I remember 2007 as if it were yesterday. Post-punk revival bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were still going strong, The Colbert Report was the hottest thing on television, and the Coen Brothers were cranking out banger after banger. Then Twitter came along, and here we are.
It’s never too late for another revival. “Recession pop” is all the rage; people starved of quality content are hitting up their local vintage shops for cassette tapes, skinny jeans, and retro T-shirts. And what’s this? The euro is a thing again? Somebody call Jay-Z.
Granted, the euro has a long way to go before it reaches its April 2008 peak of US$1.5858. But the standard currency of the European Union has been on a roll ever since Donald Trump regained the White House, moving from around $1.03 in January 2025 to $1.17 as we go to press. And this time, the crypto news is driving the market more than Jay-Z’s music videos.
What Is Happening to the U.S. Dollar?
It’s falling like a stone. Morgan Stanley’s reports say the greenback has slipped 11% versus other currencies over the first half of 2025, marking its worst performance since 1973, and they expect the price to fall another 10% by the end of 2026.
This was to be expected. We’ve discussed in this space how the Trump Administration is intentionally sinking the U.S. dollar as part of a larger plan to bring manufacturing back to American shores. In turn, this has driven investors away from the dollar, as well as U.S. government bonds and such. They’re putting their money in euros, Japanese yen, and other currencies instead.
Why Stablecoins?
Because they’re inherently less volatile than traditional forex trading, or even Bitcoin for that matter. While there’s money to be made taking advantage of the USD’s longer-term slide, it’s still a rollercoaster in the short term; at the end of July, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) rose to 99.98 points following the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold key benchmark interest rates at 4.25%-4.50%. That was up from 96.82 when the month began, and it’s the highest since late May.
The DXY is back down to 97.83 at press time, in part because President Trump is doing his best to discredit and isolate Fed chair Jerome Powell for refusing to lower interest rates until inflation falls, which is unlikely as long as the Trump Administration is slapping tariffs on everything. If you’re a day-trader type, this volatility is right up your alley; if you’re like most investors, you need more stability in your portfolio. Euro-pegged stablecoins like EURC (up 0.45% this past week) and Eurite (EURI, up 0.49%) can do that for you.
How Long Will This Last?
Not forever. Despite the larger trend of moving away from USD that’s been in place since the Great Recession, the U.S. dollar is still the king of all currencies, and according to a December 2024 report from Chainalysis, USD-pegged stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) still make up about 80% of the stablecoin market.
The Trump Administration is nevertheless continuing to put downward pressure on the price of USD. Unless some catastrophic event happens, that won’t stop until the 2026 midterms at the earliest; the Democratic Party is the -280 favorite on the politics odds board at BetOnline to take the U.S. House of Representatives, but the Republicans are –275 to maintain control over the Senate, helped along by gerrymandering efforts in Texas and elsewhere.
If the Dems do take back the House in 2026, we should see some of those famous checks and balances restored to the U.S. financial markets, including the crypto markets. Until then, like Jay-Z said in “Blue Magic,” no pain, no profit.
