Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times on Monday morning, the European Central Bank (ECB)’s Dutch central bank governor, Olaf Sleijpen, said the rise of dollar-linked stablecoins is enough to shake Europe’s money system if anything goes wrong. He explained that the ECB may soon need to deal with these assets as possible sources of macroeconomic shocks, not just as another crypto issue. Sleijpen said the worry comes from what happens when these coins lose their peg. He said that a shake-up could push issuers to dump the assets they hold to back the tokens. He said this kind of fast selling could hit markets hard. He said this risk matters because the ECB might then need to “rethink monetary policy,” though he said it is not clear if that would mean raising or cutting rates. He pointed to the size of the sector today. He said CoinGecko numbers show stablecoins up almost 50% this year, with the whole market now around $310 billion. Tracking rising crypto pressure Sleijpen pointed out that Tether’s USDt (USDT) went from $127 billion in November 2024 to $183 billion this year, a 44% surge, while USDC doubled from $37 billion to $74 billion. Data from CoinGecko backs his claims. Sleijpen also mentions how the US Treasury expects stable tokens will grow even faster in the coming five to ten years. Trump’s Treasury had indeed said in April that stablecoins could hit $2 trillion by 2028 if the market keeps moving at this pace. He said that if dollar-pegged stablecoins keep expanding, price swings in the sector could become big enough to influence Europe’s wider economic outlook. He said that includes the risk of changes to inflation and general financial stability. He said it could force the ECB to react in real time instead of treating crypto as something far away from policy. He is not alone. In April, Piero Cipollone from the ECB Executive Board wrote that the safest way to protect Europe’s monetary control is to launch a CBDC. He said a digital euro would help stop foreign stablecoins from becoming a common way to pay in the region. He warned that too much use of dollar-backed tokens could put the euro at risk. Italy’s economy minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said something similar around that time. He said US dollar stablecoins are a bigger danger to Europe’s financial system than trade tariffs. He said the size of the market means any trouble could spill into banks and markets fast. Sleijpen then pushed the point further, adding that the biggest threat is the way large issuers could act under pressure. He mentioned that if major players sell reserves in bulk, the hit could spread into liquidity, asset prices, and even inflation. Sleijpen said the danger grows with size. And in September, Nobel Prize winner Jean Tirole warned that governments may face rescue demands worth billions if top stablecoins fall apart. Get seen where it counts. Advertise in Cryptopolitan Research and reach crypto’s sharpest investors and builders.Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times on Monday morning, the European Central Bank (ECB)’s Dutch central bank governor, Olaf Sleijpen, said the rise of dollar-linked stablecoins is enough to shake Europe’s money system if anything goes wrong. He explained that the ECB may soon need to deal with these assets as possible sources of macroeconomic shocks, not just as another crypto issue. Sleijpen said the worry comes from what happens when these coins lose their peg. He said that a shake-up could push issuers to dump the assets they hold to back the tokens. He said this kind of fast selling could hit markets hard. He said this risk matters because the ECB might then need to “rethink monetary policy,” though he said it is not clear if that would mean raising or cutting rates. He pointed to the size of the sector today. He said CoinGecko numbers show stablecoins up almost 50% this year, with the whole market now around $310 billion. Tracking rising crypto pressure Sleijpen pointed out that Tether’s USDt (USDT) went from $127 billion in November 2024 to $183 billion this year, a 44% surge, while USDC doubled from $37 billion to $74 billion. Data from CoinGecko backs his claims. Sleijpen also mentions how the US Treasury expects stable tokens will grow even faster in the coming five to ten years. Trump’s Treasury had indeed said in April that stablecoins could hit $2 trillion by 2028 if the market keeps moving at this pace. He said that if dollar-pegged stablecoins keep expanding, price swings in the sector could become big enough to influence Europe’s wider economic outlook. He said that includes the risk of changes to inflation and general financial stability. He said it could force the ECB to react in real time instead of treating crypto as something far away from policy. He is not alone. In April, Piero Cipollone from the ECB Executive Board wrote that the safest way to protect Europe’s monetary control is to launch a CBDC. He said a digital euro would help stop foreign stablecoins from becoming a common way to pay in the region. He warned that too much use of dollar-backed tokens could put the euro at risk. Italy’s economy minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said something similar around that time. He said US dollar stablecoins are a bigger danger to Europe’s financial system than trade tariffs. He said the size of the market means any trouble could spill into banks and markets fast. Sleijpen then pushed the point further, adding that the biggest threat is the way large issuers could act under pressure. He mentioned that if major players sell reserves in bulk, the hit could spread into liquidity, asset prices, and even inflation. Sleijpen said the danger grows with size. And in September, Nobel Prize winner Jean Tirole warned that governments may face rescue demands worth billions if top stablecoins fall apart. Get seen where it counts. Advertise in Cryptopolitan Research and reach crypto’s sharpest investors and builders.

