Tokenizing money is the ‘greatest innovation’ after fiat — Tether co-founder

As an experienced financial analyst, I find William Quigley’s perspective on tokenized fiat currencies both intriguing and compelling. His belief that this innovation will revolutionize global finance in the coming years is not far-fetched, given the growing popularity of stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and the increasing adoption of digital assets in various sectors.


A Tether exec believes that the ability to tokenize traditional currencies, such as the US dollar, represents a groundbreaking development akin to the creation of fiat money itself, opening up fresh opportunities for international finance over the next few years.

At the Financial Times Crypto and Digital Assets Summit on May 9, William Quigley, the co-founder of Tether, the well-known stablecoin company, and WAX, a decentralized exchange, expressed his conviction that most global economies will shift towards using digital tokens as money within the next decade. During a fireside chat, he extolled the virtues of tokenization technology.

Quigley remarked that it’s uncommon to find a technology innovation without any downsides that is as ideal as tokenizing fiat currency. He further explained that this process improves fiat money, and tokenized fiat or even stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) could potentially provide returns in the form of interest or yield on holding these digital assets.

The Tether co-founder stated:

“I wondered why my checking account never paid me interest. And they said, well, you get the wonderful benefits of electronic banking. So, at some point, that might happen. But right now, people are so happy with the tokenization of their dollars that the idea of forgoing interest on them hasn’t been really a compelling issue.”

As a researcher, I came across an intriguing statement from Quigley where he mentioned the existence of “trillions” of dollars in American bank accounts that do not earn any interest. Surprisingly, the executive explained that people opt for these types of accounts due to their appreciation for banking services rather than the interest they provide.

He pointed out that they intend to withdraw money from an ATM and utilize the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system. In essence, they’re covering the fees for these services by sacrificing potential interest returns on their funds.

Tokenizing money is the ‘greatest innovation’ after fiat — Tether co-founder

At the fireside conversation, Quigley recounted his journey into the world of cryptocurrencies and his role in founding Tether, currently the largest stablecoin in terms of market value and the most frequently traded digital currency.

As a crypto investor with a deep-rooted passion for gaming, I can relate to Quigley’s experience. In the late 90s, gaming was at an all-time high, and within this realm, the idea of in-game items gained significant traction. These digital assets were highly sought after, and many players wished to trade them. However, exchanging in-game items through a barter system proved to be clumsy and inefficient.

In the past, my partner proposed the idea of running a digital escrow service enabling people to buy items online with cash. However, back then, using fiat currency on the internet was not straightforward. Quigley pointed out that he was an early investor in PayPal’s institutional sector.

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2024-05-09 16:16