Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman: Stablecoins Have No Clearly Useful Function and Could Trigger a 2008-like Financial Crisis

According to a report by Jinse Finance, Paul Krugman, the 2008 Nobel Prize winner in Economics, stated in a blog post that "stablecoins have no obviously useful function" and believes their only economic rationale is "to facilitate criminal activities" such as money laundering and extortion. He compared stablecoin issuers to 19th-century "antebellum banks," calling them a new type of "shadow bank" that might evade regulation and pose risks similar to the 2008 financial crisis. Coin Metrics co-founder Nic Carter responded on social media, stating that Krugman's views on stablecoins are "extremely wrong," and pointed out that over 100 million stablecoin users worldwide demonstrate their practical use. Bitwise Asset Management President Paul Fusaro also supported Carter's view.