The dollar in tokenized version, delivered turnkey to the rest of the world. According to Bloomberg, the Trump administration is studying an initiative to promote stablecoins backed by the greenback outside American borders. This would involve supporting private projects through joint ventures. Objective: consolidate the reserve currency status of the dollar and in the process increase demand for Treasury bills.
The Treasury, the State Department and the Federal Development Finance Agency (DFC) return to the discussions reported by the agency. Neither timetable nor budget envelope has been leaked.
Key Points
Washington would study joint ventures with private players to spread dollar stablecoins outside the United States
Treasury, Department of State and Federal Development Finance Agency are among the administrations cited
The GENIUS Act requires issuers to cover each token with cash or T-bills less than 93 days old
Tether Reports $141 Billion Exposure to US Debt, Scott Bessent Targets $3 Trillion Market in 2030
Dollar stablecoins: Washington wants to move forward with the private sector
However, the idea has been circulating in the American executive since the first day of Donald Trump's second term. The decree “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology”, signed on January 23, 2025, already set the objective in black and white:
“promote and protect the sovereignty of the U.S. dollar, including through actions to foster the development and growth of lawful and legitimate dollar-backed stablecoins throughout the world”
Donald Trump, decree “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology”, January 23, 2025
The GENIUS Act, signed into law on July 18, 2025, transformed this intention into a legal framework. Any issuer of payment stablecoin must now back its tokens 1:1 with cash or very short-term Treasury bills. These T-bills of less than 93 days form the most liquid compartment of the federal debt. Mechanically, each token issued triggers a purchase of American debt.
What the plan studied would add is an operational level. Rather than letting the market work alone, Washington would invest in projects through joint ventures. The DFC usually finances infrastructure. Roads, power plants, telecom networks and health programs in developing countries make up the bulk of its portfolio. This arrangement would therefore place it as a shareholder of stablecoin payment rails.
The same decree however blocked the path to a public digital dollar by prohibiting federal agencies from any MNBC (central bank digital currency). The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, passed by the House of Representatives in July 2025, must still pass the Senate to enshrine this ban into law. The baton passes to the private sector: Tether and Circle in the lead.
Economy: stablecoins, new buyers of American debt
The arithmetic behind this stablecoin diplomacy is quite brutal. The market is now worth nearly $300 billion, dominated by USDT and USDC. Tether alone reported $141 billion in exposure to US Treasuries at the end of March. The issuer thus ranks among the very first holders in the world, ahead of several sovereign states.
Scott Bessent expects a market of $3,000 billion by 2030. But the market has been slipping since the start of the year, which weakens this bet on new debt buyers, according to Bloomberg. Applied to the GENIUS Act rules, this trajectory would create just as much new demand for T-bills. All this while the federal debt exceeds 40,000 billion dollars. Interest alone cost the US budget more than $1,000 billion for the 2026 fiscal year. The Treasury Secretary has been defending for a year the idea that a dynamic stablecoin market reinforces the primacy of the dollar rather than threatening it.
Dollar stablecoins: Europe and emerging countries worried
Stablecoins did not wait for Washington to be exported. In Argentina, Turkey, Nigeria or Venezuela, USDT acts as a substitute savings account in the face of local inflation and exchange controls. Going through public partnerships would amount to industrializing a hitherto spontaneous movement, driven by traders and individuals.
Europe takes a dim view of the maneuver. Piero Cipollone, member of the board of directors of the European Central Bank, has been warning since 2025. He fears seeing European payments switch to tokens denominated in dollars, and is pushing the digital euro as a solution. The Bank for International Settlements, for its part, has increased its warnings about the digital dollarization of emerging economies. This phenomenon deprives local central banks of part of their capacity for monetary action.
