In 2021, the Wall Street Journal wrote about a weird new trend: stablecoins.

Their take? “They’re hot. They’re weird. We don’t get it.”

Fair enough.

It was the Wild West.

Tether claimed it was “backed by reserves,” but nobody knew what that meant.

USDC was the nerd in class—quiet, well-behaved—and still got shoved in a locker by regulators.

And Facebook’s Libra? That was Zuck trying to launch a global currency. Regulators responded like he’d asked to build a death ray in Alaska.

Then came Terra’s UST, the algorithmic stablecoin. It made $60 billion evaporate faster than an AI startup pivots from “neural protein folding” to “an app that cries with you in real time.”

Regulators screamed, “See! Told you!”

Stablecoins looked dead.

And yet…

Fast forward to 2025, it’s not just a different story. It’s a different universe.

Politicians are promoting them. Banks are planning to use them. Regulators are giving them their blessing. And instead of threatening the system, they’re becoming a part of it.

~90% of surveyed financial institutions are building or planning stablecoin strategies. Some want to launch their own.

And this week, things are coming to a head. 

Circle, the second-largest stablecoin issuer, is set to IPO. And the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin bill, is getting fast-tracked.

But judging by our inbox, many are still thinking: “Wait, stable what now?”

Let’s break down what stablecoins are, what’s really changed, why it’s changed, and how to capitalize on one of the biggest trends of the decade.

First, What Are Stablecoins?

The stablecoin’s first use-case was crypto trading.

Why? Because while crypto’s doing donuts in the parking lot, stablecoins are strapped in, hands at 10 and 2, keeping you from flying through the windshield.

Pegged one-to-one to a fiat currency (usually the U.S. dollar), their job is simple: Don’t move.

In short, they live on the blockchain, but act like digital dollars. Most are backed by boring things—U.S. Treasuries, cash reserves, or other “safe” assets.

Tether, USDC (Circle’s coin), and a few others dominate the space.

And, though they sound boring…

These digital anchors might be the most powerful innovation in crypto today.

OK, But Why.

Bitcoin was framed as the borderless escape hatch.

And if you lived in Nigeria, Argentina, or Venezuela… it made sense.

But Bitcoin is still the wild child. It flies. It crashes. You laugh. Or you cry. Rarely do you find yourself between the two.

If you’re a business in Nigeria, you don’t want to bet the farm on that. You want something stable. Predictable. Transactional. Instant. Cheap. Like stablecoins.

They’re:

• Fast digital cash for global payments.
• Blockchain on-ramps for everyone.
• Dollar exports in countries where inflation rages.

If Bitcoin is gold, stablecoins are plumbing.

And right now? Everyone’s thinking of renovating their pipes.

Why This Matters (Even if You Don’t Care About Crypto)

Remember how Napster didn’t just kill the CD—it changed how we think about music Stablecoins are Napster for money.

The U.S. government sees it. They’re pushing regulation not to kill stablecoins—but to spread them everywhere.

Why?

Because stablecoins:

• Drive demand for U.S. debt
• Lower transaction costs
• Export the dollar without tanks or bluster

The biggest holders of U.S. Treasuries are already stablecoin issuers. Bigger than most countries. And that was before they gave them their blessing.

But here’s the problem… and the opportunity.

The New War Is Over Rails

Here’s what we know:

Everyone wants more control, not less.

• Apple doesn’t want Meta’s stablecoin. (They blocked Facebook’s Diem wallet app.)
• Elon doesn’t want Ripple’s rails. (He wants X to dominate payments, data, and identity.)
• JPMorgan doesn’t want Tether on their platform. (JPM is building its own rails.)
• And governments don’t want each other’s protocols infecting domestic economies. (At the bare minimum, they want credible neutrality.)

So now? The battle isn't just dollar vs. yuan.

It’s Circle vs. PayPal vs. X vs. banks vs. governments—a full-blown, multi-layered protocol war for the next 50 years of payments.

And, thing is…

The biggest winners won’t be any of them. It’ll be the rails these stablecoins are running on.

Right now is the time to start zeroing in.

As usual…

Team Altucher is deep in the weeds, uncovering where the real money’s moving in stablecoins—and how you can get ahead of it.