Short answers, pulled from the story.
The year 2014 marked the first appearance of stablecoins designed to solve a specific problem for investors. These early digital assets emerged as a method for people holding volatile cryptocurrencies to park their money safely while they waited to buy other assets.
By 2025 nearly 99% of these tokens were pegged directly to the United States dollar. This rapid expansion transformed stablecoins from niche tools into essential infrastructure for modern finance.
Do Kwon founded Terraform Labs to create this system that relied on economic incentives rather than reserves. Terraform Labs filed for bankruptcy in January 2024 following the collapse.
The European Union introduced the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation known as MiCAR in June 2023 which became applicable to asset-referenced tokens on the 30th of June 2024. Hong Kong gazetted its Stablecoins Bill in December 2024 and passed it in May 2025 with licenses expected in early 2026.
The US Department of Justice seized $225 million worth of USDT linked to these criminal operations in June 2025. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime published a report in January 2024 linking USDT directly to cyberfraud.