CRYPTO 101 Podcast: Ep. 703

“The Future of Stablecoins with Insights from Reeve Collins”

Release Date: February 3, 2026
Featured Guest: Reeve Collins (Co-founder of Tether, WeFi, STBL, Reserve One)
Hosts: Bryce Paul & Brendan Viehman

Episode Overview

This episode explores the rapidly evolving landscape of stablecoins with pioneering guest Reeve Collins, the co-founder of Tether and current leader at WeFi and STBL. The discussion centers on stablecoins’ dramatic growth, the future of money movement on-chain, regulatory inflection points like the Clarity Act, and the promises and perils of tokenization and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Collins, drawing on more than a decade of blockchain and stablecoin experience, shares candid predictions on where the industry is headed next, how new stablecoin models can reshape user incentives, and why regulation is now the key to unlocking trillions in global adoption.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reeve Collins’ Journey and the Birth of Tether

• Background:

  • Early Internet advertising innovator in the 1990s.
  • “The internet… allowed everyone kind of a much more equal playing field. However, they still couldn't transact globally and fluidly. That's where I saw a lot of promise with blockchain.” – Reeve Collins (02:06)
  • Entered blockchain in 2013, inspired by the possibility of moving real-world currency (dollars, euros, yen) globally and instantly via blockchain—leading to Tether’s creation.

• On Stablecoin Evolution:

  • “Now what we're starting to see is that the underlying technology can be used in so many different ways than what we're so used to so far.” – Brendan Viehman (00:53)

2. Why Stablecoins Will Reshape the Financial System

• Stablecoins as Infrastructure:

  • “It's not about stablecoins, it's about upgrading an infrastructure… Of course, all transactions will convert to some sort of blockchain… The stablecoin is just the bridge.” – Reeve Collins (05:37)
  • Old financial rails (wires, slow bank transfers) cannot compete with global, instantaneous, and nearly free on-chain transfers.

• Institutional Adoption & Regulation Shifts:

  • “The moment that happened, the big banks, the big institutions, the people with the trillions of dollars… they're the first ones to line up and say yes, let's put it in the new system. But to do that, the bridge is a stablecoin.” – Reeve Collins (07:30)

3. The Regulation Tipping Point: Genius Act, Clarity Act, and Market Expansion

• Yield, Regulation, and Incumbents:

  • “The main point of contention is giving the users yield when they hold the stable coins… They're trying to protect their embedded traditional antiquated business models.” – Reeve Collins (14:15)
  • Regulation is finally opening the gates for institutional use, but established banks resist innovations like yield-sharing for competitive reasons.

• Global Regulatory Race:

  • “The key driver [for growth to trillions] is regulation, full stop. It is the trillions of dollars… that want to get into this world. The trigger’s regulation.” – Reeve Collins (21:51)

• Potential Impact of the Clarity Act:

  • “When we do get that clarity—and that's why it's called the Clarity Act—that money will flow into these types of ecosystems.” – Reeve Collins (22:33)

4. Innovating with STBL: “Stablecoin 2.0”

• Full On-Chain Collateral:

  • All collateral for STBL is on-chain, solving the trust and audit problems associated with off-chain reserves.
  • “We allow the minter to acquire that tokenized treasury, post it as collateral, and mint a stablecoin.” – Reeve Collins (23:16)

• User-First Yield Model:

  • “We enable the user, the community, the person who puts the dollar into the system, we give them the yield… That's the real key to stablecoin 2.0.” – Reeve Collins (25:45)
  • Distinction: Not a yield-bearing stablecoin (which would be a security and less liquid), but splits yield from spendable stablecoin for user control.

• Yield Mechanism:

  • “We bifurcate it, we split the yield, we allow you to keep the yield after you spend it… We've created this decentralized platform that empowers everybody.” – Reeve Collins (27:02)

5. Tokenization of Real World Assets (RWAs) and Lending

• Role of Tokenization:

  • “Everyone is talking about how they believe tokenization is going to have a role in everything… this could seriously unlock trillions of dollars.” – Brendan Viehman (28:33)
  • Stablecoins can use tokenized RWAs as collateral, increasing utility and yield for users.

• Utility and Market Expansion:

  • “In the future, you hold a Treasury and you get a stablecoin you get to spend. The moment you spend that… you got your principal back and you have the yield for free.” – Reeve Collins (29:39)

6. How Regulation Shapes Tokenization

• On Regulatory Hurdles:
  • “In some instances the tokenization of traditional assets is… less of a hurdle and will be easier to regulate…” – Reeve Collins (33:01)
  • Asset tokenization increases access, global reach, and removes legacy minimums and admin burdens.

