Governments outside the US, including Singapore, are increasingly interested in stablecoins not tied to the US dollar, despite their currently limited liquidity, Fireblocks director of policy Dea Markova told Cointelegraph at Token2049.<\/p>\n
In an exclusive interview, Markova described the competition with dollar-pegged stablecoins as \u201call about sovereignty.\u201d She compared the situation to earlier tensions between governments and US payment giants like Visa and Mastercard. \u201cNow we\u2019re seeing the same dynamic with stablecoins \u2014 on a smaller scale for now \u2014 but they\u2019re definitely emerging as a new arena for sovereign concerns,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
According to Markova, dollar-pegged stablecoins operating in the European Union are already “having a massive headache,” particularly from central banks. “Even though they’re compliant and regulated, they’re having a fixed push back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dea Markova at Token2049. Source: Cointelegraph<\/em><\/p>\n The European Central Bank is increasing pressure<\/a> to accelerate the development of a digital euro, citing concerns over the systemic impact of dollar-linked stablecoins within the eurozone. <\/p>\n On April 29, the Bank of Italy released a report saying dollar-pegged stablecoins\u2019 reliance on US Treasury bonds could increase systemic risk vulnerabilities<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stablecoins\u2019 market capitalization is dominated by dollar-pegged coins, especially Tether\u2019s USDT (USDT<\/a>) and Circle\u2019s USDC (USDC<\/a>). According to DefiLlama, those two coins combine for $210.9 billion (or 87.2%) of the $241.8 billion total market cap for such tokens. In fact, all 10 of the top stablecoins are pegged to the dollar.<\/p>\n Top 10 stablecoins by market cap. Source: <\/em>DefiLlama<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n For Markova, the situation is similar to previous conflicts between governments and US payment giants like Visa and Mastercard. \u201cNow we\u2019re seeing the same dynamic with stablecoins \u2014 on a smaller scale for now \u2014 but they\u2019re definitely emerging as a new arena for sovereign concerns,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Markova added that the United Arab Emirates is \u201cdefinitely ahead in its regulatory thinking\u201d on stablecoins. She cited Abu Dhabi as an example, noting that the emirate does not require stablecoin issuers to be domiciled or licensed locally, unlike the regulatory approach in Europe.<\/p>\n Markova explained that Abu Dhabi’s approach is to conduct its due diligence on global stablecoins and decide whether local exchanges can offer them. “[…] is a far more reasonable approach to give local businesses access to global liquidity and payments.\u201d<\/p>\n In December 2024, USDT was approved as a recognized virtual asset<\/a> in Abu Dhabi, followed by Circle receiving regulatory approval<\/a> for USDC on April 29. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi institutions are collaborating on the launch<\/a> of a regulated dirham-pegged stablecoin.<\/p>\nUAE ahead on \u2018regulatory thinking\u2019<\/h2>\n