Tokenizing fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, is being hailed as the most groundbreaking innovation since the creation of fiat itself, with the potential to revolutionize global finance in the years to come, according to a senior executive at Tether. William Quigley, co-founder of the stablecoin giant Tether and decentralized exchange WAX, expressed his belief that the world’s economies will likely shift towards tokenized money within the next decade. Speaking at the FT Crypto and Digital Assets Summit, Quigley praised the technology behind tokenization, highlighting its ability to enhance fiat currencies. He even suggested that tokenized fiat or stablecoins like USDT could eventually offer interest or yield on holdings.
Quigley emphasized that there is a substantial amount of money, amounting to trillions, sitting in U.S. bank accounts that yield no interest. He explained that people choose to keep their money in such accounts because they value the convenience of banking services like ATMs and ACH transfers, willing to forgo interest for these benefits.
During the fireside chat, Quigley also recounted his journey into the world of cryptocurrency and how he co-founded Tether, the company behind the largest stablecoin by market capitalization and the most actively traded cryptocurrency today.
He shared that his passion for gaming played a significant role in sparking his ideas, particularly the concept of in-game items in the late 90s. Quigley noted that many gamers desired to trade these items, but the barter system proved to be inefficient. To address this, his partner came up with the idea of a digital escrow service that would allow people to purchase in-game items with cash. However, at that time, using fiat currency on the internet was not straightforward. Quigley mentioned that he was one of the early institutional investors in PayPal.
Overall, tokenizing fiat currencies presents an exciting opportunity to reshape the financial landscape, and Quigley’s insights shed light on the potential of this innovation.