Crypto · Crypto
Stablecoins: what the voices are saying
Cryptocurrencies designed to hold a stable value, usually pegged to the US dollar.
Where the voices stand
BullishLatest views: 2 bullish, 0 neutral, 0 bearish. Counted only where Stablecoins was the subject of the claim; 5 passing mentions not counted.
The read
The voices see stablecoins as growing payment and financial infrastructure, with some risks and competition ahead.
On a16z, Jeremy Allaire called stablecoins a winner-take-most market growing from hundreds of billions to trillions, and Chris Dixon said regulation normalized them and drove financial institution adoption.[1] Chris Dixon also argued stablecoins are the natural way for AI agents to pay each other, and Carlos Domingo said stablecoins will reach a trillion dollars.[2][3] Nicola White said stablecoins can move money internationally at a fraction of the roughly 6% average wire cost, and expects OCC guidance to speed adoption.[4] Saeed Badreg said US stablecoin policy is making other countries' regulators follow, and noted Tether is a top-10 buyer of US Treasuries.[5] Scott Melker warned falling interest rates could badly hurt earnings of public stablecoin businesses like Circle, while Brett Winton said stablecoins' rise reduced the chance Bitcoin becomes a medium of exchange.[6][7]
Where they disagree
Sandy Kaul argued on Scott Melker's show that tokenized bank deposits could match or take market share from stablecoins and that stablecoins carry more reserve risk, while Allaire on a16z saw stablecoins as a winner-take-most market.[6][1]
Sources (7)
- a16z (Andreessen Horowitz): What Comes After Stablecoins? (ft. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire and Chris Dixon) (Oct 16, 2026) · watch
- a16z (Andreessen Horowitz): The Frontier Ideas a16z Wants to Fund Now | Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz & Chris Dixon (Oct 22, 2026) · watch
- Scott Melker: Bitcoin Was Recovering. Then Wall Street's AI Problem Hit. | Carlos Domingo (Oct 22, 2026) · watch
- Scott Melker: Bitcoin Went From $60K to $84K. Why Does It Feel Stuck? (Oct 21, 2026) · watch
- Scott Melker: Bitcoin's Biggest Advantage Is The One Wall Street Can't Buy | Saeed Badreg (Oct 23, 2026) · watch
- Scott Melker: Bitcoin's $3 Billion Saylor Scare Is Back (Oct 16, 2026) · watch
- Scott Melker: Bitcoin Is Insurance Against Financial Chaos - ARK's Chief Futurist (Oct 25, 2026) · watch
Each voice's latest take
| Voice | Stance | What they said | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Melker | Very bullish | Agents will drive transaction volume and lower marginal transaction size, and will need digital assets to transact. | 3 days ago |
| a16z (Andreessen Horowitz) | Very bullish | In an economy of agents, stablecoins are the natural payment method, with decentralized lending built on top of programmable money. | 6 days ago |
Calls about Stablecoins
- Agents will drive transaction volume and lower marginal transaction size, and will need digital assets to transact.
“agents are going to drive transaction volume and and lower the incremental kind of marginal transaction size”
- Agents will become the most numerous participants on the internet, and stablecoins are the natural way for them to pay each other.
“the most numerous participants on the internet will be agents and not people”
- The OCC guidance will likely accelerate stablecoin adoption beyond its current trend.
“we think the OCC guidance will only only probably leapfrog the adoption of stable coins”
- Stablecoins are a winner-take-most market, with several networks coexisting as the market grows from hundreds of billions to trillions.
“the stablecoin market is sort of a winner-take-most market structure, not a winner-take-all market structure”
- Tokenized bank deposits will at least equal stablecoin usage and could take market share away from stablecoins as the foundational unit in crypto.
“there is a tremendous chance that they actually really take the market share away from stable coins”
Every mention
- Ripple's RLUSD is going to be listed on Coinbase as Coinbase adds other viable stablecoins.
