Brothers, today let's talk about something that will probably make many of you feel a jolt.


That pile of USDT you have looks like just a number, motionless, but in reality, it's working for someone else every day without a single penny in return.


Even more outrageous is that the company issuing USDT, Tether, takes your real money to buy US Treasury bonds, making over a hundred billion dollars a year in net profit, even richer than a lot of listed companies.


This is not made up; it's a true story.


In the past, people didn't think too much about it and believed that USDT could be exchanged for money and used for trading cryptocurrencies, so who cared where the interest went? It wasn't until more people got into DeFi that they suddenly realized—hey? The money I deposited, where did it all end up in someone else's pocket?


To put it bluntly, this is a business that earns while lying down.

If you send $1, they give you 1 USDT, and then immediately use it to buy US Treasury bonds, earning a steady 4% to 5%. That interest? They keep it all for themselves. Holding USDT means no dividends, no returns; it’s like lending them money to make money.

A few years ago, this approach was called stablecoin 1.0, simple and brutal, one company dominated everything.


People, seeing others eat alone, will always want to take a bite.

A couple of days ago, CZ praised Ethena's USDe in an AMA; this is a new way that has emerged, beginning to distribute profits to users. Sounds quite fair, right?

But here come the pitfalls; it's not user-friendly. Not all exchanges support USDe; if you want to sell, you might first need to convert to USDT, which takes a bit of time; cross-chain transfers are troublesome, and some small exchanges don't support them at all.

So while there are profits, if spending isn't smooth, that's its awkwardness.


If you really want to keep players around for the long term, just having profits isn't enough. You need to accomplish three things – provide decent returns, allow easy trading on most exchanges, and comply with regulations to avoid constant trouble from regulators.

These three elements together create a stablecoin 2.0 that can last. What's challenging? For exchanges to be willing to list your coin, you need a good reputation, compliance, and solid technology integration; the source of profits must be reliable, and no Ponzi schemes; on the regulatory side, where they used to shut you down on sight, the environment has changed – the GENIUS Act is progressing in the U.S., and other countries are figuring out how to let you play legally.

Just like back then when they said Bitcoin would be taken down by the government, what happened? Now the U.S. is looking into using Bitcoin as a strategic reserve. The same goes for stablecoins, moving from underground to mainstream – that's a big turnaround.


Monopolistic super profits will definitely attract wolves.

Tether makes billions a year, showing that the market is very attractive. It won't die overnight; after all, everyone is used to using USDT, and it’s easy to convert – that’s called network effect.

But users have woken up and will ask: Why should all the interest on my deposits go to you? Once many people start asking this question, the rules of the game will have to change. Its territory will be gradually eroded.


Looking at it broadly, the pie is still getting bigger.

CZ has said that the total market cap of cryptocurrencies can rise several orders of magnitude, so the stablecoin market will naturally rise as well.

The number of players entering the market will only increase; who can hold how much and who can grab how much is hard to say. But one thing is certain – the era of making money while lying down is over.

Users will no longer naively accept the play of 'I pay, you earn interest'.


Ultimately, the second half of the stablecoin battle has just begun. In the past, it was all about boldness and speed; now the focus is on whether you can genuinely benefit users while also being user-friendly and compliant.

USDT is still a hard currency, but it won't be the only choice.


This battle has just begun.#比特币流动性 #美国非农数据超预期