Paolo Ardoino, the technical director of Tether, the stablecoin issuer, has stated that the probability of a potential default in the U.S. is low due to the “catastrophic” impact it would have on the U.S. economy. This was reported by The Block.

“This story is about a potential U.S. default, which, by the way, I don’t think will happen – I mean, it would be catastrophic for the U.S. economy. I think everybody is going to sit back and watch what happens,” Ardoino said.

He also speculated on events that could trigger an illiquid market. Although bitcoin (BTC) has rebounded from under $20,000 to about $27,000, he noted that there is less room now for volatile investments as interest rates rise.

“Overall, even though Tether’s market capitalization has increased, the stablecoin market as a whole has declined by approximately 23% from its all-time high. Because, at the end of the day, people would rather sit back and earn interest,” he said.

However, according to Ardoino, there is one optimistic scenario in which U.S. inflation would decrease if the Fed stops raising interest rates.

Earlier, Circle, another stablecoin issuer, began adjusting its reserve structure out of concern for a potential U.S. default. Circle CEO Jeremy Aller stated that the company prefers short-term Treasury bonds that mature no later than June. This decision is intended to protect the company in case the U.S. government is unable to address its debts.

In early May, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen mentioned that the U.S. could face default by June if the country does not raise the national debt ceiling. However, the Biden administration does not want to increase the ceiling by more than $30 trillion based on the Republicans’ terms.

Earlier we reported that the EU wants to limit leverage in crypto-trading.

The Dogecoin blockchain is currently experiencing a surge in user activity, processing more transactions than Ethereum. Last week, the number of Dogecoin transactions exceeded 7.9 million, surpassing Ethereum by 500,000 transactions and more than doubling the number of transactions on the Bitcoin network. In comparison, the average daily number of DOGE transactions has been around 30,000 since 2015.

The primary reason for this growth is the user interest in the new DRC-20 token standard. In early May, crypto enthusiasts introduced the Cardinals update, enabling the deployment of “digital artifacts” based on the blockchain. Similar to BTC and Satoshi, one DOGE is now equivalent to 100 million “elons.” With the deployment of DRC-20 tokens, users can define values such as the issuance size, limitations, the ability to “burn” tokens, and specific requirements like the mining reward size.

Dogecoin “cardinals” lack infrastructure

A few transactions involving DRC-20 tokens can be found in almost any blockchain, typically accompanied by a fee of 0.001 DOGE ($0.000071). However, it is currently impossible to determine their exact number since there are no tools available to sort the issue. This makes it challenging to quantify the number of Dogecoin tokens mined per minute.

Nevertheless, the DRC-20 ecosystem is still significantly smaller compared to its “big brother.” The adoption of BRC-20 has progressed noticeably in recent weeks, as the availability of infrastructure such as wallets and marketplaces makes trading tokens of the new standard much easier. Additionally, BRC-20 has already been listed on several centralized exchanges, a milestone that Dogecoin has yet to achieve.

Earlier we reported that Blockchain.com sees the U.S. default as a plus for crypto.

A few days ago, a stablecoin pegged at a 1:1 ratio to the U.S. dollar and backed by fiat was introduced on the Bitcoin network (BTC). The token, called Stably USD (USDS), was issued by a company named Stably using the Ordinals protocol.

StablyUSD is not technically a new stablecoin. It has been in existence since 2019 and was recently converted to a BRC-20 standard token on the Bitcoin blockchain. According to a recent report, Stably is issued on 11 different networks, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Arbitrum, with a market capitalization of $7 million.

The launch of the new stablecoin has raised several questions among community members

Firstly, according to the company’s website, USDS has a total supply of $69.420 trillion, which is more than double the U.S. national debt and is likely a reference to meme culture. Additionally, the token’s documentation includes the address of a backup wallet with a $220 balance.

Earlier, the coin’s issuer tweeted that the stablecoin is backed and redeemable 1:1 by a U.S. dollar pledge, which is managed by regulated custodian Prime Trust. Stably also claimed that the asset undergoes monthly audits to ensure the presence of reserves. However, it is more likely that Prime Trust does not hold the reserves directly, as it is not FDIC-insured and instead utilizes accounts at multiple banks.

The USDS listing on CoinGecko reveals that the token reached an all-time high price of $9.89 on November 30 and subsequently plummeted to $0.05 on December 9, 2022. The liquidity on UniSwap’s decentralized exchange (DEX) is approximately $5,000, spread across two trading pairs.

Although Stably claims that USDS is the first stablecoin on the Bitcoin network, this is not entirely accurate. USDT was originally launched on OMNI, a BTC sidechain, in 2014. There are also other USDS-backed stablecoins currently operating on the blockchain, such as DoC on Rootstock.

Whether this will be another BRC-20 trend that quickly diminishes or marks the advent of a new era of stablecoins brought about by the controversial Ordinals protocol, only time will tell.

Earlier we reported that Meta unveiled its AI processor with 128 cores.