Chinese State Media Warns: USD Stablecoins Could Strengthen Dollar Hegemony
Media aligned with the Communist Party of China has expressed concern that U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins could further cement the global dominance of the U.S. dollar, especially as they become more integrated into virtual economies. The commentary argues that stablecoins link U.S. credit with digital innovation, potentially reinforcing dollar hegemony. In response, it calls on China to accelerate its stablecoin development and actively work to boost the global status of the Chinese yuan (CNY) in digital finance.
March 21, 2025 05:58:05 UTC
Binance Delisting 5 Tokens by March 28
Binance has announced it will delist and cease trading for the following tokens on March 28, 2025, at 03:00 UTC: Aergo (AERGO), AirSwap (AST), BurgerCities (BURGER), COMBO (COMBO), and Linear Finance (LINA). The decision follows Binance’s routine asset review, which evaluates project activity, team commitment, liquidity, security, transparency, and regulatory compliance. Binance also revealed a new “Vote to Delist” feature coming soon, empowering users to weigh in—though it won’t apply to already-announced delistings.
March 21, 2025 05:44:12 UTC
Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP Price Today
Bitcoin (BTC) hovers around $84,500 after a nearly 3% recovery this week, briefly peaking at $85,900 ahead of President Trump’s crypto speech. Though BTC dipped 4% post-speech, derivatives data suggests limited downside. Meanwhile, Ethereum and Ripple (XRP) show signs of support, hinting at a broader market rebound. XRP trades near $2.43 after rejection at $2.60, backed by 400% growth in network activity and rising investor confidence following the SEC dropping its appeal against Ripple.
Mayer Mizrachi, the mayor of Panama City, Panama, announced today that the city government will accept payments in crypto. It will accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, and two stablecoins for taxes, permits, fees, etc.
However, Mizrachi clarified that the municipal government has a legal requirement to accept these funds only in USD. It will exchange cryptoassets for cash with a partnered bank, presenting a severe limit to potential crypto adoption.
Is Panama City Accepting Crypto?
In the last few months, a tide of pro-crypto regulationhas swept over many of the world’s jurisdictions. This obviously includes the United States at the federal and state levels, but many other countries are rising to the occasion.
Case in point, the mayor of Panama’s capital city just announced that the municipal government will accept payments in crypto.
“Panama City council has just voted in favor of becoming the first public institution of government to accept payments in crypto. Citizens will now be able to pay taxes, fees, tickets and permits entirely in crypto starting with BTC, ETH, USDC, USDT,” claimed Mayer Mizrachi, the mayor of Panama City.
Mizrachi went on to explain some previous efforts to accept crypto payments in Panama. Four years ago, a legislative initiative tried to enable crypto payments all over the country.
It got some traction but eventually stalled out in 2022. In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled the bill “unenforceable.” Since then, it doesn’t seem like any other serious efforts have made progress.
Panama City’s municipal government is circumventing the legislature to accept crypto payments, but the strategy has significant drawbacks. Mizrachi explained that public institutions must receive funds in US dollars, and he couldn’t circumvent this requirement.
In other words, any crypto payments will actually go to a partnered bank. The bank will actually custody (or dispose of) these assets, while the city only holds USD. Mizrachi’s effort avoids a contentious legislative battle, but its actual impact might be severely limited.
Although Panama has its own currency, the balboa, the US dollar has more legal standing in a few different ways. It’s a legal tender; public institutions have to accept it, and the balboa is actually pegged to the dollar anyway.
Mizrachi explained that this short workaround will increase “the free flow of crypto” through Panama’s economy, but it may not be that simple. Depending on the agreement between the city government and partnered banks, it could just dump its cryptoassets on the international market.
If Panama wants to actually adopt cryptocurrency, it may need more sustainable measures integrated to the local economy.
China’s recent directive for its state-owned banks to decrease reliance on the US dollar has amplified a growing trend among countries seeking alternatives to the dominant reserve assets. In some instances, Bitcoin has emerged as a viable competitor.
BeInCrypto spoke with experts from VanEck, CoinGecko, Gate.io, HashKey Research, and Humanity Protocol to understand Bitcoin’s rise as an alternative to the US dollar and its potential for greater influence in global geopolitics.
The Push for De-Dollarization
Since the 2008 global financial crisis, China has gradually reduced its reliance on the US dollar. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has now instructed state-owned banks to reduce dollar purchases amid the heightened trade war with US President Donald Trump.
China is among many nations seeking to lessen its dependence on the dollar. Russia, like its southern neighbor, has received an increasing number of Western sanctions– especially following its invasion of Ukraine.
