A Brief History of Stablecoins: From Technical Patch to Disruptor of Global Financial Order

The history of currency is humanity's eternal exploration of "efficiency" and "trust." From shell money to bronze coins, from the half-tael to jiaozi, each leap in form is a resonance of technology and systems. When the jiaozi of the Song Dynasty broke the limitations of metal currency with paper money, it was not only an innovation in materials but also the prototype of credit currency. The monetization of silver in the Ming and Qing Dynasties shifted trust towards precious metals, and after the dissolution of the Bretton Woods system, the US dollar reconstructed global hegemony based purely on credit.

The birth of Bitcoin opened a new era. In 2010, Mt.Gox was established, but the inefficient transactions severely restricted circulation. In 2014, Tether launched USDT, becoming the first "fiat currency substitute" in the crypto world. It broke the barrier between fiat currency and cryptocurrencies, quickly capturing 90% of trading pairs on exchanges. However, behind the prosperity, cracks in trust are spreading. The "1:1 peg" of USDT has always been shrouded in a black box, and its anonymity has also made it a channel for criminal funds.

After 2018, stablecoins have transformed from payment tools into vehicles for "dark finance". In 2022, the collapse of Terra's UST exposed the fatal flaws of algorithmic stablecoins. In the face of a systemic trust crisis, DAI built a multi-asset collateral system, and USDC implemented a "glass box" strategy, marking the compromise of cryptocurrencies from utopian ideals to traditional regulatory frameworks.

In 2025, the US GENIUS Act and Hong Kong's stablecoin regulations were introduced successively, marking the beginning of sovereign nations competing for currency pricing power in the digital financial era. The EU MiCA Act and Singapore's Payment Services Act are accelerating the construction of a global regulatory framework. Stablecoins are reshaping financial infrastructure, challenging the SWIFT system; they are also becoming a new battleground for monetary sovereignty, with countries exploring regional innovations under the dominance of the US dollar stablecoin.

Looking back over the past decade, stablecoins have evolved from a "technical patch" to solve liquidity challenges into a force that disrupts the global financial order. They have redefined the essence of currency, shifting trust from physical entities to verifiable rules. In the future, stablecoins may become the cornerstone of the "new monetary system" in the digital economy era, continuing to evolve in the interplay between regulation and innovation. In this currency revolution, we are both witnesses and participants.