Why stablecoins are Silicon Valley's Pandora's box

Despite piggybacking on the dollar and often sharing the same blockchain, out of the box their smart contracts remain stubbornly non-interoperable and therefore non-fungible.

Each coin is a brand—and combined with the network effects inherent in money itself, winner-takes-all dynamics emerge. Already, two giants rule: Tether commands a $159 billion market capitalisation - 61% of the market - while Circle's USD Coin holds $62 billion or 24%.