Stablecoins, Bitcoin, and Our Search For What Truly Endures
By Ben Caselin, VALR CMO
Stablecoins are reshaping global finance, and their momentum is undeniable. Major U.S. banks like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup are now exploring a dollar-pegged stablecoin consortium, to streamline cross-border payments. Tether is reportedly developing a U.S.-based stablecoin, while Circle’s USDC, continues to drive institutional adoption. Across Africa, Latin America and South East Asia, where local currencies continue to erode under high inflation, stablecoins act as a lifeline. They enable instant, low-cost transfers, offering stability to people facing economic volatility. This is a breakthrough for financial inclusion.
But I’m wary. The rush to mainstream stablecoins risks turning them into a controlled, blockchain-based SWIFT-like system with government and institutional gatekeepers. Proposals like the U.S.’s GENIUS Act could legitimise stablecoins, but also invite a level of oversight that might stifle crypto’s original promise of freedom. While undeniably useful at this juncture in time, stablecoins are ultimately tokenized fiat, tethered to the U.S. dollar’s selfsame inflationary pressures. With M2 money supply recently hitting a new high once again, fiat’s fragility is evident. If fiat fails, so will stablecoins. Are we building a freer system or digitizing broken money? Stablecoins are certainly a bridge, but not an endgame.
The Search for What Truly Endures
This concern drives me to a deeper idea about human nature. In a world where everything around us comes and goes, we yearn for something that truly endures. In Vietnam, where I’ve been spending quite some time lately, the fact of this impermanence is vivid: rats lie crushed in alleyways, roses I planted wither in the heat, traffic accidents steal lives daily. History amplifies this—empires have come and gone. Languages once spoken by millions are forgotten. Entire species that roamed the earth have gone extinct. Even stars burn out eventually. Impermanence is all around us, stirring what I believe is a universal human longing for something that lasts, something that holds meaning beyond the ephemeral.
In finance, we’ve sought this endurance for centuries. Gold, with its scarcity, has been a refuge against economic decay for ages. Bitcoin, I believe, is its heir. Born from centuries of monetary lessons—Rome’s debased coins, fiat’s endless printing—Bitcoin is a non-sovereign asset, capped at 21 million coins, resistant to arbitrary policy changes. Its price, recently topping $111,000 amid inflation fears, signals growing faith in its resilience. Unlike stablecoins, which inherit fiat’s weaknesses, Bitcoin’s fixed supply offers a promise of sustainable growth and, ultimately, stability. In 25 or 50 years, Bitcoin could anchor a digital gold standard, curbing governments’ reckless spending. Its uptake embodies our quest for something enduring.
Beauty, Wisdom, and Lasting Contributions
Yet, Bitcoin is just one expression of this quest. Our search for what lasts transcends markets. We find it in beauty—a melody that lingers, a painting that inspires across generations. We find it in knowledge, not just facts but the wisdom to navigate life’s complexities and in our meditations on the mysteries of the Universe. Most profoundly, we find endurance in contributions to human progress. Building systems that empower and uplift others, like fairer financial tools, outlasts fleeting riches.
Crypto, for all its potential, often loses focus. Crypto conferences, while fun and flashy, can also be wasteful, frivolous and "uneventful" (pun intended), while meme-coins fuel speculative frenzies that benefit only a handful for a brief moment at best. But crypto’s true power is its drive to reimagine finance, to test ideas that fail and evolve.
When it comes to banks or even governments coming into the stablecoin space, it's exciting and overall a net positive. Similarly, when we see stablecoin adoption happen in places where local currencies fail people, it's important. But ultimately, if endurance is the goal, then these developments are transitional in nature. They are stepping stones towards a non-sovereign global currency, a reserve asset of the people, permissionless, immutable and scarce.
If we believe that it's not just the financial system that's in need of an upgrade, but that in fact money itself is broken, then let's not get distracted.
Risk Disclosure
Trading or investing in crypto assets is risky and may result in the loss of capital as the value may fluctuate. VALR (Pty) Ltd is a licensed financial services provider (FSP #53308).
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author and should not form the basis for making investment decisions, nor be construed as a recommendation or advice to engage in investment transactions.