“So our RL USD is going to be going on Coinbase.”
- The rise of stablecoins has reduced the chance that Bitcoin becomes a medium of exchange and unit of account this business cycle.
“the rise of stable coins has reduced kind of like the possibility that it can become”
- Agents will drive transaction volume and lower marginal transaction size, and will need digital assets to transact.
“agents are going to drive transaction volume and and lower the incremental kind of marginal transaction size”
- Trump's involvement in crypto is a net positive for builders because US stablecoin policy is making other countries' regulators follow.
“I think it's a net positive, um, simply because uh, I've been traveling around the world”
- Stablecoins now play a non-trivial role in helping America borrow and fund its deficits, with Tether a top-10 buyer of US Treasuries.
“Tether's a top 10 buyer of US Treasuries and beats out like G20 countries in terms of purchasing US debt”
- Agents will become the most numerous participants on the internet, and stablecoins are the natural way for them to pay each other.
“the most numerous participants on the internet will be agents and not people”
- In an economy of agents, stablecoins are the natural payment method, with decentralized lending built on top of programmable money.
“the natural way when you have an economy of”
- Stablecoins will reach a trillion dollars and yield-bearing tokenized assets for idle cash are a large unexplored opportunity.
“If we all believe that this will get to a trillion dollars”
- AI and crypto will massively converge in the coming months because AI agents need programmable dollars and assets.
“we're going to see massive convergence of these two industries in the coming months”
- Stablecoins can move money internationally at a fraction of the roughly 6% average wire cost.
“We can do that for a fraction of the cost of stable coins.”
- The OCC guidance will likely accelerate stablecoin adoption beyond its current trend.
“we think the OCC guidance will only only probably leapfrog the adoption of stable coins”
- Stablecoins are a winner-take-most market, with several networks coexisting as the market grows from hundreds of billions to trillions.
“the stablecoin market is sort of a winner-take-most market structure, not a winner-take-all market structure”
- No one currently has a moat in blockchain networks because developer mindshare is small and the space is wide open.
“No one has won significant developer mind share.”
- Stablecoin regulation passing instantly normalized stablecoins in the technology world and drove financial institution adoption.
“just sort of instantly normalized stable coins in the technology world”
- Arc is public and permissionless to build on, but its validators are known, vetted operators, which he argues is needed for mainstream financial adoption.
“Arc is a public and permissionless network. Anyone in the world can connect to it and build software on it”
- Velocity of economic activity and value exchange will grow by multiple orders of magnitude in a machine economy, as internet communications did.
“the velocity of economic activity, the velocity of value exchange, the velocity of the use of of financial machines”
- Tokenized bank deposits will at least equal stablecoin usage and could take market share away from stablecoins as the foundational unit in crypto.
“there is a tremendous chance that they actually really take the market share away from stable coins”
- Stablecoins carry more risk than tokenized deposits because reserves are partly invested in assets that may not be instantly liquid.
“You have more risk when you're operating with a stable coin than you have when you're operating with a tokenized deposit.”
- Falling interest rates could badly hurt the earnings of publicly traded stablecoin businesses like Circle.
“if interest rates come down to zero, what happens to a publicly traded stable coin business”
Frequently asked questions
Are investors bullish or bearish on Stablecoins?
On balance the voices Read on Risk follows are bullish on Stablecoins: of their latest views, 2 bullish, 0 neutral and 0 bearish (as of Oct 29, 2026).
What does Scott Melker think about Stablecoins?
Agents will drive transaction volume and lower marginal transaction size, and will need digital assets to transact. (Very bullish, Oct 25, 2026.)
What does a16z (Andreessen Horowitz) think about Stablecoins?
In an economy of agents, stablecoins are the natural payment method, with decentralized lending built on top of programmable money. (Very bullish, Oct 22, 2026.)
What is Stablecoins?
Cryptocurrencies designed to hold a stable value, usually pegged to the US dollar.
Often discussed alongside
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