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The Circle CEO’s latest call to action is a heady mix of fear, optimism, and Americana.
In a recent video ad, Jeremy Allaire is found humbly enjoying a coffee in a typical American diner. “What does a cup of coffee have to do with the future of the global economy,” he asks.
He then flits through crypto's ability to “fundamentally change the way we pay for things,” from buying coffee to shipping containers and everything in between.
What's up with Dollar Stablecoins? What's all the fuss? pic.twitter.com/2nGBEEZ9Wb
— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) August 10, 2023
He rehashes the popular comparison with dial-up internet in the late nineties, accelerating to smartphones, artificial intelligence, and the modern network state that is the world today.
The only thing that hasn’t caught up with the pace of technology? Money.
And, per Allaire, the dollar in particular.
“In today’s global economy, the dollar’s position of strength is under threat,” he said, asking if the United States wants “dollars to be the foundation of currency on the internet or digital euros or yuans?”
Allaire has been on a mission to regulate stablecoins like Circle’s USDC or his main competition USDT–not to mention PayPal’s newly brandished PYUSD–in the United States.
“Let's build on-chain dollars that are a powerful developer primitive, money lego bricks, that embrace the multichain, dynamic world of DeFi,” he tweeted, adding “let’s build this on shore.”
But he’s been met with stiff opposition (or at a minimum, mixed signals) from U.S. regulators.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has led much of the anti-crypto charge of late, and two days ago reintroduced a bill that would, among other rules, force crypto users to report any transactions over $10,000.
Adding to the mix, the Federal Reserve issued a statement on Tuesday, outlining potential new guidelines for banks dealing with dollar-pegged stablecoins, like Allaire’s USDC.
The U.S. central bank is looking to monitor all transactions, implement reversible transactions, and ramp up the rules for crypto companies.
Interestingly, and despite today’s ad, which features another push for regulatory clarity on stablecoins, Circle’s CEO was in the news earlier this week claiming that only 30% of USDC adoption comes from within the United States.