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adminIn July, the American state of Wyoming shared an open job position for the head of its Stable Token Commission.
The executive will work alongside Wyoming’s governor, state auditor, state treasurer and four expert appointees to bring the state’s very own stablecoin to life.
While Wyoming was the first to pass a law on a state stablecoin, it isn’t the only state considering launching its own digital currency.
In April, a similar initiative was proposed in Texas, where lawmakers introduced bills for creating a state-based digital currency backed by gold.
However, the idea of state stablecoins raises many questions: How would they affect the monetary stability of fiat money and the power of the Federal Reserve? Could they be compatible with a central bank digital currency? Do people really want to return to a system with state banks printing their own monetary notes?
The Wyoming experiment
The Wyoming Stable Token Act was originally introduced in February 2022, in the midst of the crypto market crisis. The bill defines the Wyoming stable token as a virtual currency representative of and redeemable for one U.S. dollar held in trust by the state of Wyoming. Basically, the state would tokenize the federal currency on a 1:1 ratio with deposits.
NEWS–bipartisan group of top #Wyoming legislators proposed a bill for State of Wyoming to issue a #stablecoin, 100% backed by USTreasuries, where the State keeps the float. I see pros & cons (didn’t know it was coming) but
that Wyoming continues to explore cool #crypto ideas! https://t.co/BXbELukUQE
— Caitlin Long
(@CaitlinLong_) February 17, 2022
Explaining why state lawmakers took such an interest in the digital token project, Chris Rothfuss, the minority leader in the Wyoming State Senate, told Cointelegraph:
“Wyoming needs to be able to transact in a digital currency — to accept payments, to make payments, and to do so without risk. The Wyoming stable token is the solution to that challenge.”
A notable reservation in Section 2 of the Stable Token Act makes the state’s attorney general responsible for monitoring the startup phase of the token’s issuance. Should the attorney general believe it contradicts federal or state law, the project would be frozen.
The bill also sets a deadline for the project: The commission’s director shall provide their report on the doability of the stable token no later than Nov. 1, 2023.
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Other than that, the document doesn’t specify much; instead, it establishes the Stable Token Commission with the authority to craft further details.
The legislation’s path wasn’t easy. In March 2022, Governor Mark Gordon vetoed the bill, saying he was “unconvinced” that the state’s Treasury was ready to implement the project safely.
Gordon criticized the lack of information and the cost of accounting services, blockchain development and other necessary expenses, and he was skeptical of the project’s purported benefits.
A year later, the governor applauded the effort made by legislators to enhance the document, but voiced new reservations:
“First and foremost, there was no overall plan (a ‘business plan’ for lack of a better term) or, if a plan exists, it did not appear to have been used to guide the legislators in crafting the legislation.”
On March 22, 2023, the Stable Token Act was passed into law without Governor Gordon’s signature. Gordon recognized the state stable token’s potential to “nurture Wyoming’s reputation as a leader in the digital asset world” and deemed the improvements made by the bill’s authors enough to allow it to become law.
The era of multiple stablecoins?
Neither the U.S. Federal Reserve nor any crypto-focused legislators have reacted publicly to the Wyoming project, but it is hard to imagine any kind of affirmative response, given that the American dollar was established precisely to provide a countrywide monetary standard and bring the currency under the purview of the federal government.
So, in principle, any state token project could contradict the logic of central bank currency to a similar degree as private cryptocurrencies.
At the same time, the potential value of Wyoming’s stable token is rigorously tied to the same old American dollar, which makes it less of a separate currency and more of a state-issued financial asset, similar to the state-issued notes for specie of the 19th century.

Rothfuss clarified, “We are not issuing a new currency. The Wyoming stable token is a digital representation of a U.S. dollar held in trust by the state of Wyoming on behalf of the tokenholder. We are not competing with the Federal Reserve — we are enabling a technology.”
Some observers still see a potential conflict between the states and the Fed. “Certainly, there will be a tussle between states and the federal government over the former attempting to issue their own stablecoins,” Brent Xu, CEO of Web3 bond-market platform Umee, told Cointelegraph.
But there could be a compromise in which the Federal Reserve allows states to issue stablecoins under a particular framework, he believes, noting the discussions concerning a national framework for stablecoins.
Zachary Townsend, CEO of Bitcoin-based life insurance provider Meanwhile, doesn’t see any potential problems with state stablecoins, as he believes that the very concept of a stablecoin is open to almost any entity, political or corporate, as the recent example with PayPal’s initiative has shown.
