Cardano Bets Big on a New Kind of Stablecoin
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has called Moneta Digital’s USDM “the most advanced stablecoin ever built,” tying it to efforts to create a privacy-preserving dollar on the network’s Midnight sidechain.
USDM already exists on Cardano as a regulated, fiat-backed token with reserves managed by firms like Fidelity. Around $12 million is in circulation, with minting available in select U.S. states.
The next step, developers say, is a version that supports selective disclosure—private for everyday use but transparent to regulators when required.
Andrew Westberg, a lead developer, described a system where employees, accountants, and investigators would each see different levels of financial detail.
He argued this complexity is essential for blockchain to compete with traditional finance, especially in areas like payroll, utilities, and cross-border transfers.
Skeptics counter that simpler stablecoins such as USDC already meet most needs, but Hoskinson insists Cardano’s model offers the balance of compliance and confidentiality required for mainstream adoption. The initiative, spotlighted during a workshop in Argentina, highlights Cardano’s push to position stablecoins as a bridge between crypto and real-world finance.
Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.