        Highlights:  Michael Saylor’s Strategy added $836M in Bitcoin, extending its streak of acquisitions. Strategy now holds 649,870 BTC, valued at $48.37 billion at an average price of $74,433. The company raised funds for the purchase through preferred stock issuance, avoiding common share sales.  The prominent corporate Bitcoin holder, Strategy, made another major acquisition last week. The company added 8,178 more BTC to its collection for $835.6 million at an average price of $102,171 per coin. The total Bitcoin holdings of the company grew to 649,870 BTC, valued at $48.37 billion, for an average price of $74,433 per coin following this latest purchase. This acquisition happened at a time when the cryptocurrency market was undergoing significant volatility. The price of Bitcoin has recently declined from highs of $107,000 to $93,000. As of this writing, BTC is trading around $93,619, down by almost 1% over the last 24 hours. Despite these fluctuations, Strategy has continued, showing its confidence in Bitcoin as a store of value. Strategy used its preferred stock issue to fund this bitcoin purchase instead of relying on the sale of common shares. The company raised $704 million through its STRE (Steam) offering and another 136.1 million from its sales of STRC, STRF, and STRK preferred stocks. This strategy gave the firm the ability to avoid diluting current shareholders through the issuance of more common stock, which would have been detrimental to the current performance of MSTR stock.  Strategy has acquired 8,178 BTC for ~$835.6 million at ~$102,171 per bitcoin and has achieved BTC Yield of 27.8% YTD 2025. As of 11/16/2025, we hodl 649,870 $BTC acquired for ~$48.37 billion at ~$74,433 per bitcoin. $MSTR $STRC $STRD $STRE $STRF $STRK https://t.co/HI1TeYOvQ9 — Michael Saylor (@saylor) November 17, 2025  Strategy Remains Confident Amid Stock Price Pressure Strategy adding $836M in Bitcoin coincides with the sustained pressure on the company’s stock price. MSTR stock has declined sharply and has lost more than 30% of its value over recent months. Currently, MSTR stock is trading at around $195, a drop of 1.45% since the previous close. In addition, the purchase occurred as the firm saw its market Net Asset Value (mNAV) decline over the last few months. Its mNAV has plummeted to 0.94 compared to the year-to-date high of more than 3. However, the metric has recovered to 1.18 as of this writing. Source: Strategy However, Michael Saylor and his team have reaffirmed their commitment to Bitcoin. The company has been purchasing Bitcoin on a daily basis regardless of the market fluctuations. Recently, Saylor refuted claims that the company was selling its Bitcoin during the price drop, noting that the company has been steadily buying additional BTC. Bitcoin Strategy Continues Despite Market Skepticism Peter Schiff, a renowned Bitcoin skeptic, recently raised questions about the strategy used by Michael Saylor. Schiff denounced the financial framework of Strategy, labeling it a fraud. According to him, the company will find itself in financial instability due to its overdependence on high-yield preferred shares. As Schiff points out, the business model of the company has the potential to create a death spiral in case investors lose their confidence and offload their holdings within the preferred shares.  MSTR’s business model relies on income-oriented funds buying its “high-yield” preferred shares. But those published yields will never actually be paid. Once fund managers realize this they’ll dump the preferreds & $MSTR won’t be able to issue any more, setting off a death spiral. — Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) November 16, 2025  Even with these criticisms, Strategy stands firm in its belief that Bitcoin is a valuable asset. The firm has amassed Bitcoin over the years, including in both bull and bear market cycles.    eToro Platform    Best Crypto Exchange   Over 90 top cryptos to trade Regulated by top-tier entities User-friendly trading app 30+ million users    9.9   Visit eToro eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong.