Government incentives and financial stability concerns mean cryptocurrencies are not going to replace fiat currencies in the vast majority of countries despite their growing popularity, even if stablecoins will create greater competition for traditional currencies in countries characterized by monetary instability. Privately issued cryptocurrencies, and especially stablecoins, have been gaining traction. Stablecoins, in particular, are increasingly used for settling trades in decentralized finance, crypto exchanges and tokenized asset markets as well as for cross-border payments. Bitcoins have gained in prominence as an investment rather than as money. Bitcoin's total market capitalization stands at some $2.5 trillion and the total amount of all stablecoins outstanding is $300 billion. By comparison, total U.S. commercial bank deposits stand at $18.4 trillion....
