In the early 1990s, telephone companies ran ads for long -distance calls that highlight the costs per Minute for an American customer to talk to someone in another country. Today this business is not found. You can now FaceTime or zoom someone anywhere for free.
What changed?
The switch to Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) eventually ran the price of calls down to almost zero.
Today we experience a similar transformation as a global, embedded economic layer appearing on the Internet. This will ultimately drive money transfer costs closer to zero, which transforms a system that has long been loaded by high fees, delays and intermediaries.
Stablecoins are the application that drives this development. The maximum “adoption is slow until it is quick” Catching their explosive growth in recent years. To get an idea of scale, StableCOin transaction volume stacked over $ 27 trillion in 2024 – surpassing a visa and mastercard combined. Today, there are stablecoin providers, such as Tether, who have more US treasuries than all countries such as Germany and the Netherlands.
Stableecoins are no longer a niche experiment. They become deeper embedded in our global economic ecosystem. As US legislators debate stableecoin legislation, the goal must be clear: Reinforcing dollars domination as the global reserve currency while expanding its reach to corners of the world that traditional bank cannot touch. This should include many important players – not just those based in the United States.
Two paths, one future
Congress is at a intersection between two general positions. One is a closed market method where US-based stablecoin issuers would be privileged over their non-American competitors. This is short -sighted and will eventually stifle innovation.
The second approach is to build a regulatory framework that cultivates fair and free global competition. By allowing international players like Tether to compete with US-based issuers, the United States can promote a dynamic ecosystem where the best ideas and technologies rise to the top. Competition is what would drive expertise.
There is a myth that is performed that only US-based issuers support their tokens with sufficient reserves, testify to these reserves and take the necessary steps to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. It is simply not true. Tether, the largest stableecoin issuer, assisted US law enforcement and over 230 law enforcement in 50 countries blocking $ 2.5 billion in illegal activities around the world. The reality is that there are responsible stableecoin issuers both inside and outside the United States (Tether, based in El Salvador, accounts for more than half of the stableecoin market.)
Too restrictive regulation could also fight back on the US economy. If the stablecoin legislation is operating foreign-based companies out of the United States, it could result in reduced demand for US treasury, weakened dollar dominance and a less competitive stablecoin space.
Congress is on an important intersection – “two roads diverged”, which Robert Frost once wrote. It could seize this moment to create a regulatory framework that rejects competition and transparency, or it can take the narrow path by taking a protectionist approach and suffocating innovation. The diversity of the market is not a mistake to solve. It is a feature to utilize.
It’s time to make a careful choice as the effort couldn’t be higher. Let’s make sure we get this right for the future of the finance.
