The original city roads were designed for carriages and pedestrians. Therefore, motor vehicles that were generally thought to be too dangerous—going too fast and making too much noise.

In 1856, Britain introduced the “Locomotives Act,” commonly known as the Red Flag Act. Under it, when a motor vehicle was in operation, at least three people were required: one had to walk in front of the vehicle with a red flag in hand to warn others, and speed in towns was limited to 2 mph. By comparison, the default walking speed on all our maps today is 3 kilometers per hour.

Stablecoins are a bit like that now, too.

They are viewed as “a dollar that can scare the banking system.” Banks worry about deposit outflows, central banks worry that monetary policy will be weakened, and regulators worry about bank runs, money laundering, and capital flows. So in practice, there were a lot of early regulatory requirements, and in essence, they all amounted to putting a red flag in front of stablecoins.

It’s not really that stablecoins are too dangerous; it’s just that the roads once designed for carriages and the pedestrians on them weren’t yet ready for the idea that money could become internet infrastructure.