On-chain Bretton Woods System: stablecoin, US Treasuries, and the new structure of the 21st century dollar

Stablecoins are not revolutions, but the restructuring of U.S. debt, the reshaping of the dollar, and the extension of sovereignty. This article is from the article written by Macro Hedge Fu Peng and reprinted by TechFlow Deep Tide. (Synopsis: Overtake Taiwan!) The Bank of Korea will launch a "deposit token" on the public chain to promote cross-border stablecoin platform cooperation) (Background supplement: How does a comparative analysis of the Hong Kong and US stablecoin laws affect the global Web3 ecosystem? In the new wave of digital finance, stablecoins are not subverters of the old system, but more like the "digital relay station of the Bretton Woods system" - carrying dollar credit, anchoring US debt assets, and reshaping the global settlement order. I. Historical Review: Three Structural Transitions to US Dollar Hegemony The new stage after 2020 is the digital, programmable, and fragmented reconstruction process of the US dollar credit base, and stablecoins are the key connecting body of this reconstruction. Second, the essence of stablecoins: on-chain "dollar-US bonds" anchoring mechanism Stablecoins, especially USDC, FDUSD, PYUSD, anchored to the US dollar, their issuance mechanism is "on-chain dollar certificates + US bonds or cash reserves", forming a simplified version of the "Bretton mechanism": This shows that the stablecoin system actually reconstructs a "digital version of the Bretton Woods framework", but the anchor has changed from gold to US debt, from national liquidation to on-chain consensus. Third, the role of U.S. bonds: the "new reserve gold" behind stablecoins In the current reserve structure of mainstream stablecoins, U.S. bonds, especially short-term T-Bills (1-3 month Treasury bills), account for the highest proportion: USDC: More than 90% of reserves are allocated short-term U.S. bonds + cash; FDUSD: 100% cash + T-Bills; Tether has also gradually increased its U.S. debt weight and reduced its commercial paper. Why has U.S. debt become the "hard currency" of on-chain finance? Extremely liquid, suitable for dealing with large on-chain redemptions; Stable earnings, which can provide spreads for issuers; US dollar sovereign credit endorsement to enhance market confidence; Compliance-friendly and can be used as a reserve asset for regulatory compliance. From this perspective, stablecoins are "new Bretton tokens with T-Bills as gold", embedded in the credit system of the US treasury. 4. Stablecoins = an extension, not a weakening, of the dollar's sovereignty Although on the surface, stablecoins are issued by private institutions, which seems to weaken central banks' control over the dollar. But in substance: every USDC issuance must correspond to $1 US Treasury / cash; Every on-chain transaction is denominated in "dollar units"; Every global circulation of stablecoins is an expansion of the radius of use of the US dollar. This eliminates the need for SWIFT or military projection to "airdrop" dollars into global wallets, a new formalization of the outsourcing of monetary sovereignty. Hence our say: stablecoins are "unofficial contractors" of US monetary hegemony – not a substitute for the dollar, but to push it on-chain, globally, and into the "bank-free zone". V. Bretton 3.0 system prototype has emerged: digital dollar + on-chain US debt + programmable finance In this architecture, the global financial system will evolve into the following model: This means that the future Bretton Woods system will no longer take place at the Bretton Woods conference table, but negotiate and reach consensus between smart contract code, on-chain asset pools, and API interfaces. Risk and uncertainty: how far can this system go? VII. Conclusion: Stablecoins are not the end, they are the "midfield supply station" of US dollar global governance Stablecoins seem to be private innovations, but they are actually becoming a "bridge in disguise" to the US government's digital currency strategy: it connects the old finance (US bonds) and the new finance (DeFi); It extends U.S. financial sovereignty to the smart contract layer; It allows the dollar to dominate digital transformation. Just as the Bretton Woods system built dollar credit through gold anchoring, today's stablecoins are trying to rewrite the monetary governance structure with "on-chain T-Bills + dollar clearing consensus". Stablecoins are not revolutions, but the restructuring of U.S. debt, the reshaping of the dollar, and the extension of sovereignty. Related reports Stablecoin 10 years of quenching, finally become the digital cash endorsed by the US government represents Crypto mom Hester Peirce: Securities law must be clear on the jurisdiction of cryptocurrencies! Stablecoins, memes and NFTs are not securities USD1 stablecoins join forces with Binance: a crypto feast endorsed by Trump WLFI "On-chain Bretton Woods System: Stablecoins, U.S. Bonds and the New Architecture of the 21st Century Dollar" This article was first published in BlockTempo's "Dynamic Trends - The Most Influential Blockchain News Media".