stop playing chess when no one else is even at the board.

the trojan horse paradox: how dollar stablecoins are accidentally building bitcoin's future @ARKInvest's conversation with @Tether_to's @paoloardoino and @realartlaffer reveals a counterintuitive truth about bitcoin becoming everyday money. tether's 450 million users (growing 30 million quarterly) aren't adopting dollars. they're adopting bitcoin's infrastructure while using familiar dollar units. paolo admits something remarkable: tether teaches bitcoin in emerging markets but users demand $USDT instead. this apparent rejection of bitcoin is actually the perfect adoption sequence. the three-stage monetary revolution most don't see: stage 1 (happening now): 30 million new users quarterly learn self-custody through stablecoins. the critical shift: money transforms from bank-mediated to cryptographically-controlled bearer assets. turkey's 50% inflation victims aren't just escaping lira. they're learning private keys, wallet addresses and trustless transactions. stage 2 (laffer's vision): stablecoins must appreciate with inflation to survive competition. it revealed the endgame: once stablecoins target purchasing power instead of dollar parity, users hold something fundamentally different. tether's projected $15+ billion profit in 2025 creates massive incentive for this evolution. the psychological break from fiat happens when "stable" means stable purchasing power, not stable dollar price. stage 3 (the inevitable flip): paolo revealed the trigger: commodity traders already prefer usdt for oil shipments. when $130+ billion in treasuries backs private money that appreciates while governments print endlessly, the question becomes: why reference dollars at all? the data points most people missed: tether holds $163 billion market cap with over $130 billion in us treasuries. they're the 16th largest holder globally, fifth largest purchaser while china and japan dump. the genius act legitimizes this parallel monetary system, thinking it strengthens dollar dominance. the overlooked detail: paolo said africans using usdt can pay salaries, buy houses, buy equipment. full economic loops exist outside banking. once these loops include inflation adjustment (paolo hinted at us market plans for 2025), the dollar becomes unnecessary scaffolding. the historical connection: 1790 to 1913, america had private money with zero inflation for 123 years. the fed created 32-fold price increases since 1913. stablecoins are recreating pre-fed monetary competition but globally and instantly settlement-capable. $BTC hit $120,000 (up from $250 when ark first analyzed it with laffer in 2015); meanwhile, gold touched $3,400. both signals scream the same message: escape from government money accelerating. the irony: every bank launching stablecoins post-genius act accelerates tradfi system's obsolescence. they're building the rails for trustless, bankless, eventually bitcoin-based commerce while thinking they're defending dollar supremacy. bitcoin is becoming everyday money.

Ten days after GENIUS: The $28 trillion reality only few talk about In the ten days since Trump signed the GENIUS Act, I got more questions about this topic than all last quarter. Same question: "How fast can we move on stablecoins?" Here's why people are panicking: Deutsche Bank dropped a bombshell: Stablecoin transactions hit $28 trillion last year. More than Visa and Mastercard combined. The market's grown 45x since 2019, from $5B to $232B. The yield ban is the feature, not the bug: By prohibiting interest on payment stablecoins, Congress created crystal-clear product segmentation. Payment rails vs investment products. No more regulatory grey zones. Your Venmo doesn't pay interest either because payments and investments are different beasts. Tether's $163B pivot changes everything: They're building an entirely new US-specific stablecoin. Not upgrading USDT, starting from scratch. Why? GENIUS makes their global product essentially non-compliant for US users. The world's stablecoin market is splitting: compliant America vs wild west everywhere else. The MSTR speculation: Saylor's sitting on 600,000+ BTC worth $71B. What happens when he launches a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin? No Treasury backing needed - just 150% BTC collateral and smart contracts. GENIUS just cleared the path. Big Tech needs banks now: Amazon can't launch WalmartBucks without a banking partner. One paragraph transformed every bank from disruption target to necessary partner. JPMorgan's already ahead with JPMD on Coinbase's Base; tokenized deposits, not stablecoins. Your competitors are asking: - Which stablecoins to integrate? (USDC leads in the US; USDT leads international) - Partner with a bank to issue our own? - How to rebuild treasury for instant settlement? Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Bessent projects $2 trillion in stablecoins "soon". That's $2 trillion in forced Treasury buyers. We invented a machine that turns global dollar demand into US debt purchases. The paradox? Stablecoins aren't Bitcoin's enemy, they're its Trojan horse. Every company integrating stablecoins is one API call from Bitcoin payments. The 12-month implementation window isn't a grace period. It's a race. In five years, not using stablecoins will be like not using email. The GENIUS Act didn't regulate an industry. It legitimized a new financial operating system. What's your strategy - build, partner or watch from the sidelines?

“tyranny of the prevailing opinion” can be more oppressive than any censorship