How Walmart and Amazon Could Upend the Banking System
RJ Hamster
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Walmart and Amazon send a warning shot to credit card companies… watch the GENIUS Act… silver is now outpacing gold – where it goes next… a 100% winner for Eric Fry’s subscribers… a market tailwind from “Trump Accounts”?
There’s a potentially major shakeup brewing in the financial tech (fintech) space.
Over the past week, both Walmart and Amazon have quietly signaled plans to explore launching their own stablecoins.
To make sure we’re all on the same page, a stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a consistent value – typically $1 – by holding cash or cash-like assets such as Treasuries.
Unlike volatile cryptos such as Bitcoin, stablecoins stay pegged to the dollar, enabling real-time transfers without price surprises.
Now, why would Walmart and Amazon be interested in their own stablecoins instead of just using the U.S. dollar as usual?
Let’s go to our crypto expert Luke Lango. From this past weekend’s Crypto Investor Network update:
Stablecoins offer these giants a compelling reason to jump into crypto: lower transaction fees and faster settlements.
Every year, Amazon and Walmart fork over billions to card networks in interchange fees. By launching or accepting stablecoins — especially dollar-backed ones — they can bypass the Visa/Mastercard mafia, cut costs, and settle instantly, including cross-border.
This isn’t just a payments innovation. It’s an economic incentive. It’s capitalist gravity pulling big business toward crypto rails.
Building on Luke’s point, Walmart and Amazon together are estimated to spend around $14 billion annually on card‑processing fees. Just a 1% cutback in those payments via stablecoins could translate into roughly $1 billion in profit before interest and taxes.
Meanwhile, faster settlement times – instant, instead of the typical days – would improve cash flow, especially across international supplier chains.
A boom for retailers, yet a bust for credit card companies?
If these projects gain traction, stablecoins could turn Walmart and Amazon into quasi‑financial hubs. They could provide the framework for launching new service ecosystems, locking in customer loyalty, and boosting margins.
Basically, these retail giants could undercut existing payment ecosystems while retaining control of the user experience.
This is a major threat to traditional credit-card networks. Plus, banks and payment processors may face pricing pressure as retail giants shift to in‑house payment rails.
But you can be sure that credit card companies and banks won’t go down without a fight.
They could accelerate their own blockchain initiatives – like Visa’s USDC settlement pilot or Mastercard’s tokenization tools. They could offer new services like embedded lending, fraud protection, or loyalty incentives.
Most of all, I’d guess we’ll see an army of lobbyists push for regulatory frameworks that level the playing field or slow adoption, especially around compliance and custody requirements.
Speaking of related regulatory “frameworks,” keep your eye on the GENIUS Act. Back to Luke for what this is and its significance:
The GENIUS Act, a bipartisan bill establishing clear regulation for U.S. dollar stablecoins, passed a key Senate procedural vote 68-30. It requires full reserves, mandates transparency, and gives oversight to the Fed or state regulators.
If the bill becomes law — and momentum is building — the U.S. will have a clear framework for stablecoins. That’s step one toward mainstream institutional crypto adoption.
Bottom line: Keep this on your radar. If Walmart and Amazon successfully proceed with this, it’ll rewrite the rules of money and commerce.
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Bullish on gold today? Don’t overlook silver
As we’ve profiled here in the Digest, gold has enjoyed an explosive run in 2025, setting a series of all-time highs.
Meanwhile, for much of this year, silver has been lagging, trading at historic lows relative to gold.
For perspective on this lag, let’s look to the gold-to-silver price ratio. It measures how many ounces of silver are equivalent in value to one ounce of gold.
In the 20th century, the average clocked in at 47:1. From 2000-2020, this ratio bumped up to roughly 60:1.
Now, just a few months ago, as gold surged while silver meandered sideways, this level clocked in at nearly 105 – the highest level of all time except during the Covid crisis.
But since then, silver has finally begun to climb, outpacing its golden cousin. And as it appears today, silver could be starting its long-awaited catch-up rally.
Silver is on the move… and we’re still early in the move
As you can see below, since late May, silver has been crushing gold roughly 3-to-1.
But even after this move, we think it has plenty of room to run. To understand why, let’s revisit the gold-to-silver ratio.
