Stablecoins Are Going Mainstream — Is This Good for Crypto?

[Cryptoddler]

It’s becoming more and more obvious: Stablecoins are entering the mainstream.
From USDC being used by fintech apps and institutions, to USDT dominating cross-border settlements, and even discussions around tokenized dollars in Congress — we’re seeing stablecoins evolve from a DeFi primitive to a global payment infrastructure.

But that raises a big question:

    Is the mainstreaming of stablecoins a win for crypto — or are we slowly inviting centralized finance to control the rails of a decentralized system?

Here are a few threads to explore:

🔹 The Pros:

    Mass adoption of crypto rails without volatility

    Onboarding for emerging markets and unbanked populations

    Enabling real-time settlement and 24/7 finance for global commerce

    Potential to challenge SWIFT, PayPal, and even national currencies

🔸 The Cons:

    Centralized issuers (Circle, Tether) can freeze funds or blacklist addresses

    Regulatory capture: permissioned access, surveillance risk, KYC friction

    Dilution of the decentralized ethos — most stablecoins are just digital dollars

    Potential sidelining of Bitcoin, ETH, and real decentralized currencies

💬 So what do you think?

    Is the stablecoin boom ultimately bullish for crypto adoption — or a Trojan horse for financial centralization?

    Should we be pushing for more decentralized stablecoins like DAI, crvUSD, or LUSD — or is trust in fiat-pegged assets inevitable for scaling?

    How will CBDCs (central bank digital currencies) impact the stablecoin market — and should we be concerned about competition or control?

[asriloni]

💬 So what do you think?

    Is the stablecoin boom ultimately bullish for crypto adoption — or a Trojan horse for financial centralization?

    Should we be pushing for more decentralized stablecoins like DAI, crvUSD, or LUSD — or is trust in fiat-pegged assets inevitable for scaling?

    How will CBDCs (central bank digital currencies) impact the stablecoin market — and should we be concerned about competition or control?

1. Stable token boom is obviously a bullish sign for the crypto adoption. The more stable token issued, the more money gets collateralized. I don't see stable token as a trojan horse for a financial centralization. This is because you can't be far away from using stable token these days.

2. We should not. Decentralized stable token is bad, and can't be reverted once the hack happen. I'd prefer centralized stable token.

3. CBDC is only acting like an ordinary currency, but digital based. It's pretty much the same as stable token, but issued by the bank.

[cizanigh]

Stablecoins are good for using crypto without big price changes, and they help more people join. But most of them are controlled by companies, so they can freeze your money anytime. That’s not true decentralization.

We should support stablecoins like DAI that no one controls. If we only use USDT or USDC, it’s like going back to the old banking system, just on the blockchain.

CBDCs might make it even worse — more control, less freedom.

[o48o]

🔹 The Pros:

1:    Mass adoption of crypto rails without volatility

2:   Onboarding for emerging markets and unbanked populations

3:   Enabling real-time settlement and 24/7 finance for global commerce

4:   Potential to challenge SWIFT, PayPal, and even national currencies

🔸 The Cons:

5:    Centralized issuers (Circle, Tether) can freeze funds or blacklist addresses

6:    Regulatory capture: permissioned access, surveillance risk, KYC friction

7:    Dilution of the decentralized ethos — most stablecoins are just digital dollars

8:    Potential sidelining of Bitcoin, ETH, and real decentralized currencies

I numbered your points so i can answer them separately

1: What does this even mean?
2: When people are unbanked they are usually unbanked for a same reason that could cause freezing of their stablecoins as well.
3: It's not a real time settlement when it needs to wait some blocks to be confirmed.
4: This is not scaling like SWIFT. That's just insanity.

5: While this is a con, it's only reason stablecoins will be even allowed.
6: Same goes with this. You see regulatory compliance as a con. Use something like bitcoin if that's a problem.
7: Let's be real: Stable coins have nothing to do with crypto ethos. They are just an something developed for traders. I don't think they never meant to even to be seen as payment method. Just a fiat money hedge. Paired against the fluctuation of btc.
8: Stablecoins are literally build on them. How would tokens sideline the underlying blockchain?

[Frankolala]

Stablecoins are not investment but to be used as a payment gateway because they are pegged with USD. I don't think that stablecoin is good for profits and a lot of people are entering the crypto space to make profits through trading or investing for long term. With stablecoin, you can easily trade and keep your profits in USDT and buy back when the price of bitcoin dips. I am here to invest and so I am only buying and hodling bitcoin.

[doomloop]

Stablecoins are not investment but to be used as a payment gateway because they are pegged with USD.

I think there are also stable coins that rises in value, so they can act as an investment too.

I don't think that stablecoin is good for profits and a lot of people are entering the crypto space to make profits through trading or investing for long term. With stablecoin, you can easily trade and keep your profits in USDT and buy back when the price of bitcoin dips. I am here to invest and so I am only buying and hodling bitcoin.

I think there is a typing mistake there. You shouldn't say "don't" judging on how your sentence goes, although stable coins are like regular currencies too, so a stable coin user can also spend their tokens regularly like for example when buying an item online. You know, things that are not for profit-making this time.

Stable coins are not new. By the time they come out, I think a lot of us are also worried and maybe they affected the market too (in a negative way) but I think later on, things have started to look better. CBDC's then came in the scene and maybe it also affected the stable coins but not too much.

[Mrbluntzy]

Those popular digital currency (USDT and USDC) has already gain trust and like you may know, Tether is pegged to US dollar and according to what I read, they hold a reserve of the US dollar that make it possible for 1 USDT to be equivalent or exchange for 1 US dollar.
Though it might be centralized but a lot of people trust them and purpose of this currency is just to hold stability of your asset for a short time, you don't have to hold the currency in your wallet for too many years. In my opinion, I think it's good for crypto because many people buy the USDT first before they spend it in buying their favorite cryptocurrencies.