the pattern nobody talks about in crypto
every bull cycle kills a stablecoin. every bear cycle kills an exchange. the dominoes are predictable.
The pattern is so old it feels boring.
2017: ICO bubble. Tether was supposed to collapse. Instead, it printed $1 billion in fiat backing (allegedly) and rode the wave up.
2021: DeFi summer. Stablecoins became infrastructure. Millions in USDC, USDT flowing through Curve, Aave, Compound.
2022: FTX blew up. Tether proved it had reserves. It was still the plumbing. And it came out of that year stronger.
2026: Stablecoins are losing $14 billion in a month. The headlines are already written: "Tether facing crisis," "USDC demand collapses," etc.
But look at the actual flows. Binance is offering 15% APY on USDT holdings. They're fighting to keep stablecoins around, not fleeing them.
The pattern: every downturn shakes weak stablecoins. It concentrates volume in the survivor. The survivor becomes more essential. Then the next bull run doubles down on it.
This isn't conspiracy. It's network effects at scale.
The question isn't whether stablecoins survive. They're the on-ramp for every person who doesn't live in the US. They're the settlement layer for every exchange that doesn't trust traditional banking.
The question is whether you understand which stablecoin survives, and whether you're built on its rails or fighting against it.
Which piece of infrastructure are you assuming will be gone by 2030? What if it's not?