The United States is destroying the global status of the dollar
The White House authorities claim that the United States will become the center of the global cryptocurrency industry. In fact, the relevant laws introduced for this purpose not only changed the domestic cryptocurrency regulatory rules in the United States, but also laid the foundation for a new global competition in the digital finance field. More importantly, these laws may fundamentally change the global financial system — and paradoxically, this could undermine the global status of the dollar.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen said that the Trump administration will take new measures to develop the domestic cryptocurrency market in the near future. In addition, the U.S. has expressed its intention to make the United States the leader of the global cryptocurrency industry. We are witnessing a rapid shift in policy in this area, as just a year ago, the U.S. regulation of cryptocurrencies was fragmented, with various departments interfering with each other.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have different interpretations of the nature of digital assets. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) treats cryptocurrencies as property, while the Department of the Treasury requires compliance with anti-money laundering measures and customer identification procedures.
Between 2022 and 2024, the SEC strengthened its regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges and startups, launching a series of high-profile lawsuits against major institutions such as Coinbase and Binance. In response, the cryptocurrency industry increased its lobbying efforts, especially after Trump won the election in 2024.
In early 2025, the United States began to actively promote a series of bills aimed at easing regulations, promoting the institutionalization and legalization of cryptocurrencies. In July 2025, a significant event occurred in the United States that could completely reshape the global financial system — Congress passed three foundational bills on cryptocurrencies and digital assets, which were signed into law by President Donald Trump. These are the "Anti-Central Bank Digital Currency Monitoring National Act," the "Clarity Act," and the "Genius Act."
Three Acts: Content and Significance
The "Anti-Central Bank Digital Currency Monitoring National Act" prohibits the Federal Reserve System (the Fed) from developing and launching retail central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) without specific congressional approval. Thus, the United States refuses to launch a national digital currency, contrasting with other jurisdictions such as China and the European Union, which are currently developing CBDCs.
The "Clarity Act" clearly defines the jurisdiction of the SEC and CFTC. It introduces categories such as "digital commodities" (decentralized assets not regulated as securities), "investment contract assets" (digital assets issued as investment contracts, regulated by the SEC), and "restricted digital assets" (digital assets with limited circulation before meeting disclosure requirements). This act facilitates financing for cryptocurrency startups and safeguards citizens' rights to store assets in personal wallets.
The "Genius Act" establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins (cryptocurrencies strictly tied to a fiat currency): requiring 100% reserves (only cash and treasury bonds), obtaining licenses through the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), fulfilling reporting obligations, prohibiting interest payments, and stipulating that stablecoin holders have priority claims in case of the issuer's bankruptcy.
The new acts have greatly changed the rules of the game in the U.S. financial market.
Institutional investors can now legally participate in cryptocurrency market transactions. Large fintech companies and banks such as JPMorgan, PayPal, and Fidelity have gained new revenue streams by issuing stablecoins and providing infrastructure services. Cryptocurrency startups have obtained clear market access rules, enabling them to legally attract investments. Individuals' rights to use cryptocurrency assets have been officially recognized, and they can access related services through familiar bank interfaces.
Hedge funds and venture capital firms can now invest in tokens and blockchain startups without registering with the SEC in the early stages. This significantly lowers the barriers to market entry. Large investment funds and international banking groups such as BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and HSBC have obtained legal grounds to expand their crypto services, create tokenized funds, issue stablecoins, or conduct cross-border transactions using crypto infrastructure.
If there is a crisis in the global dollar system, and the global economy begins to split into multiple large monetary zones, these measures will become crucial for these institutions.
Small unregulated exchanges and peer-to-peer trading platforms will be affected, and the market will be replaced by regulated banks and fintech institutions. The Federal Reserve will also be affected, losing its exclusive monopoly over money issuance, and consequently, part of its control over the money supply and the transmission mechanism of monetary policy.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) originally aimed to cooperate with central banks around the world to maintain the stability of each country's fiat currency exchange rates. Now, it faces a situation where, in addition to fiat currencies, there will also be parallel, uncontrolled cryptocurrency supplies. In this new environment, the IMF may turn to establishing international reporting standards and data exchange standards.
Trump's Cryptocurrency Goals
We can view the passage of these three acts as a routine operation for the United States — politicians who win elections act in the interests of their sponsors who fund their campaigns. But in fact, Trump is pursuing strategic goals in both economic and political fields.
Prohibiting interest payments on "deposits" in cryptocurrencies creates space for credit activities in the real economy, making them independent of the interest rates set by the Fed. Considering that banks previously mainly profited from turning dollars in financial markets, they are now also entering the crypto game. Will this goal be achieved? Trump hopes the answer is yes.
A point that Trump will certainly achieve is freeing the U.S. government from the constraints of the Fed when financing its budget deficit. The recent issuance of U.S. Treasury bonds shows that there is no extra money in the market. The White House either has to accept further significant increases in Treasury yields (i.e., further increases in the cost of repaying government debt), or bow to the Fed's chairperson and ask for more dollars (which would accelerate inflation), or ask the Fed to purchase Treasury bonds using non-public tools (which essentially means more money creation).
Now, any bank or fintech institution holding Treasury bonds can issue cryptocurrencies (stablecoins).
In other words, a bank uses regular dollars to buy U.S. Treasury bonds and can issue an equivalent amount of cryptocurrencies (stablecoins), with no loss (and in fact, it may benefit from the coupon payments on the Treasury bonds in the future). Furthermore, by establishing a decentralized stablecoin issuance system, Trump aims to undermine the national digital currency projects of the United States' rivals (Russia and China) and allies (Japan and the EU).
Donald Trump probably understands that his initiatives will eventually destroy the status of the dollar as a global reserve currency. However, he has not publicly acknowledged this. Nevertheless, he hopes that the funding channels of his political opponents (i.e., the Democratic Party and its supporters in Europe and Asia, namely the Fed) will be disrupted. Supporters of Trump will gain access to an independent source of money issuance outside the Fed.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7533562305490895401/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author and is not necessarily the official position of the platform. Please express your opinion below using the [Up/Down] buttons.