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He told Cointelegraph, “There are going to be tons of private stablecoins. If I just looked at my life and all the companies I have ‘accounts’ or ‘wallets’ or ‘balances’ with, those are going to transform to become stablecoins within a few years.”
This is something Peter Herzog, state policy lead at the Crypto Council for Innovation, can agree with. “There are a variety of models for stablecoins that involve different decisions around underlying collateral, governance and more,” he explained to Cointelegraph. For Herzog, it comes as no surprise that individual states with an active interest in crypto are continuing their experiments with new initiatives:
“Until we see a federal regulatory framework, it is likely that states continue to step in to create rules of the road to promote innovation and protect consumers.”
Published on By Bitcoin remains on track to surpass $1.8 million by 2035 despite recent price corrections and waning investor appetite caused by ongoing global trade tensions, according to Joe Burnett, director of market research at Unchained. Speaking during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction live show on X, Burnett said that Bitcoin is still in a long-term bullish cycle and could potentially rival or surpass gold’s $21 trillion market capitalization within the next decade. Despite tariff uncertainty limiting risk appetite among investors, research analysts remain optimistic about Bitcoin’s (BTC) long-term prospects for the next decade. “When I think about where Bitcoin will be in 10 years, there are two models I admire,” Burnett said. “One is the parallel model, which suggests that Bitcoin will be about $1.8 million in 2035.” “The other is Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin 24 model, which suggests Bitcoin will be $2.1 million by 2035.” Burnett emphasized that both are “good base cases,” adding that Bitcoin’s trajectory could exceed these predictions depending on broader macroeconomic factors. 🎙Could Bitcoin really hit $10m by Q1 2035? Perhaps. But first, we need to unravel the tangled web of the markets this week, and for both discussions, @rkbaggs and @gazza_jenks are joined today by Joe Burnett (@IIICapital) on the #CHAINREACTION show! https://t.co/hfyEwGUCsh — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) April 11, 2025 Related: Bitcoin price can hit $250K in 2025 if Fed shifts to QE: Arthur Hayes “The automobile industry is significantly more valuable than the horse and buggy industry,” Burnett said, adding that Bitcoin’s more advanced technological properties will make it surpass the $21 trillion market capitalization of gold. He added: “The gold market is an estimated $21 trillion market. If Bitcoin just hit $21 trillion and had Bitcoin-gold parity, Bitcoin would be $1 million per coin today.” Since US President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, global markets have been under pressure due to heightened trade war fears. Hours after taking office, Trump threatened to impose sweeping import tariffs aimed at reducing the country’s trade deficit, weighing on risk sentiment across both equities and crypto. While Bitcoin’s role as a safe-haven asset may reemerge amid ongoing trade war concerns, physical gold and tokenized gold remain the current winners. Top tokenized gold assets, trading volume. Source: CoinGecko, Cex.io Tariff fears led tokenized gold trading volume to surge to a two-year high this week, topping $1 billion for the first time since the US banking crisis in 2023, Cointelegraph reported on April 10. Related: Bitcoin’s 24/7 liquidity: Double-edged sword during global market turmoil Bitcoin’s volatility is falling during both bear and bull markets, signaling its growing maturity as an asset class. While another 80% drawdown during future bear markets is still possible, this will act as a robust acquisition period for the “strongest” holders, Burnett said, adding: “The highs bring [Bitcoin] attention, and the deep, dark bear markets move coins into the hands of the strongest, most convicted holders, as fast as possible.” Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and chief investment officer at Maelstrom, predicted Bitcoin could climb to $250,000 by the end of 2025 if the US Federal Reserve formally enters a quantitative easing cycle. Despite the optimistic predictions, investors remain cautious and continue “rebalancing their portfolios” but are unlikely to take on significant positions in the next 90 days before markets gain more clarity on global tariff negotiations, Enmanuel Cardozo, market analyst at real-world asset tokenization platform Brickken, told Cointelegraph. “With money flowing out of Bitcoin ETFs, investors are looking for safer spots to hold their cash right now, including strong currencies. Gold’s a traditional vehicle in these cases and a go-to when markets are uncertain,” he added. BTC, gold, year-to-date chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView Since the beginning of 2025, the price of gold has risen over 23%, outperforming Bitcoin, which has fallen by more than 10% year-to-date, TradingView data shows. Magazine: Bitcoin’s odds of June highs, SOL’s $485M outflows, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 2 – 8
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