Stablecoins have taken the baton: why Bitcoin did not become Satoshi's payment system
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong made an unexpected but extremely timely statement: Bitcoin has never realized Satoshi Nakamoto's original idea. The first cryptocurrency, conceived as digital cash, has turned into "digital gold." Meanwhile, stablecoins have essentially taken on the role of an everyday payment instrument.
At the time of writing this analysis, BTC is trading around $64,523, which is nearly 45% below the all-time high of October 2025, when the price reached $126,080. Against this backdrop, the supply of stablecoins continues to hit absolute records.
Bitcoin: Concept and Reality
In his 2008 whitepaper, Satoshi described a peer-to-peer electronic cash system operating without intermediaries. Even the first Bitcoin block contained a headline about bailing out British banks — this was the essence of the idea. However, seventeen years later, Armstrong states that making Bitcoin a means of payment has not been achieved.
The problem lies in the architecture itself. Limited issuance and a deflationary nature lead holders to perceive BTC as a store of value. High volatility only reinforces this behavior. Attempts to solve the problem through the Lightning Network have not led to mass adoption.
Why Stablecoins Won the Race
Armstrong clearly outlined a paradigm shift: fiat-backed stablecoins have taken the niche originally intended for Bitcoin. Dollar-pegged tokens perform the routine function of money — serving as a medium of exchange. BTC, meanwhile, remains a tool for preserving value, digital gold.
Statistics confirm this trend. According to DefiLlama, the total supply of stablecoins has approached $310 billion. Of this, $184 billion comes from Tether's USDT, and $73 billion from Circle's USDC. A significant portion of turnover today passes through the Base and Solana networks.
The GENIUS Act, signed by Trump in July 2025, also played an important role. Legislative recognition of stablecoins in the United States gave users confidence and legalized their use.
My analytical assessment: We are witnessing a fundamental redistribution of roles in the crypto ecosystem. Bitcoin remains a macroeconomic asset and a hedge, but it is stablecoins that have become the "digital dollar" driving the real blockchain economy. Investors should consider this dichotomy when forming their strategy.