The Return of Private Money: Stablecoins....
At the intersection of finance, technology, and geopolitics
In a conference room in Basel, Switzerland, European central bankers regularly review charts showing an uncomfortable truth: over two-thirds of their payment transactions flow through American companies. Visa, Mastercard, and SWIFT don't just process European money—they control it.
Eight thousand miles away, in a nondescript office building in Hong Kong, Tether executives manage something extraordinary: assets that reportedly make them among the top 20 largest holders of U.S. Treasury bonds globally. According to industry data, they now hold more American debt than many sovereign nations. Most people have never heard of them.
Meanwhile, in Washington, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has made a remarkable prediction: by 2030, private companies could issue $3.7 trillion in digital currency.
"Stablecoins could reinforce dollar supremacy," he has stated publicly, "because they could become one of the largest buyers of US treasuries."
We are witnessing the return of private money for the first time since the 1800s. But this isn't just financial innovation—it's a competition between superpowers over who controls the future of money itself. The winner will dominate global finance for the next century. The loser risks becoming a monetary colony.
In this 10 chapter essay we cover the history of stablecoins from the 1850’s (!!), Meta’s failed Libra, Stripe’s $1bn bet, Bessent’s power move at the Treasury, the emerging market impact, geopolitical competition, what to make of the GENIUS Act, and the investment perspective.
