JUST IN: Dollar-backed stablecoins can push local currencies LOWER, a new Bank of Korea study finds. When exchanges let people buy USDT or USDC directly with local currency, market makers sell that currency and buy dollars to balance their books. That quiet flow ties stablecoin demand straight to a country's exchange rate. In Brazil, a spike in Bitcoin search interest was linked to a 0.118% drop in the real, per CoinDesk.(Coin Bureau)