Furthermore, Rosneft, a major Russian commodities producer, has issued RMB-denominated bonds, indicating a shift towards RBM, the Chinese currency, and a move away from Western currencies due to sanctions.
This global shift away from predominant reserve currencies is not limited to countries affected by Western sanctions. Aiming to increase the Rupee’s international use, India has secured agreements for oil purchases in Indian Rupee (INR) and trade with Malaysia in INR.
The country has also pursued creating a local currency settlement system with nine other central banks.
As more nations consider alternatives to the US dollar’s dominance, Bitcoin has emerged as a functional monetary tool that can serve as an alternative reserve asset.
Why Nations Are Turning to Bitcoin for Trade Independence
Interest in using cryptocurrency for purposes beyond international trade has also grown. In a notable development, China and Russia have reportedly settled some energy transactions using Bitcoin and other digital assets.
“Sovereign adoption of Bitcoin is accelerating this year as demand grows for neutral payments rails that can circumvent USD sanctions,” Matthew Sigel, Head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck, told BeInCrypto.
Two weeks ago, France’s Minister of Digital Affairs proposed using the surplus production of EDF, the country’s state-owned energy giant, to mine Bitcoin.
Last week, Pakistan announced similar plans to allocate part of its surplus electricity to Bitcoin mining and AI data centers.
Meanwhile, on April 10, New Hampshire’s House passed HB302, a Bitcoin reserve bill, by a 192-179 vote, sending it to the Senate. This development makes New Hampshire the fourth state, after Arizona, Texas, and Oklahoma, to have such a bill pass a legislative chamber.
If HB302 is approved by the Senate and signed into law, the state treasurer could invest up to 10% of the general fund and other authorized funds in precious metals and specific digital assets like Bitcoin.
According to industry experts, this is only the beginning.
VanEck Predicts Bitcoin to Become a Future Reserve Asset
Sigel predicts Bitcoin will become a key medium of exchange by 2025 and, ultimately, one of the world’s reserve currencies.
His forecasts suggest Bitcoin could settle 10% of global international trade and 5% of global domestic trade. This scenario would lead to central banks holding 2.5% of their assets in BTC.
According to him, China’s recent de-dollarization will prompt other nations to follow suit and lessen their reliance on the US dollar.
“China’s de-dollarization efforts are already having second- and third-order effects that create opportunities for alternative assets like Bitcoin. When the world’s second-largest economy actively reduces its exposure to US Treasuries and promotes cross-border trade in yuan or through mechanisms like the mBridge project, it signals to other nations—especially those with strained ties to the West—that the dollar is no longer the only game in town,” Sigel said.
For Zhong Yang Chan, Head of Research at CoinGecko, these efforts could prove catastrophic for the United States’ dominance.
“Broader de-dollarization efforts by China, or other major economies, will threaten the status of the dollar’s global reserve currency status. This could have [a] profound impact on the US and its economy, as this would lead to nations reducing their holdings of US treasuries, which the US relies on to finance its national debt,” he told BeInCrypto.
However, the strength of the US dollar and other dominant currencies has already shown signs of weakening.
A General Wave of Currency Decline
Sigel’s research shows that the four strongest global currencies—the US dollar, Japanese yen, British pound, and European euro—have lost value over time, particularly in cross-border payments.
The decline of these currencies creates a void where Bitcoin can gain traction as a key alternative for international trade settlements.
“This shift isn’t purely about promoting the yuan. It’s also about minimizing vulnerability to US sanctions and the politicization of payment rails like SWIFT. That opens the door for neutral, non-sovereign assets—especially those that are digitally native, decentralized, and liquid,” Sigel added.
This lack of national allegiance also sets Bitcoin apart from traditional currencies.
Bitcoin’s Appeal: A Non-Sovereign Alternative
Unlike fiat money or central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), Bitcoin doesn’t respond to any one nation, which makes it appealing to some countries.
For Terence Kwok, CEO and Founder of Humanity Protocol, recent geopolitical tensions have heightened this belief.
For these same reasons, experts don’t expect Bitcoin to replace fiat currencies fully but rather provide a vital alternative for certain cases.
A Replacement or an Alternative?
While Bitcoin offers several advantages over traditional currencies, Gate.io’s Kevin Lee doesn’t foresee its eventual adoption causing a complete overhaul of the currency reserve system.
Recent data confirms this. The number of Bitcoin transactions has fallen significantly since the last quarter of 2024. Bitcoin registered over 610,684 transactions in November, but that number dropped to 376,369 in April, according to Glassnode data.
The number of Bitcoin active addresses paints a similar picture. In December, the network had nearly 891,623 addresses. Today, that number stands at 609,614.
Bitcoin number of active addresses. Source: Glassnode.
