Stablecoins have become the best tool for building global financial technology due to their fast, almost zero cost and programmable characteristics. How should entrepreneurs and traditional finance participate? This article is based on an article written by Sam Broner a16z, compiled, compiled and written by TechFlow. (Previous: Uber considers letting passengers "cryptocurrency payment" for the third time: Stablecoins are very promising!) (Background supplement: South Korea submits the "Stablecoin Bill" to allow domestic companies to issue them, with sufficient reserve assets) Traditional finance is gradually incorporating stablecoins into its system, and the transaction volume of stablecoins continues to grow. Stablecoins have become the best tool for building global financial technology due to their fast, almost zero cost and programmable characteristics. However, the transition from traditional technology to emerging technology not only means a fundamental change in business models, but also the emergence of new risks. After all, the self-custody model based on digital registered assets is fundamentally different from the traditional banking system that has evolved for hundreds of years. So, in this transformation process, what broader monetary structure and policy issues do entrepreneurs, regulators and traditional financial institutions need to address? This article will explore three core challenges and their possible solutions to provide direction for entrepreneurs and builders of traditional financial institutions: the problem of currency uniformity; the application of US dollar stablecoins in non-US dollar economies; and the potential impact of better currencies backed by national debt. 1. "Currency uniformity" and the construction of a unified monetary system "Currency uniformity" means that in an economy, all forms of currency can be interchanged at a 1:1 ratio and can be used for payment, pricing, and contract performance, regardless of who issues the currency or where it is stored. Currency uniformity means that even if there are multiple institutions or technologies issuing currency-like instruments, the entire system is still a unified monetary system. In other words, whether it is a Chase deposit, a Wells Fargo deposit, a Venmo balance, or a stablecoin, they should always be exactly equivalent at a 1:1 ratio. This uniformity is maintained despite differences in asset management methods and regulatory status among institutions.The history of U.S. banking is, in part, a history of building and improving systems to ensure the fungibility of the dollar. The global banking industry, central banks, economists, and regulators all promote monetary uniformity because it greatly simplifies transactions, contracts, governance, planning, pricing, accounting, security, and daily economic activities. Today, businesses and individuals have become accustomed to the uniformity of currency. However, stablecoins are not fully integrated into the existing financial infrastructure, so "monetary uniformity" cannot be achieved. For example, if Microsoft, a bank, a construction company, or a home buyer tries to exchange $5 million in stablecoins through an automated market maker (AMM), the user will not be able to complete the exchange at a 1:1 ratio due to slippage caused by insufficient liquidity depth, and the amount received in the end will be less than $5 million. This situation is unacceptable if stablecoins are to revolutionize the financial system. A universally applicable "par redemption system" can help stablecoins become part of a unified monetary system. If this goal cannot be achieved, the potential value of stablecoins will be greatly reduced. Currently, stablecoin issuers like Circle and Tether primarily provide direct exchange services for stablecoins (such as USDC and USDT) for institutional clients or users who have passed the verification process. These services usually have minimum transaction thresholds. For example, Circle provides Circle Mint (formerly Circle Account) for corporate users to mint and redeem USDC; Tether allows verified users to redeem directly, and the threshold is usually above a certain amount (such as $100,000). The decentralized MakerDAO acts as a verifiable redemption/exchange mechanism by allowing users to exchange DAI for other stablecoins (such as USDC) at a fixed exchange rate through the Peg Stability Module (PSM). Although these solutions work to a certain extent, they are not universally available and require aggregators to connect with each issuer individually. If direct integration is not possible, users can only convert between stablecoins or exchange stablecoins for fiat currency through market execution, and cannot settle at face value. Without direct integration, a business or application could commit to maintaining a tight exchange spread — for example, always exchanging 1 USDC for 1 DAI and keeping the spread to within 1 basis point — but such a commitment would still depend on liquidity, balance sheet space, and operational capabilities.In theory, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could unify the monetary system, but the myriad of problems associated with them (e.g., privacy concerns, financial surveillance, constrained money supply, slowed innovation) mean that better models that mimic the existing financial system will almost certainly win out. The challenge for builders and institutional adopters, therefore, is to build systems that enable stablecoins to become “real money” like bank deposits, fintech balances, and cash, despite their heterogeneity in collateral, regulation, and user experience. The goal of bringing stablecoins into monetary unification offers entrepreneurs a huge opportunity to grow. Widespread Availability of Minting and Redemption Stablecoin issuers should work closely with banks, fintechs, and other existing infrastructure to enable seamless, at-par on-ramps and off-ramps. This would provide at-par fungibility for stablecoins through existing systems, making them indistinguishable from traditional currencies. Stablecoin Clearinghouses Establish a decentralized cooperative — akin to an ACH or Visa for stablecoins to ensure instant, frictionless, and fee-transparent conversions. The Peg Stability Module is a promising model, but the functionality of stablecoins would be significantly improved if the suite of protocols could be expanded on this basis to ensure par settlement between participating issuers and fiat currencies. Trusted Neutral Collateral Layer Shift the fungibility of stablecoins to a widely adopted collateral layer (such as tokenized bank deposits or wrapped treasuries). This allows stablecoin issuers to innovate in branding, market strategies, and incentive mechanisms, while users can unwrap and convert stablecoins as needed. Better Exchanges, Intent Matching, Cross-Chain Bridges, and Account Abstraction Automatically find and execute deposits, withdrawals, or exchanges at the best exchange rate using improved versions of existing or known technologies. Build multi-currency exchanges to minimize slippage while hiding complexity so that stablecoin users can enjoy predictable fees even at scale. US Dollar Stablecoin: A Double-Edged Sword of Monetary Policy and Capital Regulation 2. Global Demand for US Dollar Stablecoins In many countries, the structural demand for the US dollar is extremely large.For citizens living under high inflation or strict capital controls, a USD stablecoin is a lifeline — it protects savings while providing direct access to the global business network. For businesses, the dollar, as an international unit of account, simplifies and increases the value and efficiency of international transactions. However, the reality is that cross-border remittance fees are as high as 13%, 900 million people in the world live in hyperinflationary economies without access to stable currencies, and 1.4 billion people are underbanked. The success of USD stablecoins reflects not only the demand for the dollar, but also the need for a “better currency” ...

#CBDC #USDT #USDC