US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has a new pitch for keeping the dollar on top: stablecoins. Speaking at Ripple’s Swell conference on October 27, 2026, he said the United States will win in digital assets and come out with a stronger dollar.
Bessent cast the competition for global financial dominance as a technology race, with China as the main rival. In his telling, the infrastructure behind the dollar will matter as much as the military power that has historically backed it.
His central data point was that over 90% of stablecoins in circulation are pegged to the dollar. Stablecoins are crypto tokens designed to hold a steady value, typically one dollar each.
To keep that peg credible, issuers park reserves in US Treasuries and other dollar assets. Every new stablecoin minted, in effect, creates a buyer for government debt.
Bessent argued that this dynamic could lift demand for Treasuries. He also said stablecoins could widen access to dollars in emerging markets struggling with inflation.
He went further, describing the GENIUS Act as an important funding source for the Treasury.
The GENIUS Act and the Lincoln comparison
The remarks follow a regulatory milestone. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has finalized rules implementing the GENIUS Act, the federal stablecoin framework passed under the Trump administration.
Bessent has compared the GENIUS Act to Abraham Lincoln’s National Currency Act of 1863, presenting the stablecoin law as a similarly transformative moment for American finance.
He also stressed cooperation among the Treasury, the SEC and the CFTC. The goal, as he described it, is to close regulatory gaps between agencies and prevent the debanking of digital asset companies.
A broader push to make the US the crypto capital
Bessent’s comments fit a wider strategy. The Trump administration has worked to position the United States as the global hub for digital assets, aiming to make the country an attractive base for crypto businesses.
Part of that effort includes an executive order covering seized Bitcoin valued at $15-$20 billion. The administration has also promoted stablecoins as a way to boost dollar liquidity and support Treasury bonds.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Kaye Quema. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.