Stablecoin float
Placement: a judgment drawn from the evidence, open to correction (dispute it).
The model
- Definition
- A stablecoin issuer holds the reserves backing its tokens (mostly short-term US Treasuries and cash equivalents) and earns the interest/yield on those reserves as its primary revenue, rather than charging users transaction fees.
- In one line
- Issuers of dollar tokens earn the interest on the reserves backing them.
- What compounds
- More tokens in circulation mean more reserves and more income, which funds distribution.
- Who accelerates
- Payments move at software speed, increasingly between machines; the issuer keeps the yield.
- What it displaces
- Correspondent banking and card rails for some flows.
- Stops working when
- When short-term interest rates fall; reserve income drops with them.
Evidence
Companies 2
Evidence items 3
Grades 3A 0B
Latest dated 2026-08-05
Counter-evidence 1
Evidence items 3
Grades 3A 0B
Latest dated 2026-08-05
Counter-evidence 1
The three labels
2. Rides · loop gain positive. Each step of the curve makes its own loop stronger.
Owning the choke points · money lands in where machine choices are made and paid.
Network loop · more participants (people or machines), more value per participant.
Same rung and family
Named companies 2 companies · grade per item
| Company | Claim | Date | Gr | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circle Internet Group United States · public · best A |
Circle reported Q2 2026 total revenue and reserve income of $701 million (7% YoY growth), USDC in circulation of $73.3 billion (19% YoY growth), and Circle Payments Network annualized transaction volume of $14.7 billion (trailing 30 days, up 76% quarter over quarter) | 2026-08-05 | A | Circle press release |
| Circle completed its IPO in 2025 (CRCL, NYSE) | 2025 | A | Circle press release | |
| Tether British Virgin Islands / El Salvador (issuer entities); globally used · scaleup · best A |
Tether's year-to-date net profit surpassed $10 billion through Q3 2025 (Jan 1 to Sep 30, 2025), with USDT circulating supply over $174 billion at quarter end, growing past $183 billion by October 2025 | 2025-10-31 | A | Tether.io |
Counter-evidence Reversals, failures and disputes
| The model is entirely dependent on short-term US interest rates staying elevated; reserve income is not a fee business and would compress mechanically if rates fall, which is a foreseeable stop condition rather than an observed reversal (no dated reversal found) |