Are trade wars good for tech after all? Circle Internet Group Inc., a major issuer of digital currencies designed to replicate the US dollar, has tripled in value since going public and is worth $23.6 billion (or 150 times last year’s earnings). Call it Zuckerberg’s revenge: Six years after Meta Platforms Inc. sparked a global backlash with its own plans for a digital dollar, the $250 billion stablecoin market is booming and has the backing of Donald Trump, Congress and investors.
Europeans are watching the froth with concern. Even as the Louvre Museum this week hosted a crypto conference full of buzz at the prospect of more traditional financial institutions like Goldman Sachs Group Inc. or Societe Generale SA dipping their toe in this market, officials fear virtual currencies are a serious financial threat for the continent and an extension of Trump’s ambitions of bringing global trade to heel. And they may be right to worry.