Stabledollars: The Third Act of Dollar Reinvention
The dollar’s evolution enters its third act with the rise of Stabledollars—USD-backed stablecoins now surpassing $230 billion in circulation. These on-chain tokens, collateralized by T-bills and cash, routinely outpace legacy payment networks like PayPal and Western Union in settlement volume.
This transformation mirrors historical pivots: the Eurodollar system of the 1950s created an offshore shadow banking network, while the 1974 Petrodollar cemented global energy markets’ dependence on USD. Today’s stablecoins position the dollar as a programmable monetary API, detached from traditional banking rails yet still tethered to Treasury assets.