Stablecon

?? "Stablecoins are just crypto dollars, right?" ?? "They're always worth $1… until they aren’t." ?? "If they’re so great, why aren’t banks using them?" Stablecoins move trillions of dollars annually, yet many still wonder: How do they actually work? And how do they stay stable? ? Some are backed 1:1 by real dollars (like casino chips you can cash out). ? Others use crypto collateral, requiring more assets than they issue. ? And some tried to work with just algorithms - which led to disasters like TerraUSD. But not all stablecoins are created equal. Some are reliable financial tools, while others are ticking time bombs. ?? So which ones actually work? And which ones should you avoid? I break it all down in Part 3 of my Stablecoins Unpacked series. Read it here: ?? ?? Want more? ?? Subscribe to The Weekly Stable by Chuk Okpalugo & This Week in Fintech → https://lnkd.in/e55NdwGT ?? Join the conversation at Stablecon 2025 → www.stablecon.com ?? Meet us in NYC @ The Stable Salon in collaboration with Will White → https://lu.ma/7fs8dgfz #stablecoins #stablecon

We're excited to have Public Co-Founder and Co-CEO Leif Abraham joining us on-stage at Stablecon to discuss real-world use cases for stablecoins. Grab your ticket before the 17% discount expires in April at https://lnkd.in/eA5wjgWe

Stablecon is excited to welcome our newest partner, Global Dollar Network. The Global Dollar Network is an open network designed to accelerate and reward global stablecoin adoption. It is powered by Global Dollar (USDG), a US dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Paxos Digital Singapore Pte. that is substantively compliant with the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s upcoming stablecoin framework. USDG is a safe and trusted stablecoin designed to support the needs of regulated institutions that maintain higher standards of operation as it is backed by only high-quality liquid assets. Global Dollar Network partners include Anchorage Digital, Bullish, Galaxy Digital, Kraken Digital Asset Exchange, Nuvei, Paxos and Robinhood. Visit them at?globaldollar.com

2025 is the Year Of The Stablecoin https://lnkd.in/eM_zSDed

I couldn't be more excited to have Chuk Okpalugo joining the This Week in Fintech team to head up our dedicated stablecoin content at The Weekly Stable. https://lnkd.in/eZrg7hHv Chuk has been a product lead at Paxos for 4 years, an eternity in the world of fiat-backed crypto tokens and crypto payments. He brings a deep understanding of stablecoin infrastructure, use cases, and market opportunities to the conversation that is desparately needed. Stablecoins have captured the popular imagination this year in crypto, in fintech, in financial services, and on Capitol Hill. That is why it is so critical to ensure that people have access to good information. (And not some of the hype-y takes that we're seeing in posts and podcasts.) Chuk will bring deeper, more thoughtful analysis to the space, and you can follow along at https://lnkd.in/eZrg7hHv Dennis Will

I've been talking to banks about stablecoins for over two years now. The evolution has been fascinating - and way faster than anyone expected. 2021: "Crypto is toxic" 2023: "Maybe explain this stablecoin thing again?" 2024: "So... how do we get started?" I get why banks were scared at first. I used to build financial infrastructure at PWC and Amount, consulting with these exact same banks. Their whole system is designed to be conservative and slow in money movement as a risk control. Then someone comes along talking about instant settlement using digital dollars? Yes, that’s unconventional and unsettling to incumbent banks. But something changed recently. The same bank executive who wouldn't take my call a year ago told me: "The war is over, but not all the soldiers know yet." He meant that stablecoins have already won, but some banks just haven't realized it. Banks saw their customers losing $500k per hour during payment outages. They watched companies wait 3-5 days for basic settlement. Meanwhile, we're over here settling millions instantly using stablecoins with better security and compliance than traditional rails. It wasn't tech that convinced them. It was seeing companies like PayPal, Visa, and JP Morgan embrace blockchain. When Stripe dropped $1.1B to acquire Bridge, every bank suddenly needed a stablecoin strategy. Now we're having totally different conversations. We’ve moved from explaining basic concepts to discussing sophisticated settlement mechanisms. Banks aren't dumb. They're just highly regulated and necessarily cautious. They see where this is going. Dollars in banks are already digital - the days of holding all the money in a bank vault is over - but the speed at which banks move is still extremely slow. The next 12 months will bring big changes. Some are already in motion. Now that the infrastructure is evolving, regulation is in place, and mindshare has shifted, adoption will accelerate faster than anyone expects.

When I worked at Coinbase during peak crypto winter, I spent a lot of time checking stock movements and following crypto price action. In the exchange world, volatility creates wealth. That's the game. In that world, if money stays stable, nobody gets rich. And if you're watching the markets now, you'd likely be pretty bummed: → US crypto reserve (massive announcement), prices barely moved → Ton of new L1's/trading/DeFi/NFT use cases falling flat → Jobs report tomorrow has folks in a frenzy ... things are just "eh" right now. It's stable. But if you're working in stablecoins, you couldn't be happier: → Stablecoin market cap nearly doubled in the past 2 years → Capital is flowing, new startups getting backed all the time → Profitable PMF is happening at a global scale → REAL use cases making REAL people's lives better, faster, cheaper, etc. I'm happy I made the switch to go all-in w stable studios

Kicking off Stable Salon Vol. 1! Last night, we hosted the first-ever Stable Salon, and the energy in the room was electric?. From in-depth discussions on stablecoins to just connecting with great people in the NYC Stablecoin community,?it was everything we hoped for! The feedback has been incredible: ? Great conversations with the right people ? Meaningful leads and new opportunities ? Excitement for the next one already building A huge shoutout to Will White for collaborating with us to bring this to life. If last night was any indication, the Stable Salon series is just getting started ??? This Week in Fintech Stablecon #StableSalon #Stablecoins

Stable Salon 1.0 was a hit! Thanks to Will White for hosting, so great to see so many ecosystem players huddled in one spot on a rainy night talking all things #Stablecoin infra. The future of finance is bright and we’re just getting started — already cannot wait for the next one. This Week in Fintech Stablecon