with the MetaMask Card at merchants accepting Mastercard by the end of the year.

II. What Prompted the Emergence of mUSD?

1. Passage of the US Stablecoin Regulation Bill

On July 18th, Trump signed the "GENIUS Act," which stipulates who can issue stablecoins, how they must be backed, and what information needs to be disclosed. Since the bill's introduction, activity in the stablecoin sector has intensified. For leading platforms like MetaMask, clear regulation means stablecoins can be incorporated into core business through compliant pathways without worrying about policy risks. By launching mUSD at this time, MetaMask can better proceed on a compliant track, leveraging the industry tailwinds brought by the policy to rapidly expand its market.

2. Evolving Stablecoin Demand

As the industry matures, the structural demand within the stablecoin market is undergoing significant changes. As crypto assets gradually transition from speculative instruments to practical mediums, user demand for stablecoins has expanded beyond mere trading hedges to include everyday payments, cross-border settlements, DeFi, and other use cases.

David Duong, Head of Research at Coinbase, previously predicted that the stablecoin market capitalization could reach $1.2 trillion by 2028. US Treasury Secretary Besant estimated the stablecoin market could grow to $2 trillion and become a key buyer of US Treasury bonds. The Fed's July meeting minutes also mentioned: "With the passage of the GENIUS Act, the use of payment stablecoins could increase... Payment stablecoins could help improve the efficiency of the payment system and might also increase the demand for the assets backing them, including U.S. Treasury securities."

mUSD's entry at this juncture has strong momentum to capture a share of the vast potential ("blue ocean") of the stablecoin market. Leveraging MetaMask's existing strengths, mUSD should find it relatively easy to establish its territory within the stablecoin landscape.

3. MetaMask's Business Expansion

Since its inception in 2016, MetaMask has been highly favored by users. Especially after 2023, MetaMask entered a phase of deep optimization. That year, MetaMask introduced Snaps, allowing developers to extend wallet functionality to non-EVM blockchains, significantly enriching the wallet's capabilities. In 2024, MetaMask partnered with Mastercard and Baanx to launch the MetaMask Card, a physical debit card enabling users to spend cryptocurrencies directly from their MetaMask wallet anywhere Mastercard is accepted, strongly promoting the use of crypto in real-world daily spending scenarios.

MetaMask's series of moves have long proven its ambition extends beyond being a mere storage wallet, expanding into trading, payments, applications, and more. mUSD perfectly enables a one-stop service experience—users can utilize Stripe Bridge's fiat channels to directly convert fiat to mUSD within MetaMask. The converted funds need not leave the wallet ecosystem to conveniently participate in various operations like DeFi trading and cross-chain transfers. The launch of mUSD is a crucial step in MetaMask's business expansion and transformation, continuing to foster the prosperity of the MetaMask ecosystem.

III. A New Paradigm for Custom Stablecoin Issuance

MetaMask's stablecoin is the first demonstration case of M0 and Bridge collaborating to help enterprises launch custom dollar stablecoins. This partnership is an attempt to combine Bridge's expertise in regulation and reserve management with M0's blockchain infrastructure specifically designed for application-oriented stablecoins.

By partnering with M0 and Bridge, MetaMask can provide its users with a built-in USD stablecoin without managing the complex issuance, compliance, and technical architecture work.

Zach Abrams, Co-founder and CEO of Bridge, stated that they have reduced the development time for custom stablecoin issuance from "complex integrations taking over a year" to "a matter of weeks." This means applications like MetaMask "are able to realize revenue faster and more efficiently than ever before."

Through this collaboration, M0 and Bridge are seeking to replicate their experience with the MetaMask token for more issuers.

Luca Prosperi, Founder and CEO of M0, said: "Applications want control over their dollar infrastructure; what's important is that they don't have to build that infrastructure themselves."

IV. How Industry Insiders View the mUSD Launch

Ajay Mittal, VP of Product Strategy at MetaMask, stated: "MetaMask USD is fully backed by US cash and short-term US government bonds, which can generate yield. MetaMask benefits from this yield, and in turn, it allows us to improve the user experience across the entire stack—from potentially lower costs and more seamless integrations." "We believe the best incentive mechanism for holding mUSD is that it enables a better experience in DeFi—from onboarding, bridging, to swapping and spending. Over time, we may introduce additional incentives to reward early users."

Gal Eldar, Product Lead at MetaMask, pointed out: "MetaMask USD is a critical step towards bringing the world onchain. With MetaMask USD, users can bring funds onchain, put them to work, spend them almost anywhere, and use it like currency. It will help us break down some of the most stubborn barriers in Web3, reducing the friction and cost for users to get directly into a self-custody wallet."

Luca Prosperi, Co-founder and CEO of M0, stated: "We want to empower builders of great crypto products to have real control over the digital dollar stack they use, in order to provide the best end-user experience. Current stablecoin technology isn't built for this. The power for a product like MetaMask is the ability to tailor the stablecoin technology, have choices over issuance options, and optimized interoperability and liquidity. The M0-Bridge integration will provide builders with the best stablecoin stack and the most powerful issuance capabilities."

V. Summary

According to DefiLlama data, the value of stablecoins has swelled to over $278 billion this year. Some industry analysts expect this number to continue growing with the introduction of US stablecoin legislation. Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, said in May: "I expect this to be a $2.5 trillion market soon." In April this year, Citigroup analysts predicted the stablecoin market could potentially reach a value of $3.7 trillion within five years.

The prosperity of the stablecoin market reflects the broader trend of integration between traditional finance and crypto assets. mUSD is not merely the result of MetaMask's product innovation but an inevitable outcome of the crypto ecosystem's development to a certain stage. With favorable factors such as Bridge's regulatory compliance, M0's technical infrastructure, and MetaMask's existing user base, mUSD may have the capability to become a reshaper of the stablecoin market landscape,彻底打破 (thoroughly breaking down) the barriers between crypto assets and the traditional financial world, and claiming a significant share (坐拥半壁江山 - sitting atop half the kingdom) of the stablecoin market.