What Are Stablecoins and Why Are Regulators Wary?: QuickTake

If you put a dollar bill under your mattress, you know you’ll get a dollar bill back when you go looking for it, and that the paper currency will still be worth $1. A branch of cryptocurrencies called stablecoins has grown up based on the idea that such dependability can be replicated in new ways.

Stablecoins have become crucial to the functioning of crypto markets, with about $243 billion of them in circulation in May 2025. They’ve also drawn increasing scrutiny from regulators, who are trying to put rules around the sector.

What are stablecoins?

They are digital assets designed to hold a ...