Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller said stablecoins could underpin global payment systems within the next decade or two while reiterating his long-standing skepticism toward much of the broader cryptocurrency market.
“I assume our whole payment systems will be stablecoins in 10 or 15 years,” he said in an interview Morgan Stanley posted on Thursday. The fiat-pegged tokens are “efficient, quicker and cheaper” than traditional payment infrastructure, he said. “Blockchain and the use of stablecoins are incredibly useful in terms of productivity.”
Stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT and Circle Internet’s (CRCL) USDC are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a fixed value, often pegged to a fiat currency, most commonly the U.S. dollar, and are widely used across digital asset markets for trading, payments and transfers.
Drukenmiller’s views align with recent statements by Australian investment bank Macquarie, which said the tokens are already reshaping payments and banking. It noted that they are evolving from a niche crypto trading tool into a potential layer of global financial infrastructure.
As for other coins, however, the veteran investor repeated a critique he has made for years about the broader crypto sector.
“I said this a long time ago, and I’m going to say it again: it’s a solution looking for a problem.”
Bitcoin’s staying power
Despite his skepticism toward much of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, Druckenmiller has previously acknowledged that bitcoin has established itself as a store of value.
“I’m actually disappointed it ended up becoming a store of value because it wasn’t originally needed for that,” Druckenmiller said in the Morgan Stanley interview. “But it’s become a brand, and people love it. So it’s probably going to be a store of value.”
Druckenmiller questioned how long the U.S. dollar will retain its status as the world’s reserve currency. It’s not a new stance. In 2021, he said the dollar was losing its reputation on a global scale and, at the time, suggested that crypto might replace it.
“We’re doing everything we can to destroy it. But I’m 72, it’ll probably outlive me.”
“I doubt it’ll be the reserve currency in 50 years, but I don’t have a clue what would be. Maybe some crypto thing I hate.”