Are trade wars good for tech after all?
Circle Internet Group, a major issuer of digital currencies designed to replicate the U.S.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 sparked a global backlash with its own plans for a digital dollar, the $250 billion stablecoin market is booming and has the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump, Congress and investors.
Europeans are watching the froth with concern. Even after the Louvre Museum recently hosted a crypto conference full of buzz at the prospect of more traditional financial institutions like Goldman Sachs Group or Societe Generale 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.