I predict that USD stablecoins will take over from BTC until inflation bites. And most states will hate it, in particular in Europe since the Euro will be under pressure from USDT. But the US will love USDT to take over the world. Things to ponder:

i) It is easy to open private exchanges and I don't see how the state can stop this. Black currency markets are incredibly difficult to stop, ask Erich Honecker or Cristina Kirchner. ii) The first mover advantage is enormous, how can anyone compete against Tether? iii) Tether makes an incredible profit, ten billion dollars this year, from their treasuries. With 100 employees. Riskfree, except for state violence. iv) Having a plethora of small popup exchanges will make it easy to convert BTC to USDT and back making taxing of BTC gains incredibly hard to implement.

I, for one, is buying popcorn now. Let the show begin. Let´s try to regulate this, european politicians.

"a type of token designed to maintain a constant value — has swelled to almost $120 billion." I didnt realize stablecoins took that large of a market share.