# “Flatcoins” Are the Way Forward.

Opinion

— December 14, 2023

As seen in: Financial Times

![Nouriel Roubini](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/nroubini.jpg?itok=R6F5VNmo)

By Nouriel Roubini

>

The launch of Bitcoin in 2009 was accompanied by strident claims that cryptocurrencies would trigger the reform of monetary systems and lead to more inclusive financial systems.

Over the past 15 years, however, despite advances in blockchain technologies, this promise has yet to be realised: almost no cryptocurrency has emerged as a reliable store of value, and none has developed into a widespread medium of exchange. Thus, a potentially innovative technology — blockchain — has been, at best, used mainly for risky speculation and, at worst, mostly hijacked by bad actors.

What has been the “killer app” of crypto? Insiders now argue it is stablecoins that track the value of major fiat currencies such as the US dollar. Notice the paradox, however: crypto started as a revolt against fiat currencies and the risk of their debasement via inflation.

Read the full [*Financial Times* article](https://www.ft.com/content/7774da77-048d-4e75-8350-4fec136cb18f?sharetype=blocked).
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*Nouriel Roubini is a Professor Emeritus of Economics and International Business and the Robert Stansky Research Faculty Fellow.*

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