Geopolitics and financial power

Geopolitical relations are not only shaped by geography, but above all by financial power. It is no secret that the American empire has problems with the sustainability of its debt. However, this is not primarily determined by the government deficit, as is the case in most countries, but mainly by whether the US dollar will maintain its privileged position in international trade and as the currency reserve of most countries. It is in this context that debates on digital finance and cryptocurrencies have come to the fore.

Two discussions focused on cryptocurrencies took place at the Davos Forum: Where Are We on Stablecoins? and Is Tokenization the Future?

Several other thematically related panels can be added to this, such as New Era for Finance, which was attended by the recently pardoned founder of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, or Dedollarization or Redollarization? which reflected generally on the future of the US dollar.

It is interesting to note that in all these discussions, the elites hardly mentioned Bitcoin. This cryptocurrency is not seen as an alternative capable of replacing the US dollar, as many of its fans had dreamed.

The absence of a panel dedicated to Bitcoin therefore raises the question of whether it has become more of an investment asset that does not undermine the system but, on the contrary, has gradually integrated into the existing financial architecture with the arrival of institutional investors. According to the participants, the future lies primarily in stablecoins and the tokenization of the economy.

Success or experiment

The main topic of discussion on stablecoins was whether the current value of approximately $300 billion in stablecoins really reflects their success or whether it is still only a relatively small experiment within the global financial system.

At first glance, $300 billion may seem like a lot, but in today's financial world, it is not much, especially for a currency (or more precisely, a financial system) that is supposed to gradually replace the existing payment infrastructure.

Stablecoins today make it possible to send large amounts of money at virtually minimal cost. This should generally benefit the economy at all levels, except for banking systems, which currently thrive on high fees. For many entrepreneurs, especially those from developing countries, high money transfer fees have long been a major obstacle to business development.

The fate of stablecoins will depend heavily on their adoption in Africa. Their emergence is particularly visible in Egypt, Nigeria, and Ethiopia at the corporate level, but stablecoins are gradually conquering the entire African continent because they allow people to save in a currency that is not subject to high inflation.

For many people affected by inflation, this is good news—all you need to protect your savings is a smartphone and a stablecoin account. However, there is a downside to this solution, which, unfortunately, has not been discussed much: the protection of capital in affected countries. If a large part of the population resorts to stablecoins instead of local currencies, it will be a coup de grâce for these economies.

That is why African countries can no longer be viewed as passive recipients of this change. Central banks and governments in many countries are responding with regulation, exploring their own digital currencies, or seeking to create regional alternatives to strictly dollar-pegged stablecoins. If stablecoins were to spread massively in these countries, it would be a helping hand to the White House in its fight to strengthen the position of the US dollar in the world. Today, approximately 75 percent of the stablecoin environment is denominated in dollars.

However, the risks of stablecoins do not only apply to African countries and their central banks. Their operation could disrupt the functioning of traditional banks. Stablecoins pegged to the US dollar are backed by US bonds, which now offer holders interest rates of around 3.7 to 4.2 percent, significantly more than most banks offer on savings accounts.

Stablecoin technology can therefore offer holders very attractive returns. It is only a matter of time before stablecoins with other underlying assets appear, which would mean further problems for banks. Instead of fighting a futile battle against technology, banks have the option of joining forces with it and participating in the expansion of stablecoins themselves.

Stablecoins as the bearers of the artificial intelligence revolution

The last major potential for the development of stablecoins is artificial intelligence. Soon, we will see a world of autonomous AI agents that will need their own payment system. This system will have to be global, instantaneous, programmable, and very cheap to allow even very small amounts to be processed.

AI agents will thus be able to pay for data, computing power, and digital services in real time. Only stablecoins can offer such a solution. The more the global economy opens up to artificial intelligence, the more important stablecoins will become.

Davos 2026 did not present crypto as a revolution, but as a tool. The world will gradually become tokenized. However, the question remains as to what technology, what infrastructure, and what will cover the entire system. Stablecoins are thus becoming another piece of the puzzle that helps us understand where and how forces are shifting on the global power chessboard.

Stablecoins can bring prosperity to a certain extent: they reduce the costs associated with receiving and sending money, increase the efficiency of time settlement, and at the same time open up access to finance for millions of people. At the same time, however, their spread will inevitably affect the position of currencies and the states behind their issuance.

The slogan "follow the money" is thus taking on a new form in the digital economy: "follow the stablecoin."