From Crypto Settlement to International Dollar: Who Uses the Token?

The subject here is not stablecoin volume in the abstract but the international currency functions that stablecoins might perform. The useful judgment is to separate a private actor holding dollar value, a private actor making a payment, and an official authority using a currency as an anchor, intervention instrument, or reserve. That distinction also makes the current evidence easier to read: a large crypto-settlement market can signal an important new dollar rail without proving that stablecoins have already become everyday retail money.

An international currency has more than one job

A currency becomes international in several different ways. The framework used by the BIS crosses the three classical functions of money with two groups of users. The functions are unit of account, means of exchange or payment, and store of value. The users are private actors—households, firms, banks, and investors—and official authorities such as central banks and governments. The result is a six-cell map, not one ranking called “international use.”

For private actors, the unit-of-account function appears when trade prices, invoices, contracts, or settlements are denominated in a currency. The BIS uses trade-invoicing shares as an observable indicator, while noting that treating invoicing as the whole unit-of-account function is a simplification. The means-of-exchange function appears when a currency is used to make payments or as one leg of foreign-exchange transactions; FX-market turnover is a relevant indicator. The store-of-value function appears in cross-border bank loans and deposits, international debt securities, and related financial-market positions. A household holding a dollar stablecoin to protect savings is engaging with the store-of-value function even if they never use the token to buy groceries.

For official users, the unit-of-account function is reflected in a currency’s role as an anchor or reference. A country that stabilizes its exchange rate against the dollar is using the dollar in that way, whether or not residents hold dollar tokens. The official means-of-exchange function appears when a central bank uses a currency for foreign-exchange intervention. The official store-of-value function is most visible in the composition of foreign-exchange reserves. These functions can reinforce one another, but they are not interchangeable. A stablecoin held by a private saver is not the same thing as a central bank reserve, and private payment use does not by itself establish an official currency anchor.

That map clarifies where stablecoins are most likely to enter. The BIS argues that private store-of-value use is the initial point of pressure, especially in emerging market and developing economies facing high inflation or exchange-rate volatility. People in those conditions have an immediate reason to seek a stable dollar-denominated claim. They do not first need to rewrite domestic trade invoices or persuade a central bank to change its reserves. They need a way to preserve value, and a token accessible through a phone or an exchange can offer an alternative to a weak local instrument.