Stablecoins Erode Bitcoin's Role in Emerging Markets
ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood has revised her long-term Bitcoin price projection downward by $300,000. She attributes this adjustment to the increasing role stablecoins are playing in emerging markets, potentially usurping Bitcoin's function as a store of value in these regions.
Wood, who had previously anticipated Bitcoin reaching a peak price of $1.5 million by 2030, shared her updated perspective with CNBC. "Stablecoins are usurping part of the role that we thought Bitcoin would play," she stated.
"Given what's happening to stablecoins, which are serving emerging markets in a way that we thought Bitcoin would, I think we could take maybe $300,000 off that bullish case, just for stablecoins. Stablecoins are scaling here, I think, much faster than anyone would have expected."
Despite this revised forecast, Wood reiterated her overall bullish stance on Bitcoin. She described Bitcoin as a "global monetary system" that functions as a store-of-value asset, akin to gold, but fundamentally different from stablecoins, which she characterized as simply "cash tokenized on a blockchain."
Emerging Market Economies Embrace Stablecoins
International bank Standard Chartered has projected that U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins could attract over $1 trillion from legacy banking systems in emerging markets by 2028. This trend is particularly pronounced in countries grappling with hyperinflation, sanctions, or stringent currency controls.
Jurisdictions such as Venezuela and Argentina have seen residents turn to alternative fiat currencies, like the U.S. dollar, to safeguard their purchasing power. The annual inflation rate in Venezuela, for instance, surged to 269% in 2025, according to data from the International Monetary Fund. This economic instability has prompted millions of Venezuelans to adopt dollar-pegged stablecoins, such as Tether's USDt (USDT), as their preferred savings vehicle.
Venezuela's strict currency controls and a dual-tier currency exchange system have further contributed to the popularity of stablecoins as a dependable alternative to physical dollars or traditional U.S. dollar bank deposits. Reports from 2024 indicated that the Venezuelan government was utilizing stablecoins to circumvent U.S. sanctions and facilitate international oil trading.