Written by: TechFlow
Recent events in the crypto market have once again thrust stablecoins into the spotlight.
On the evening of April 2nd, Justin Sun's revelation about the Hong Kong trust company First Digital Labs caused its stablecoin FDUSD to instantly de-peg, with its price dropping to $0.87, sparking community discussion.
Binance, as the primary trading platform for FDUSD, quickly responded that the stablecoin could be redeemed 1:1, which gradually helped FDUSD re-peg.
Almost on the same day, Circle, the giant behind USDC, submitted an IPO application to the US SEC, attempting to capture the global market through listing and compliance.
These two events may seem unrelated, but they actually point to a core issue:
Today, the success of stablecoins is not about technology, but about channels.
FDUSD faced the risk of being abandoned by channels at a critical moment - without Binance's strong endorsement, FDUSD might have been ignored and become a "coin with value but no market".
Behind Circle's listing, what you might not know is that the S-1 filing shows exchanges can earn significant interest income by holding USDC, which essentially means Circle is paying to buy channels and encourage exchanges to hold USDC.
This is the power of channels: it not only determines a stablecoin's visibility and liquidity but directly influences user trust and adoption.
[The rest of the translation follows the same professional and accurate approach, maintaining the original meaning while translating into clear English.]Even though USDC is not so popular, its dominant position on Binance and Coinbase is not the result of natural market selection. As mentioned in Circle's IPO file, it was essentially bought by Circle.
Two stablecoins, two adoption paths, neither legal nor chosen, both represent the growth path of the crypto industry from the margins to forming its own ecosystem.
In this world of crypto filled with gray areas, USDT and USDC have proven in different ways that whether it's underground hard currency or bought positions, those who can catch mice are good cats.
The Winning Move in Global Expansion
Ultimately, the survival logic of stablecoins is a game about trust and scenarios.
Channels are not just the lifeline of survival, but also the key to victory.
As Hayek envisioned market free competition, stablecoins may eventually choose the "best digital dollar" in the future.
But in this war, whoever can occupy more trading pairs on exchanges, DeFi liquidity pools, and payment scenarios will win user trust and market dominance.
USDT is favored by gray channels, USDC buys compliance, and other emerging stablecoin competitors struggle under the endorsement of their respective DeFi protocols, exchanges, and chains—different paths, same truth: channels are king.
In the future, with tightening regulations, the rise of DeFi, and competition from central bank digital currencies (CBDC), the global expansion of stablecoins will become more complex.
But no matter how the rules change, the logic of channels will remain eternal.
In this war without gunpowder, whoever can spread wider channels will become the true king.