As I write Tuesday, it’s at 91 – still elevated, but falling (bullish for silver). Importantly, this is happening because silver’s price is rising fast, not because gold’s price is falling.
So, what’s fueling silver’s momentum beyond technical mean reversion?
For one, supply constraints. According to the Silver Institute, global silver markets ran a deficit of roughly 117 million ounces in 2024 – the fifth straight year of undersupply. Most silver is produced as a by-product of mining other metals such as copper and zinc. That means higher prices won’t necessarily lead to more supply anytime soon.
Then there’s the industrial side.
Silver plays a critical role in solar panel production, which continues to grow rapidly. Throw in rising demand for electrification and high-tech components, and you have a metal that’s increasingly indispensable – yet still underpriced by historical standards.
Technically, the picture looks strong too.
Silver recently cleared resistance around $37 – its highest level since 2012.
Bottom line: After years of underperformance, silver is stepping back into the spotlight. This may be the early stages of a long-awaited “silver bull.”
If you’re looking for a one-click, easy way to play it, check out SLV, which is the iShares Silver Trust.
Bottom line: Given today’s backdrop of geopolitical instability, ballooning sovereign debt, and the ongoing erosion of fiat currency credibility, we think silver (and gold) have very bright futures from here.
Another metal on the move
As we’ve been profiling in the Digest, nuclear stocks have been getting lots of attention in recent weeks.
Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon have all recently announced deals to acquire more power through nuclear energy.
This has been a tailwind for select uranium stocks. And subscribers of our macro expert Eric Fry just cashed in.
Here’s Eric with yesterday’s Flash Alert in his trading service Leverage:
Since October 1, 2024, the day I recommended [placing our uranium trade on the Global X Uranium ETF], the spot price has slumped 15%.
Despite that drop, the price of our calls has doubled. Good fortune of this sort doesn’t happen often in the stock market. Therefore, I recommend closing out the entire position for a gain of slightly more than 100%.
First, a big “congratulations” to Leverage subscribers. But what accounts for the value of their calls climbing if spot uranium is falling?
Back to Eric:
Most of the uranium mining companies in the Global X Uranium ETF portfolio are generating strong revenue growth and anticipating more of the same. But at their current quotes, they are discounting a lot of good news that has not yet arrived.
For example, Cameco Corp. (CCJ), which represents 24% of URA’s portfolio, is trading for a lofty 140 times earnings. Even if we flatter this analysis by using this year’s estimated result, the stock is trading for 68 times earnings.
That valuation is what the esteemed financial writer James Grant calls “priced for perfection.”
Eric points out that this “perfection pricing” may be entirely appropriate, but he believes that erring on the side of caution is the wiser move. So, he recommended subscribers ring that cash register to the tune of a 100% return. Congrats again.
To learn more about how Eric trades in Leverage, click here.
Finally, looking for another reason to stay invested? How about “Trump Accounts”?
Earlier this month, we dove into a tax provision (Section 899) in President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that could dent our portfolios.
While we remain wary of that clause, there’s a different part of the bill that’s bullish for our portfolios.
Tucked into the bill are “Trump Accounts” (initially called “MAGA Accounts”). If passed, the government would deposit $1,000 into a stock market investment account for every U.S.-born baby from 2025 through 2028. The family can make an additional $5,000 investment a year. The money must go into a low-cost, diversified U.S. stock index fund and remain untouched until the child turns 18.
Consider the implications…
If this passes, it means government-mandated stock buying – potentially millions of new accounts funneling money into the market each year.
Let’s do some crude math to ballpark the impact. Based on current U.S. birth rates (~3.6 million births annually), that’s approximately $3.6 billion in fresh equity demand per year.
But that’s just the initial government contribution. Add in some families contributing $5K per year… plus dividend reinvestment… and then growth over 18+ years, and the total economic impact balloons.
Being conservative, the Milken Institute estimates that $1,000 invested in a broad equity index could grow to $8,300 over 20 years. Multiply that by 3.6 million children per year and you’re looking at roughly $30 billion in potential future equity market value added annually from just this program.
Realistically, $30 billion is a drop in the bucket relative to the stock market’s multi-trillion-dollar market cap, but it’s a bullish tailwind nonetheless. And more importantly, these accounts could offer millions of young Americans a welcomed financial head-start in the coming years.
We’ll keep you updated on all these stories here in the Digest.
