Cryptocurrencies, Technology, Stablecoin, Digital Dollar, RWA, Tokenization, RWA Tokenization

Stablecoins — digital tokens pegged to the value of a sovereign currency like the US dollar — have become a cornerstone of the crypto ecosystem. Reeve Collins helped launch the first iteration of a widely-acknowledged stablecoin when he co-founded Tether (USDT) a decade ago.

The digital money Collins co-created showed the world how dollars could move on blockchain rails. That experiment grew into an essential component of the crypto economy, powering trillions in transactions and proving that digital money could work. But in Collins’ view, that was only the beginning.

Now, his focus has shifted to what he considers the next evolution of the technology: Stablecoin 2.0. The idea is simple but profound. If the first generation digitized dollars for speed and stability, the second generation must go further, making them productive, transparent and designed to serve everyone who uses them. Instead of all the value flowing to centralized issuers, it should return to the people and institutions that mint and utilize the money.

In this conversation, Collins explains how the stablecoin landscape has evolved, why real-world assets are the bridge to a new financial era and how his latest venture, stablecoin protocol STBL.com, is building the collaborative layer that turns tokenized assets into money that works for individuals, enterprises and governments.

Cointelegraph: How do you see the evolution of the stablecoin ecosystem over the years, and what is your vision for where the ecosystem should go next?

Reeve Collins: The first wave of stablecoins digitized the dollar. Tether and USDC (USDC) became the backbone of crypto by providing stability and liquidity, but the value all flowed to the issuers. Users got the utility of a digital dollar, but the rewards stayed behind closed doors in opaque banking systems.

The next phase, what we call Stablecoin 2.0, is about collaboration. Around the world, leading institutions are beginning to tokenize high-quality real-world assets (RWAs) like Treasurys and money market funds. That is a huge step forward, but those tokens on their own are just digital wrappers.

STBL.com is the layer that makes them useful. It is a collaborative system with two roles. Minters bring tokenized assets into the platform, mint USST and capture the yield. Users hold and spend USST just like Tether or USDC, but instead of enriching a corporate issuer, they are supporting a community of minters. And at any time, they can choose to become minters themselves.

That is the future of stablecoins: productive, transparent and community-owned.

“Stablecoins 1.0 enriched corporations. Stablecoins 2.0 empower communities.”

CT: What are the main stablecoin models being built today, and what trade-offs define each?

RC: Stablecoins today fall into three familiar models. Fiat-custodial coins like USDT and USDC are simple and liquid, but centralized and opaque, with the yield kept by the issuer.

Crypto-collateralized coins are trustless, but inefficient and tied to volatile collateral. Algorithmic designs have already shown how fragile reflexive systems can be when markets come under stress.

The most promising path forward is RWA-backed stablecoins, where Treasurys and money market funds are brought onchain. That creates transparency and organic yield. But the real breakthrough is not just tokenizing assets; it is building the layer that makes them useful.

That is where STBL.com comes in. We are not competing with the institutions that tokenize RWAs. Instead, we provide the collaborative layer on top: minting USST as the spendable stablecoin, separating yield into YLD and governing it all through the STBL token.

This flips the incentives. Minters capture the value by supplying tokenized assets, while everyday users get the same seamless experience as Tether or USDC, with the added benefit of supporting a community rather than a corporation.

CT: How is the space shifting from company-run products to community-governed networks, and what does that change in practice?

RC: Stablecoins 1.0 were corporate products tied to a single company and its banking partners. Stablecoins 2.0 are protocols governed by communities.

At STBL.com, governance is core to the design. Holders of the STBL token vote on collateral types, haircut levels, fees and upgrades. That redistributes value: instead of profits flowing to shareholders, they flow to the users who keep the system alive. It also makes the network more resilient. No single company or license defines its survival.

This is how stablecoins evolve from being products to becoming public infrastructure.

CT:  How are real-world assets being tokenized for stablecoins, and what benefits and impacts do you see?

RC: Real-world assets are the bridge between traditional finance and digital money. Today, we are seeing the first wave, with Treasurys and money market funds brought onchain by institutions like Franklin Templeton and BlackRock. The benefits are immediate: real-time transparency, verifiable reserves and yield that no longer disappears into the balance sheets of intermediaries.

But this movement has only just begun. Soon, all kinds of high-quality traditional assets will be tokenized, from bonds to credit portfolios and beyond. Those assets will then serve as collateral for stablecoins, creating income streams that are more diverse, more resilient and potentially much higher than Treasurys alone.

At STBL.com, these tokenized assets become the foundation. They are pledged as collateral to mint USST, while the yield is captured separately in YLD. The result is flexibility: users can spend digital dollars freely, while their underlying collateral continues working for the community. As more categories of RWAs come online, the value captured in stablecoin creation will only expand.

“Tokenizing RWAs does not just put assets onchain, it rewrites how money itself can be built, distributed and rewarded.”

CT: For a first-time user, can you explain your design as a spendable dollar with a separate earnings component and why you separated them?

RC: We designed the system to feel natural while solving a deeper problem: who actually benefits from creating money. When you mint, the process splits into two. You receive USST, the stablecoin you can spend or transfer instantly, and you also receive YLD, a separate token that captures the income from the collateral you contributed.

This creates clarity and flexibility. As a minter, you capture all of the yield from the assets you put into the system, while creating a freely spendable stablecoin for others. As a user, you hold a stablecoin that feels just like Tether or USDC, but instead of enriching a corporation, you are supporting a community.

And all of this is onchain. There is no waiting for an audit firm to confirm balances or trusting that revenue shares will be honored. Every flow of value is visible in real time. Money circulates and accumulates at the same time, with full transparency, and that empowers individuals, institutions and governments alike to participate with confidence.

CT: How is the $1 peg supported day to day and during stress?

RC: The $1 peg is supported by a mix of arbitrage and incentives. If USST trades above $1, minters are rewarded for creating new tokens, capturing the spread and pushing the price back down. If it trades below $1, redeemers are rewarded for pulling tokens out of circulation, which lifts the price back up. In both cases, participants earn incremental rewards for keeping the peg tight.

On top of this, liquidity pools and dynamic incentives encourage depth in the market. The foundation is strong collateral: tokenized treasuries and money market funds with conservative haircuts.

Because the system is fully onchain, there is no reliance on opaque bank accounts or delayed disclosures. It self-corrects in normal conditions and adapts under stress. The peg is not held by promises, but by incentives, transparency and hard assets.

CT: What are the most significant risks, and what safeguards are in place?

RC: Every financial system carries risk, and stablecoins are no exception. The question is how those risks are managed.

Smart contract risk is addressed with regular third-party audits from firms like Nethermind and Cyfrin, and will be further reduced through ongoing bug bounties. Collateral risk is kept low by relying on short-duration treasuries and money market funds, with conservative haircuts.

Oracle risk is mitigated through multiple independent price feeds. Liquidity risk is balanced by a dynamic mint-and-burn mechanism, where incentives ensure that arbitrageurs keep the system stable.

No system is entirely risk-free. But by layering safeguards across technology, collateral, oracles and liquidity, and by making everything transparent and governed onchain, we minimize exposure while staying adaptive. In truth, the greatest risk is not technical; it is failing to evolve. That is why adaptability through governance is our strongest safeguard.

CT: What is your message to builders and users?

Stablecoins are evolving. They began as digital dollars. Now they are becoming money that is productive, transparent, and community-owned. At STBL.com, we are building the foundation, but it is the builders and users who will define what comes next.

This is not just about the future of crypto. It is about the future of money itself, and whether it continues to enrich corporations or finally begins to reward the people it was meant to serve.

Learn more about STBL.com

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