"Turkish people do not consider USDT to be a cryptocurrency; they treat USDT as money."
Written by: Connie Loizos, TechCrunch
Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News
In 2018, when Bitcoin was fluctuating around $4,000 and most Americans still thought cryptocurrencies were just a short-term trend, Katie Haun clashed with Nobel laureate Paul Krugman in a debate in Mexico City. Krugman's focus was on the extreme price volatility of Bitcoin, while Haun shifted the topic to another area: stablecoins.
She argued on stage, "Stablecoins are really interesting and very important for this ecosystem; they can hedge against this volatility." She explained how cryptocurrencies pegged to the dollar can provide the advantages of blockchain technology while avoiding the volatility of traditional cryptocurrencies.
Krugman completely dismissed the idea.
This was not a turning point in Haun's career, but it was one of many moments that defined it. Haun served as a federal prosecutor and has a unique background in cryptocurrency investment: she spent over a decade investigating financial crimes and created the government's first cryptocurrency task force. In 2018, she became the first female partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and co-led its cryptocurrency fund a16z crypto. In 2022, she founded Haun Ventures, managing over $1.5 billion in assets.
Going independent has not been smooth sailing. Despite her prominent role at a16z and her extensive industry connections, there have been almost no public joint investments since she established her fund. Haun resigned from the Coinbase board last year, while Marc Andreessen remains a director.
On Wednesday night, at TechCrunch's StrictlyVC event, when asked about her relationship with a16z, she downplayed any potential friction while acknowledging that they are not collaborators. "There is no 'gentleman's agreement,'" she responded to the question of whether she avoids competing with her former employer, "In fact, I still keep in touch with a16z. You're right; we haven't invested together recently."
The lack of joint investments may reflect the brutal competition in the industry or the challenges of leaving one of Silicon Valley's most renowned venture capital firms to compete directly with former colleagues. Regardless, Haun is charting her own path, and at the core of that path is stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain stable value by pegging to fiat currencies like the dollar.
Unlike the highly volatile Bitcoin or Ethereum, stablecoins like Circle's USDC and Tether's USDT trade at a stable price of $1, creating a digital representation of traditional currency that can flow on blockchain networks.
In hindsight, Haun's belief in stablecoins seems increasingly prescient. Stablecoins, which were nearly nonexistent in 2015, now have a value of $250 billion and have become the 14th largest holder of U.S. Treasury bonds globally. Reports indicate that last year, stablecoin trading volume surpassed that of Visa for the first time.
"A few years ago, those focused on stablecoins would wonder, what is its value proposition?" Haun said on Wednesday night. "You asked me this question before. You said, why do we need stablecoins? I said, it's a question of 'if it’s useful to me, then it’s useful to everyone.'"
In reality, for most Americans, the existing financial system works well. We have Venmo, bank accounts, and credit cards. But with her prosecutor's understanding of the global financial system, Haun realized long ago that the situation in the U.S. is not universal.
She believes that in countries with unstable currencies or limited banking infrastructure, stablecoins offer unique advantages by providing instant access to stable, dollar-denominated value that can be sent anywhere in the world at very low cost. "Turkish people do not consider USDT to be a cryptocurrency," she said on Wednesday, "they treat USDT as money."
Undoubtedly, since that debate in 2018, the technology has undergone significant changes. The cost of international transfers with stablecoins once reached as high as $12. Circle states that its USDC stablecoin is fully backed by dollars in a JPMorgan bank account at a 1:1 ratio and is audited by one of the Big Four accounting firms.
It is not surprising that there is significant interest from the business world. Reports indicate that Walmart and Amazon are exploring stablecoins, as are other giants like Uber, Apple, and Airbnb. The reason is simple: economic incentives. Stablecoins provide a way to transfer dollar value using cryptocurrency channels rather than traditional banking infrastructure, potentially saving these retail-focused companies billions in fees.
However, critics worry that this shift could lead to economic turmoil. While Circle and Tether promise to have sufficient reserves to back their tokens, unlike traditional banks, these reserves lack government guarantees. Additionally, if large corporations can issue their own currencies, how will monetary policy and banking regulation evolve?
