How to Build a Non USD Stablecoin | Kevin Zhang (Loon) at ETHConf

Sun, Aug 2, 2026, 12:00 AM

In this talk, Kevin Zhang, co-founder of Loon, the issuer of Canadian dollar stablecoin CADC, explains why the playbook for building a non-US dollar stablecoin is fundamentally different from a US dollar one. He shares that Loon is Canada's largest stablecoin with about two-thirds of the market, launched the first Canadian dollar stablecoin in 2021, and did around half a billion dollars in transactions over the past year. He maps the global rise of local stablecoins across Europe, Asia (Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand), Africa (Nigeria, Cameroon), and a booming Latin America (Brazilian Real, Argentine Peso, Mexico), envisioning a network of stablecoins enabling unique new use cases. Kevin contrasts the two models. The US dollar stablecoin playbook is to accumulate AUM, lock it in treasuries, and earn yield, which works spectacularly for Tether but is becoming a race to zero as Circle, Paxos, and Bridge compete by distributing more yield to partners, ultimately becoming asset managers charging basis points like banks. Non-US dollar stablecoins have a different advantage: an FX conversion is inherent in almost every transaction, value that is usually captured by centralized exchanges. By decoupling the fiat on-off ramp from the FX component, a stablecoin issuer can become the on-off ramp while a separate provider handles foreign exchange, significantly reducing onboarding costs. He walks through the core principles of building a stablecoin: regulation (Canada's conflicting federal and provincial regimes, Europe's MiCA revision, the US Clarity Act, and the UK rethinking limits), politics (the Gary Gensler era versus today's climate), and the deeper driver of monetary sovereignty, since countries want citizens using local currency rather than ceding monetary supremacy to the US dollar. He stresses trusted infrastructure and efficient fiat on-off ramps to hold the peg, integration with domestic payment rails like Brazil's Pix and India's UPI, catering to local geography, and the hard problem of liquidity and market making since major market makers like Wintermute, Cumberland, and Jump have not yet entered. He closes on velocity of money as the biggest opportunity, noting CADC's roughly $2 million market cap generated $500 million in volume and millions in FX revenue, and argues coupling on-off ramps with issuance (a synergy Circle missed by not acquiring Bridge) is key to building the future non-US dollar stablecoin FX network. 00:00 Introduction 00:11 Meet Loon and CADC 00:44 Why Not Everyone Uses the US Dollar 01:06 Kevin's Background in Crypto 01:34 Launching the First Canadian Dollar Stablecoin 01:58 Mapping Stablecoins Around the World 02:32 Latin America's Local Stablecoin Boom 02:55 Toward a Network of Stablecoins 03:27 The US Dollar Stablecoin Playbook 03:51 Why AUM Is a Race to Zero 04:34 Why the Yield Model Is Unsustainable 04:34 The FX Advantage of Non-USD Stablecoins 05:08 Decoupling On-Off Ramps From FX 05:41 The Core Principles of Building a Stablecoin 06:27 Regulation in Canada and Beyond 07:08 MiCA, Clarity Act, and the UK 07:31 Why Monetary Sovereignty Matters 07:52 Escaping US Monetary Supremacy 08:46 Why Politics Plays a Big Part 09:14 The Gensler Era and Its Aftermath 09:41 Why Trusted Infrastructure Is Critical 10:09 Why Efficient On-Off Ramps Hold the Peg 10:32 Connecting Domestic Payment Rails Like Pix and UPI 10:58 Catering to Local Geography 11:41 Why Liquidity and Market Making Is the Hardest Part 12:10 Convincing the Biggest Market Makers 12:32 Toward a 24/7 Always-On FX Market 13:04 Disintermediating SWIFT and the Banks 13:42 Velocity of Money as the Biggest Opportunity 14:05 How CADC Did $500 Million on $2 Million AUM 14:53 Why FX Is the Cornerstone 15:17 The Non-USD Playbook Recap 15:41 The Bridge Acquisition Circle Missed 16:12 Why Circle Should Own Its On-Off Ramps 16:37 Building the Future Non-USD Stablecoin Network 17:00 Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *ETHConf 2026* ETHConf is a 3 day event for founders, industry leaders, and builders who are excited about the possibilities of building on top of Ethereum. Connect with 2,000+ top innovators in crypto, finance, technology, and policy at our inaugural three-day event packed with showcases, demos, partnerships, and conversations shaping the future of the global economy. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow ETHConf* X: https://x.com/ethconf Website: https://ethconf.com _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🎟️ Get your early bird tickets for ETHConf 2027: https://ethconf.com/2027#tickets 🎤 View the full ETHConf 2026 Speaker Schedule: https://ethconf.com/schedule _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _