Let's talk about a recent hot topic in the crypto space, which is quite interesting.
Currently, the GENIUS Act stipulates that stablecoin issuers cannot directly pay interest to holders, but it has left a loophole, not stating that third parties cannot do so. Therefore, exchanges and DeFi are using terms like 'yield rewards' to indirectly provide interest. The newly proposed Clarity Act aims to close this loophole, but the gray area still exists.
This reminds me of a story from 700 years ago.
The Knights Templar had a system of 'encrypted cross-border payments'—if you deposited gold in London, they would give you an encrypted certificate, which you could use to withdraw money in Jerusalem. With this business, the Templar accumulated vast wealth and became the largest creditor in France. As a result, King Philip IV of France had no intention of paying back and directly labeled the Templar as 'heretics,' confiscated their assets, and arrested them.
Now, the U.S. national debt has exceeded 39 trillion, with interest alone over 1 trillion a year. Seen this way, the U.S. government is unlikely to pay back honestly in the future. But it cannot directly eliminate creditors like Philip IV did—because the holders of U.S. debt are too dispersed, with foreign holders like Japan, China, and the UK accounting for a large portion, outside U.S. jurisdiction, and forcibly defaulting on dollar credit would collapse it.
So what to do?
The current stablecoin legislation provides a way forward. The GENIUS Act requires issuers to allocate reserves to U.S. debt, while the actual users of stablecoins are retail investors worldwide. Money flows in from abroad, but the creditors become licensed issuers registered in the U.S. This completes a crucial conversion: it concentrates the debts that are scattered among central banks and institutions globally into a few entities within U.S. jurisdiction.
As long as the creditors are within the U.S. controlled range, it will be much easier to manage in the future.
So I have a judgment: regulators will currently keep one eye open and one eye closed, allowing the stablecoin market to grow first. When the timing is right, this gray area will transform into a tool for liquidation.
Interestingly, after the liquidation of the Knights Templar, cross-border finance in Europe did not stop for a day; it simply changed players—from the Templars to Italian bankers, then to the Dutch and the British, evolving into today's modern banking system.
If one day the stablecoin issuers are liquidated, especially Tether, which has a rich history of controversies, it would not be surprising. $BTC
