A snarky blog to provoke my Stablecoin friends

Let’s get one thing straight: the idea that US and EU shoppers are going to ditch their beloved credit cards for stablecoins is a special kind of fantasy. It’s the kind of magical thinking usually reserved for people who believe juice cleanses are a sustainable diet.

Consumers. Love. Cards.

In the world of online shopping, credit cards aren’t just a payment method; they’re the undisputed king. When you strip out the boring stuff like groceries and recurring bills, plastic accounts for a staggering 80% of all eCommerce payments. Why? It’s not a mystery. We’re creatures of habit, and we’re deeply in love with the perks. Points, fraud protection, the glorious power of the chargeback—these aren’t features, they’re a consumer bill of rights. Cards just work, everywhere, all the time.

The real competitor for stablecoins isn’t the mighty credit card. It’s the humble debit card. And let’s be honest, merchants have been trying (and mostly failing) to get us to use debit online for decades.

“But what about the Target RedCard?” someone inevitably chirps. Please. Attributing the RedCard’s success to a simple payment choice is like saying a Michelin-starred meal is just about the salt. Target runs a massive, vertically integrated empire with two bank licenses, a legion of 5,000 engineers, and a data-drenched ad business called Roundel. The 5% discount IS NOT funded by the interchange fairies; it’s the output of a colossal machine. Your crypto startup is not Target.

Europe Isn’t Buying It Either

Across the pond, they have their own flavors of direct bank payments like iDeal, Bizum, and Swish. And you know what? Credit card volume in those countries is still growing. These local schemes are great for paying your utility bill or splitting a dinner tab with a trusted friend. They are, essentially, a slicker version of ACH or a wire transfer. They are not, however, what people are using to buy sneakers online.

Let’s walk through the stablecoin user journey, shall we? First, I have to take my perfectly good dollars, go to an exchange, buy a stablecoin, and load it into a special wallet. Then, and only then, can I spend it. This isn’t innovation; it’s adding inconvenient and unnecessary steps.

We’ve seen this movie before, and it always ends poorly. Remember the breathless predictions of using Venmo at every checkout? How about the ill-fated retail consortium MCX and its CurrentC wallet, which was dead on arrival? History is a graveyard of startups that thought they could convince the average person to abandon the simplicity and security of their credit card.

Now, let’s be clear. In emerging markets with unstable banks or volatile currencies, the story is different. There, the appeal of holding a digital dollar is obvious and compelling. It’s a lifeline.

But in the US and Europe? Suggesting that stablecoins will make a dent in eCommerce is to fundamentally misunderstand why people choose to pay the way they do. It’s a solution in search of a problem that doesn’t exist.