Howard Lutnick, CEO of financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald, highlighted the value of stablecoins in the fight to maintain the hegemony of the U.S. dollar. Lutnick stated that fully redeemable stablecoins allowed citizens in emerging markets to use their digital dollars for commerce, stabilizing the demand and relevance of the currency.
Cantor Fitzgerald CEO: The U.S. Needs Responsible Dollar-Backed Stablecoins
Stablecoins are now in the spotlight due to their relevance in facilitating access to U.S. dollars in emerging markets. Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a leading financial services company, has talked about the role that stablecoins might play in maintaining the hegemony of the U.S. dollar in an upcoming currency war scenario.
Lutnick stated that the expansion of BRICS, a bloc integrated by Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates, and the possibility of Iran joining means that the group is preparing to dethrone the U.S. dollar from its privileged position in world markets. “This is literally the fight over the US dollar being the currency of the world,” he explained.
Furthermore, he reinforced the need to increase the adoption of U.S. currency in the form of stablecoins to defend this dollar standard, stressing that these digital alternatives matter “more now than ever.”
The premise behind this adoption is that facilitating access to the U.S. dollar in emerging markets would stop the advances of digital national currencies, or even a BRICS native currency in the future. This would contribute to maintaining the dollar protagonist, ensuring its use to settle payments in different markets.
Lutnick wrote:
Fully redeemable US dollar stablecoins allow emerging market citizens to use their phones to hold the digital dollar and to use it for local commerce.
He concluded that dollar hegemony was “fundamental” to the U.S. in maintaining its economy and its identity in the world. In December, Cantor Fitzgerald was revealed to be one of the holders of the U.S. Treasuries backing USDT, the largest stablecoin in the cryptocurrency market.