This decline suggests reduced demand for its blockchain in terms of transactions, usage, and adoption, meaning fewer people are actively using it for transfers, business, or Bitcoin-based applications.
Meanwhile, the Bitcoin network must also ensure its infrastructure is efficient enough to meet global demand.
Can Bitcoin Scale for Global Use?
In 2018, Lightning Labs launched the Lightning Network to reduce the cost and time required for cryptocurrency transactions. Currently, the Bitcoin network can only handle around seven transactions per second, while Visa, for example, handles around 65,000.
“If expansion solutions (such as the Lightning Network) fail to become popular, Bitcoin’s ability to process only about 7 transactions per second will be difficult to support global demand. At the same time, as Bitcoin block rewards are gradually halved, the decline in miners’ income may threaten the long-term security of the network,” Guo, Director of HashKey Research explained.
While the confluence of geopolitical shifts and Bitcoin’s inherent characteristics undeniably create a space for its increased adoption as an alternative to the US dollar and even a potential reserve asset, significant hurdles remain.
Achieving mainstream Bitcoin adoption hinges on overcoming scalability, volatility, regulatory hurdles, stablecoin competition, and ensuring network security.
The unfolding panorama suggests Bitcoin will carve out an important role in the global financial system, though a complete overhaul of established norms seems unlikely in the immediate future.
Cosmos IBC Eureka Launch:- In a bid to integrate Ethereum ecosystem with the Cosmos network, Cosmos has announced the launch of its interoperability layer, Eureka – bringing multichain operability.
Eureka upgrade will now allow Ethereum-compatible chains to directly communicate with cosmos blockchains via its native interoperability protocol – IBC.
Notably before the launch of Eureka, Cosmos’ IBC was only available to Cosmos SDK-based chains.
This development by the Interchain Foundation is being positioned as a potential game-changer in the increasingly competitive world of cross-chain communication.
How Eureka Works
At its core, the Eureka upgrade enables Ethereum-compatible chains to communicate directly with Cosmos-based blockchains through IBC.
This move effectively extends Cosmos’ famed interoperability to one of the most widely used smart contract platforms in the crypto space. This will also open the door to a wave of new applications and user flows.
The technical innovation underpinning Eureka lies in the new Ethereum Interoperability Module (EVM IBC), which allows Ethereum-compatible networks — such as Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base — to plug into IBC.
The first implementation was integrated into dYdX Chain, a decentralized derivatives exchange that migrated from Ethereum to Cosmos in late 2023.
IBC Eureka is LIVE!
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Eureka would empower developers to create multichain applications that operate smoothly across different blockchain networks. This would be possible without splitting user bases or additional security concerns.
By providing a secure, protocol-level bridge, Eureka allows apps to tap into the strengths of multiple chains simultaneously.
Using the Cosmos Hub as a central coordination layer, chains can connect to the broader IBC network through a single integration.
This setup enables developers to access the entire spectrum of IBC-enabled networks, users, liquidity, and on-chain services without needing to build or maintain additional infrastructure.
In effect, it creates a scalable launchpad—like a distribution hub—for decentralized apps, assets, and services.
The Cosmos Hub then acts as a gateway to a growing ecosystem, giving builders the ability to compose across hundreds of protocols and chains, unlocking a truly modular and interoperable app economy.
MANTRA, Babylon to soon Integrate
Notably, on its one day launch itself, projects like Babylon which launched its mainnet yesterday, Solv Protocol, PumpBTC, SatLayer, integrated IBC Eureka support.
This integration would make cosmos apps and chains more accessible by ensuring fast and secure transactions.
With this module, any dApp or protocol built on an EVM chain can now directly communicate with Cosmos chains using IBC packets — a significant leap over conventional bridging solutions that typically rely on centralized or semi-trusted intermediaries.
Eureka is also working to bring L2 networks like Arbitrum, Optimism, and zkSync offer lower gas fees and faster throughput than Ethereum mainnet, and they’ve captured billions in total value locked (TVL).
What Comes Next?
The next phase for Eureka will be real-world adoption.
Derivatives Exchange, dYdX’s implementation is the first of its kind, but its success or failure could determine whether other Ethereum-based projects choose to follow. Future upgrades may also include improved compatibility with other virtual machines and enhancements to security and message throughput.
While it’s too early to declare Eureka a definitive rival to Ethereum L2s, it’s clear that Cosmos is no longer content to sit on the sidelines. With this launch, it’s staking a serious claim as a central player in the future of multi-chain architecture.
Whether developers embrace this new path will depend on how well Eureka performs — and how quickly the ecosystem can capitalize on its promise.
(@cosmos)