The next incremental growth for global stablecoins may not come from Silicon Valley. In the $32 billion stablecoin market, 90% of the market share is held by Tether and Circle. Previously, the European Union attempted to pry open a market gap with its MiCA regulation—but encountered a hard landing: Tether buckled first under compliance pressure, leading European exchanges to collectively delist USDT and effectively boot it out of the region.

Yet, amid this stalemate—where dollar-pegged stablecoins dominate and Europe has been sidelined—a “trump card” no one anticipated has suddenly emerged in the Middle East. In June 2026, the Central Bank of Bahrain granted AX Coin—a stablecoin issued by Nasdaq-listed Huaying Group (AXG)—the country’s first-ever stablecoin issuer license. This license possesses one unique feature neither USDT nor USDC offers: holders can receive payouts.

In July 2025, the U.S. President signed the Payment Stablecoin Act, which explicitly prohibits stablecoins from paying interest to holders. Bahrain’s central bank, by contrast, not only permits interest-bearing stablecoins but has designed its payout mechanism as an Islamic finance-compliant profit-sharing model. A small Middle Eastern central bank has accomplished what U.S. federal legislation expressly forbids.

01 Why Is This License Valuable?

Stablecoin licenses exist worldwide: U.S. state Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs), the EU’s MiCA framework, and registrations in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Yet AX Coin’s Bahraini license differs on three critical levels. First, it is directly supervised by a sovereign central bank. U.S. stablecoin regulation remains highly fragmented: issuers must obtain licenses state-by-state and coordinate with multiple federal agencies—resulting in prohibitively high compliance costs. Although MiCA provides a unified regulatory framework, only 7–8% of service providers have obtained licenses under it over the past two years. Bahrain’s central bank, meanwhile, offers the cleanest solution: one regulator, one rulebook, one license, and onshore compliance. For traditional financial institutions, this “certainty” is worth more than anything else.

Second, it enables profit sharing. Returns generated from AX Coin’s reserve assets are distributed proportionally to holders—not as DeFi-style liquidity mining rewards, but as real profits derived from U.S. Treasury securities and highly rated bank deposits. Bahrain’s central bank legally defines these distributions as “profit sharing,” not “interest,” thereby sidestepping regulatory definitions of interest-bearing securities in jurisdictions worldwide.

Third, it is Sharia-compliant. Global Islamic financial assets now approach $6 trillion—but mainstream stablecoins remain excluded from this market due to opaque interest mechanisms that violate Sharia’s prohibition on Riba (usury). AX Coin’s profit distribution mechanism strictly adheres to Sharia’s principle of shared risk—and it is the world’s first dollar-pegged stablecoin both licensed by a central bank and certified as Sharia-compliant. In short, AX Coin holds three rare “passports”: direct central bank oversight, the ability to distribute payouts, and religious permissibility. No other stablecoin globally combines all three.

02 Who Is Running This?

A valuable license won’t operate itself. AX Coin’s team composition is itself a strategic signal. Chairman Dr. Zhu Haokang previously served as Executive Director in Goldman Sachs’ Securities Division and brings extensive experience in launching digital asset and compliant financial products. Dr. Zhu led the launch of Asia’s first retail tokenized fund—the first such fund approved after Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued its November 2023 circular on Tokenized SFC-Authorized Investment Products. This milestone laid crucial groundwork for AX Coin’s compliant stablecoin issuance, product design, and institutional-grade operations.

CEO Xavier George brings 25 years of payments industry experience, having held senior roles at American Express and Standard Chartered before becoming Global Stablecoin Payments Head at Yellow Card—giving him deep expertise across both traditional and crypto-native payments. On the crypto side, AX Coin’s former Binance Bahrain Operations Head leads growth initiatives; James Xia, Head of Payment Networks, brings 35 years of banking and payments experience—including executive leadership at Visa China.

Even more notable is the depth of local integration. The Head of Compliance is a former regulator who spent 13 years at the Central Bank of Bahrain. Non-executive Director Yousif Alnefaiei currently serves as Deputy CEO of BENEFIT—meaning key partners sit directly on AX Coin’s board, aligning incentives. Another non-executive director, Dr. Lu Yongren, formerly served as Citibank’s Greater China CEO. Traditional finance veterans instill institutional confidence; crypto-native leaders ensure product execution; and Bahraini insiders guarantee genuine regulatory and payment-channel access. This “dual-habitat” configuration is rare among stablecoin projects.

03 From Bahrain to Africa: Where Will the Money Flow?

A strong license and capable team alone aren’t enough—it’s whether money actually flows that matters. AX Coin’s first anchor node is Bahrain’s national payment gateway, BENEFIT. As the core electronic payment infrastructure in Bahrain, BENEFIT connects over 30 regional banks and processed 494 million transactions in 2025—handling nearly $100 billion in funds. With BENEFIT’s Deputy CEO sitting on AX Coin’s board, this linkage goes far beyond a standard commercial agreement.

The second node is Gulf-based payments technology firm Infinios. AX Coin and Infinios have formed a strategic partnership to deploy compliant wallets, multi-currency virtual accounts, and fiat on/off-ramps—unlocking entry points for B2B cross-border settlement. The third node lies in Africa. AX Coin has partnered with Yellow Card—the continent’s largest stablecoin payment platform—covering 20 African countries with nearly $6 billion in cumulative transaction volume, 99% of which is driven by stablecoins. In Sub-Saharan Africa’s crypto trading activity, stablecoins already account for 43%. This isn’t a “future market”—it’s a live reality where stablecoins function as de facto dollar substitutes. Bahrain issues the license; Africa represents the growth frontier. A stablecoin corridor stretching “Middle East → Asia-Pacific → Africa” is taking shape.

04 But Can This Actually Succeed?

We must acknowledge the gaps. USDT and USDC together command 90% of the $32 billion stablecoin market. AX Coin’s Year One target is $500 million—enough to rank among the top seven fiat-backed stablecoins, yet still less than a fraction of USDT’s scale. Its yield model also faces ceilings: profit sharing depends on U.S. Treasury yields—if the Federal Reserve cuts rates sharply, its appeal will diminish. And bridging strategic partnerships to fully operational payment rails still requires technical integration and regulatory adaptation.

Yet AX Coin’s strategy isn’t about snatching market share from USDT. The $6 trillion Islamic finance market remains virtually closed to compliant digital assets. Even a 0.5% penetration would represent $30 billion. This door remains shut to USDT and USDC—not because they lack desire, but because their product architecture prevents Sharia certification. AX Coin isn’t competing for existing demand—it’s opening a door no one else holds the key to. While the U.S. enshrines “prohibiting stablecoins from paying interest” into federal law, Bahrain has already issued a license enabling precisely that. The next incremental growth for global stablecoins may not come from Silicon Valley.