Concerns extend beyond economic instability. Not all stablecoins are created equal; many lack the support and regulation provided by companies like Circle. While well-regulated stablecoins like USDC are backed by actual dollars such as U.S. Treasury bonds, others operate with lower transparency or rely on complex algorithmic mechanisms that have proven to be prone to collapse.
Recently, former President Donald Trump's family issued their own stablecoin, drawing attention to corruption issues and highlighting potential conflicts of interest in the industry, as political influence can directly affect market value and regulatory outcomes.
These concerns reached a peak during congressional debates over the GENIUS Act (which aims to establish a federal framework for stablecoin regulation). The bill passed the Senate last week with bipartisan support, with 14 Democrats crossing party lines to express support. The bill is currently awaiting a vote in the House before it can potentially reach the President's desk.
However, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, expressed strong opposition, calling the bill "a highway for Donald Trump's corruption." Her criticism focused on a glaring loophole in the bill: while it prohibits members of Congress and senior executive officials from issuing stablecoin products, it does not mention their family members.
On Wednesday night, when asked about Warren's concerns, Haun nearly rolled her eyes. "Elizabeth Warren or other Democrats call this corruption but have not participated in pushing cryptocurrency legislation; I find that ironic," she said. "If there had been relevant rules at the time, there would have been a framework, and there would have been clear rules defining what constitutes a security, what constitutes a commodity, and what the consumer protections around these are."
Haun's venture capital firm has invested in numerous stablecoins, including Bridge. Unsurprisingly, Haun expressed strong support for the bill. But when asked about aspects of the bill she dislikes, she raised a notable criticism: the bill prohibits the issuance of interest-bearing stablecoins.
She told the attendees at StrictlyVC, "I'm not sure if interest-bearing stablecoins are a good idea for American consumers, but banning them may not be a good idea either." The crux of the issue is who can profit from the interest generated by stablecoin reserves. Currently, that money flows to companies like Circle and Coinbase. But Haun questions why consumers cannot earn that kind of return like they would with a savings account.
She explained, "If you have a savings account or a checking account and can earn interest, then you are earning interest. If you say, 'No, the bank will get the interest, not you,' and then they lend your money out, what happens?"
When discussing another of Warren's concerns, Haun's comments were less ambiguous: if the GENIUS Act is signed into law, stablecoins could become tools for money laundering and terrorist financing.
"Criminals are excellent beta testers of all technologies," Haun said. "But this technology is highly traceable and easier to track than cash. The biggest tool for crime is U.S. dollar bills." According to Haun, the Treasury has confirmed that 99.9% of money laundering crimes are conducted through traditional bank wire transfers rather than cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, she stated that legislation like the GENIUS Act could actually provide regulatory clarity by distinguishing legitimate, well-supported stablecoins from more experimental or risky variants, making the system safer.
In fact, as the stablecoin ecosystem continues to mature, Haun envisions even greater changes in the future. She imagines a future where various assets, from money market funds to real estate to private credit, will be "tokenized" and circulate globally around the clock.
"This is just the digital representation of physical assets," she explained. "BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, they have already tokenized money market funds. This is already happening."
Haun believes that tokenized assets can democratize investment channels just as Netflix has democratized entertainment. For example, without needing to be wealthy enough to meet minimum investment thresholds, one can buy shares of Apple or Amazon with just $25 and a smartphone.
"Just because something is inevitable doesn't mean it's going to happen soon," Haun said on Wednesday. But she believes this transformation is imminent, driven by the same success factors as stablecoins: they are faster, cheaper than traditional alternatives, and she insists they are more accessible.
Looking back at the 2018 debate with Krugman, Haun's persistence seems to have paid off. The main question now is not whether a digital dollar will reshape the financial system, but perhaps more importantly, whether regulators can keep pace with technology while addressing legitimate concerns about corruption, consumer protection, and financial stability.
Haun does not seem worried. Despite critics pointing out that stablecoins account for only 2% of global payment volumes, questioning their product-market fit, Haun has countered this concern. Instead, she sees it as a common story of technology adoption: a recurring narrative that often lasts longer than people initially imagine.
She told the audience, "We think it's still too early."
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