We are living through peak AI fandom.
Everywhere I turn, there is another thought piece about how artificial intelligence will change the world, displace millions of jobs, and define the next industrial era.
Now I am not disagreeing that the advances in generative AI, machine learning, and automation are indeed impressive, and the rate of development is breathtaking. But amid all the noise about neural networks and machine algorithms, I believe we are missing something arguably more immediate and geopolitically relevant.
I am talking about the birth of stablecoins.
I know this will be pilloried. It is easy to argue AI is the bigger tech – the sexier one, and more intellectually stimulating. But let us judge impact not by hype but by control. Stablecoins might be the more critical transformation in “Who sets the rules, who governs movement, and who holds power over the very concept of money?”
Stablecoins – It’s oh so simple!
The simplicity of stablecoins is precisely where their power lies. A digital token, pegged 1-to-1 to a fiat currency like the US dollar or euro, is no speculative fantasy.
There is no need for white papers or abstract theories which have dogged other blockchain assets. Stablecoins have passed the Ronseal Paint test by doing “exactly what the tin says”.
A crypto utility with a purpose: a spendable, programmable asset which works, where others have failed miserably or remain unproven.
While many view them as tools for traders or parking money to offset crypto volatility, what’s actually unfolding is much bigger. They’re fast becoming the financial operating system of the internet, settling in seconds, crossing borders without banks, and circulating often beyond the line of government oversight.
Beyond transactional utility stablecoins are becoming a structural shift in how value moves globally. Today, Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) dominate, accounting for nearly 90% of the $160+ billion stablecoin market.
They have quietly woven themselves into exchanges, fintech apps, and payment rails. In countries like Argentina, Lebanon, and Turkey, where currencies are destabilized daily and trust in banks is non-existent, we see how stablecoins have quietly stepped in, becoming the de facto store of value for millions.
The real innovation here isn’t blockchain; it’s permissionless access to a stable dollar, available instantly and without institutional friction.
Money is power
Governments do not fear AI because it solves maths problems faster. They fear it when it becomes the basis of control surveillance, warfare, and manipulation.
With stablecoins, the threat can be considered more existential. Monetary sovereignty has been the cornerstone of state power for centuries. The ability to issue, manage, and control the supply of money allows governments to influence interest rates, fund infrastructure, and cushion economies during crises.
A stablecoin backed by US dollars but circulated globally can dollarise entire economies – without a single US policymaker lifting a finger. And when private companies are the issuers whether it’s a crypto-native like Circle or a payments giant like PayPal. Control is not just shifting from nation-states to the US, but from public institutions to corporations.
Case-in-point we saw what happened when Meta tried to launch the Libra (later Diem) project: global backlash. Not because the tech was flawed, but because it frightened governments. It dared to suggest that billions of people could use a digital currency outside the control of central banks.
The coming flashpoint
We are approaching an unavoidable fork in the road. Either governments:
- Regulate stablecoins tightly, pulling them into the banking and payments framework, or;
- Let them grow unchecked, and risk losing monetary influence to private actors operating across cloud infrastructure.
Some are already moving. The EU’s MiCA framework is a serious attempt to tame the space. The US Congress is cautiously exploring bills that would force reserve disclosures and limit who can issue.
China, meanwhile, has gone full digital yuan, hoping to beat stablecoins by offering a central bank alternative.
But these are policy experiments chasing a market reality. While regulators debate, stablecoins are already being adopted, integrated, and used — especially by the millions who need financial tools more than they need the next GPT model.
A final thought
We will look back and see that stablecoins were not a footnote in the crypto story, but the start of a new monetary era; one where the question was not just about technology, but about who gets to write the rules of monetary transactions in a ‘programmable world’.
AI changes what we know and automates. Stablecoins change who governs the game. In a fractured, multipolar world where trust in banks, governments, and media is weakening the ability to issue, control, and distribute value without permission is a radical and destabilising force.
