Stablecoins Go Diplomatic: Treasury Eyes Co-Ventures to Sell Dollars Overseas 💸

The Trump administration is weighing initiatives to promote dollar-backed stablecoins abroad, with plans that could include joint ventures between private-sector firms and federal agencies such as the Treasury Department, the State Department and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, according to a Bloomberg report published Wednesday. Citing people familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity, Bloomberg said the goal is to reinforce the U.S. dollar's status as the leading global reserve asset and to generate additional demand for U.S. Treasury securities.

The approach is viewed by senior officials as a way to extend dollar dominance through the same blockchain-based rails already used for cross-border payments and crypto trading. Stablecoins are crypto tokens pegged to an external reference, most commonly the U.S. dollar at a 1:1 ratio, with issuers holding reserves of cash and short-term Treasuries to back redemptions. The two largest stablecoins, USDT and USDC, together account for almost 90% of the total stablecoin market value of $292.49 billion.

Federal backing for these tokens is anchored in the GENIUS Act, signed into law last year, which established a regulatory framework requiring payment stablecoin issuers to hold reserves including dollars and short-term Treasuries. On Aug. 17, the Treasury issued a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comment on provisions governing the issuance, offering and sale of payment stablecoins, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stating the rules would help "cement" the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency. Deputy Treasury Secretary Francis Brooke said this week that stablecoin issuers already hold close to $200 billion in Treasury bills, placing them among the top 20 holders of U.S. sovereign debt.

In February 2025, then-White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks said stablecoins could "extend the dollar's dominance internationally" and potentially generate trillions of dollars in additional demand for U.S. government debt. Bessent reiterated a similar view in July 2025, stating that the GENIUS Act could strengthen the dollar's reserve-currency status, expand access to the dollar economy and increase demand for U.S. Treasurys. According to Bessent, the dollar accounts for nearly 90% of foreign exchange transactions.

The planned overseas push comes as other jurisdictions advance competing digital payment infrastructure. China's digital yuan is among the central bank digital currencies used in Project mBridge, a platform for cross-border CBDC transactions, while the European Central Bank is preparing a 12-month digital euro pilot expected to begin in the second half of 2027. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has pushed back on euro-denominated stablecoins as a strategy for boosting the euro's global reach, calling them an inefficient approach.

The International Monetary Fund and the Bank for International Settlements have repeatedly warned that wider adoption of USD-pegged stablecoins could accelerate capital flight, pressure domestic fiat currencies and limit policymakers' control over financial flows in emerging economies with current-account deficits. Cointelegraph reached out to the U.S. Treasury, the DFC and several U.S.-based stablecoin companies for comment but did not receive a response before publication.