7. Who Will Win in On-Chain Finance?

• Players in the Space:
  • Banks, blockchain infrastructure companies, and stablecoin companies will each serve their niches—“There’s enough audience… that everyone will attract a decent amount of, of market share.” – Reeve Collins (35:55)
  • Innovation and AI will route users and funds to the best options, regardless of legacy or crypto-native status:
    • “AI… is about to make all this crazy complex stuff like blockchain transactions… so the average user, like this is complicated… That’s where AI comes in.” – Reeve Collins (37:13)

8. Vision for the Future: Seamless, Global, On-Chain Money

• Proliferation of Stablecoins:

  • “All ecosystems… large companies, organizations, institutions, states, cities… are going to issue their own currency.” – Reeve Collins (41:05)
  • Seamless integration: “…you’ll just see your USD account alongside your crypto accounts… it’s going to start really being seamless and so easy to move whatever type of value that you want to move all within one app.” (41:56)

• Bold Prediction:

  • “All money is going to be a stablecoin at some point in time because… money just moves on a blockchain.” – Reeve Collins (43:16)

9. CBDCs: Promise and Peril

• On Government-Issued Digital Currencies:
  • “Technology is technology, the users are good or bad, right? So a CBDC, if you’re a government, a CBDC is great… Is that a good thing or a bad thing? It’s great for a government, it’s horrible for the citizens.” – Reeve Collins (43:56)
  • “In China, they’re probably going to have a CBDC because the government can get away with it. In the United States, we’re not going to have one. There’s already been laws passed saying we won’t do it because the government can’t get away from it.” (45:12)
  • In emerging economies, CBDCs and blockchain-based finance can rapidly elevate financial infrastructure and access.

10. The Global Lens and Societal Impact

• Global Use Cases:
  • “The technology truly is global in scale… enabling to connect the entire world instantly and almost for free with these transactions.” – Reeve Collins (47:26)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Of course, all transactions will convert to some sort of blockchain… The stablecoin is just the bridge.” — Reeve Collins (05:37)

• On bank adoption:

  • “To me, it’s a foregone conclusion and it’s definitely inevitable… That genie is out of the bottle.” — Reeve Collins (12:51)

• On yield and the banking model:

  • “They’re throttling it and so they’re really trying to stop the yield sharing… It’s very difficult to stop significant progress indefinitely.” — Reeve Collins (14:15)

• “It's not a yield bearing stablecoin… we bifurcate it, we split the yield, we allow you to keep the yield after you spend it.” — Reeve Collins (27:02)

• “All money is going to be a stablecoin at some point in time because… money just moves on a blockchain.” — Reeve Collins (43:16)

• On global equality:

  • “This technology absolutely impacts anyone in the world with an Internet connection.” – Reeve Collins (47:26)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------------------|-----------| | Reeve Collins Intro, Early Blockchain Insight | 02:06 | | Stablecoins as Infrastructure Upgrade | 05:37 | | Regulatory Momentum and Institutional Adoption | 07:30 | | Regulation, The Clarity Act, Yield Fights | 14:15 | | The WeFi and STBL Model, User Benefits | 23:16 | | Tokenization as Market Catalyst | 28:33 | | Regulation and Tokenization Going Forward | 33:01 | | Who Wins: Banks vs. Crypto Projects | 35:55 | | Finance’s Global Market; Role of AI | 37:13 | | Vision & Bold Predictions for Stablecoin Future | 41:05, 43:16 | | CBDCs: Pros/Cons and Global Impact | 43:56 | | Global Connectivity and Financial Inclusion | 47:26 |

Conclusion & Where to Find More

Reeve Collins foresees a world where every major ecosystem has its own on-chain currency, users control their yield, and transactions are seamless—augmented by AI and global regulatory clarity. The pace of innovation, now unleashed, depends on regulation that enables rather than restricts.

Find Reeve Collins at:

• X (Twitter): @MeetReeveCollins
• STBL: stbl.com
• WeFi: wefi.co

“People say I don’t get blockchain, I don’t get crypto. I’m like, well, you don’t need to… Your Wells Fargo services are going to get better, faster, and cheaper. It’s just the back end that’s changed.”
— Reeve Collins (16:18)