Tether Challenges Dollar Hegemony, Now Expanding Territory to 'Global Lending'?? | Seo Dong-ju, Kim Dong-hwan, Choi Yun-young, Hanwha Investment & Securities Team Leaders

Summary

The discussion covered Tether's partnership with Fasanara Capital to launch a private credit fund using USDT for cross-border lending settlement, which could expand USDT use cases beyond payments. It also examined U.S. Bank's pilot stablecoin on Stellar and growing bank interest in public blockchains, plus the shift toward consortium stablecoin issuance. The speakers debated benefits and risks for Tether, Circle, banks, and stablecoin lending, including regulatory, consumer-protection, and credit-risk concerns.

• Tether and Fasanara plan a $400 million anchor private credit fund, targeting up to $3 billion.
• Tether will provide USDT payment infrastructure and loan origination, not use USDT reserves.
• U.S. Bank tested stablecoin issuance, redemption, freeze, and recovery on the Stellar public network.
• Banks are moving from private chains toward public blockchains as compliance tools mature.
• Speakers see consortium stablecoin issuance as a growing trend with distribution advantages.
• Circle could benefit if stablecoin issuers can enter lending to diversify revenue.
• Risks include conflicts of interest, private-asset valuation, emerging-market credit exposure, and consumer protection.
• Korean investors may eventually see stablecoin lending expand, but timing remains uncertain.