Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire believes stablecoins are on the verge of going mainstream, anticipating a breakthrough moment similar to the iPhone’s impact on mobile technology.
Stablecoin Programmability Set to Drive Major Transformation
Jeremy Allaire, founder and CEO of Circle—the company behind USD Coin (USDC), which went public this month—described stablecoins as the “most useful form of money ever created” in a June 15 post on X. However, he noted that the stablecoin sector has yet to undergo a major transformative breakthrough.
Allaire made his remarks in response to an X post by Sam Broner, a partner at a16z Crypto, who argued that “stablecoins are better because they foster competition.”
Broner pointed out that as the fixed and marginal costs of developing fintech solutions continue to decrease, “anyone can program money.” This shift promotes competition, which ultimately results in more affordable, improved services with broader accessibility.
Speed & cost (< 1 second, 1 cent) matter, but it’s the permissionless programmability that’s going to change the market.
he wrote, adding:
In essence, stablecoins must deliver transaction speeds of under one second and keep costs near $0.01. Still, it is the ability to program them without restrictions that will drive the next major transformation.
Stablecoin Industry Still Awaits Its Breakthrough ‘iPhone Moment’
Apple’s release of the first iPhone in 2007 transformed the mobile phone industry, sparking a surge in the adoption of programmable smartphones. The term “iPhone moment” thus signifies a groundbreaking innovation that propels a technology into mainstream use.
Allaire believes the stablecoin sector has not yet hit its pivotal moment, though he expects it to happen “soon.” He remarked that once this point is reached, “developers across the globe will recognize the potential and possibilities of programmable digital dollars on the internet.”
Many in the crypto community also share the view that stablecoins have not yet achieved mainstream adoption.
Today, stables are more expensive relative to a range of other choices – leaving a subset of customers who they make sense for [sic] (i.e. those without other options).
One X user named Omar wrote:
Omar mentioned, however, that he anticipates stablecoin transaction costs will “shift over time.” Another user pointed out that although stablecoins have had limited presence in the card-dominated payments sector so far, they hold strong potential to capture a substantial share of that market in the future.
Notably, just last month, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman stated that “stablecoins fail to serve any clearly practical purpose.”
