North Dakota just made history — launching its own state-backed stablecoin, the Roughrider Digital Dollar. This groundbreaking project positions the state as a leader in U.S. blockchain adoption and could mark the beginning of a state-by-state digital currency revolution.
In this video, we’ll break down what the Roughrider Stablecoin is, how it works, and what makes it different from central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) or corporate stablecoins like USDC and USDT. We’ll also explore the implications of a state-backed digital dollar on the broader crypto ecosystem — including regulation, banking integration, and adoption in local economies.
Could North Dakota’s move be the blueprint for future decentralized finance integration in U.S. governance? Or is this the first step toward government-controlled digital money? We’ll unpack the opportunities, the risks, and the future of blockchain in America.
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#NorthDakota #Stablecoin #CryptoNews #DigitalDollar #Blockchain #CryptoRobot #DeFi #Web3 #CBDC #CryptoAdoption #Finance #CryptoMarket #StateStablecoin #CryptoInvesting #DigitalCurrency
In this video, we’ll break down what the Roughrider Stablecoin is, how it works, and what makes it different from central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) or corporate stablecoins like USDC and USDT. We’ll also explore the implications of a state-backed digital dollar on the broader crypto ecosystem — including regulation, banking integration, and adoption in local economies.
Could North Dakota’s move be the blueprint for future decentralized finance integration in U.S. governance? Or is this the first step toward government-controlled digital money? We’ll unpack the opportunities, the risks, and the future of blockchain in America.
👉 Subscribe for daily alpha on crypto market trends, bold Bitcoin predictions, and altcoin gems that could 10x your portfolio! – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpjN8bNE-CoAgpfMatghM9g
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Sofi Checking & Savings – Get $25 free ➝ https://www.sofi.com/invite/money?gcp=16a53d0f-b4b2-441d-9100-cfb506305260&isAliasGcp=false
Sofi Investing – Free $25 in stock ➝ https://www.sofi.com/invite/invest?gcp=ab31edd8-701e-4109-9225-51b41e35d246&isAliasGcp=false
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#NorthDakota #Stablecoin #CryptoNews #DigitalDollar #Blockchain #CryptoRobot #DeFi #Web3 #CBDC #CryptoAdoption #Finance #CryptoMarket #StateStablecoin #CryptoInvesting #DigitalCurrency
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LearningTranscript
00:00Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today, we're looking at something really, really fundamental changing in digital finance. And it's not coming out of Silicon Valley, not Washington, D.C. either.
00:10Yeah, this is different. We're not talking Fed now or some future digital dollar that's, you know, stuck in committee somewhere.
00:16Exactly. Forget the slow CBDC debates for a second. We are talking about a U.S. state jumping directly into the digital currency game. And crucially, they're doing it using a power, an institutional setup that literally no other state has.
00:33It's quite unique. Yeah. So this is big news coming out of the Northern Plains, believe it or not, North Dakota. They've announced they're launching their own state backed stable coin. It's called the Roof Rider.
00:42Yeah. Fitting name for North Dakota. Right. Scheduled for a 2026 debut. And here's the other key piece. They're partnering with Feeserve, you know, the massive fintech payments giant.
00:55Yeah. Feeserve is a huge player. That partnership alone tells you this is serious.
00:58Absolutely. This isn't just some like local experiment. It's genuinely one of the very first state level stable coin projects anywhere in the U.S.
01:07And it forces everyone, investors, regulators, tech folks, to really rethink who actually controls digital money infrastructure in the states. And maybe more importantly, how fast it can actually be rolled out.
01:21It really shifts the conversation.
01:22OK, so let's unpack this properly. Our deep dive today, we've got kind of three main goals. First, we need to nail down the basics.
01:29What is the Roof Rider exactly? Why does this Feeserve partnership matter so much? And how is it meant to actually compete with, you know, the old payment system?
01:39Like ECH and Fedwire. Yeah.
01:40Second, we have to dig into that unique advantage. North Dakota has that institutional leverage. What is it?
01:45And third, we'll look at the bigger picture. What are the ripple effects for Web3 globally? And of course, the inevitable regulatory headaches on the horizon.
01:52Right. And if we, you know, put this whole thing in context right from the start, this move is just incredibly significant because you've got a state basically taking charge, grabbing the reins of its own digital financial future.
02:06They're not waiting around for the Feds. Washington is just, you know, bogged down in endless debates, bureaucracy. It moves so slowly. North Dakota is just doing it, bootstrapping their own local solution.
02:19Kind of bypassing the whole D.C. log jam.
02:21Exactly. And it's more than just like a statement about states' rights or local control. It's really a potential template for how innovation can happen. You've got a state using its existing very specific institutional setup.
02:35That state bank we'll get into.
02:36Right. The state bank using that to launch a real digital asset, not just crypto-friendly policies on paper, but actually baking it in to the core financial plumbing of the state.
02:47That really changes the game for, well, for state sovereignty in this digital age.
02:52Okay. Let's start with the fundamentals then. For you listening, when we talk about a stable coin, especially one backed by a government entity, what's the basic promise of this Rough Rider coin?
03:00Well, the promise is pretty simple, but it's powerful. It's stability, backed directly by state authority. So, the Rough Rider stable coin, it's a digital token issued by the state, and it's designed to hold a really precise peg one-to-one with the U.S. dollar.
03:18Meaning one Rough Rider token should always be worth exactly one dollar held in reserve somewhere.
03:23Exactly. It should always be redeemable for one U.S. dollar that the state holds. That peg, that stability, is the absolute foundation for its usefulness.
03:32And its usefulness, its function, is aimed squarely at local stuff, right? North Dakota commerce.
03:38Yes. Specifically, it's designed to be like a high-speed engine for streamlining payments within the state, handling payroll for businesses, just general commerce across North Dakota.
03:47Okay. But here's the question I imagine some people are asking. Why go through all this trouble, all this expense, the complexity? They already have banks, right? Why not just use the existing system?
03:57Ah. Well, the justification really comes down to two things. Efficiency and local control. The big goal here is to build a modern digital backbone for North Dakota's economy that's just way, way faster and cheaper than what they have now.
04:11Okay. Think about how it works currently. If a state agency, say, pays a contractor, that payment probably goes over the ACH network, right? Automated clearinghouse.
04:21Right. Which takes, what, two or three days to actually settle?
04:24At least, yeah. Two, three business days. Or maybe they use Fedwire, which is faster, but it's usually more expensive, especially if it's a smaller payment.
04:31Gotcha. So the pitch for Rough Rider is ditch the waiting, ditch the higher fees, use blockchain tech for instant settlement and lower costs.
04:40Is that basically...
04:41It's the core value proposition, yes.
04:43Yeah.
04:43Leverage the native advantages of blockchain or, more accurately, distributed ledger technology in this case.
04:48Can we put some, like, numbers on that or at least estimates? How much faster are we really talking and how much cheaper could it actually be?
04:56Well, North Dakota hasn't released the final reformant specs yet, but we can look at similar enterprise blockchain solutions that are out there.
05:03Mm-hmm.
05:03The expectation is settlement finality that's near instantaneous. We're talking seconds, maybe minutes at most, not days.
05:10Seconds versus days.
05:11Yeah.
05:11Okay, that's a huge difference.
05:13It's massive, especially for local businesses. Imagine you're a small farmer in North Dakota, right? You sell your produce to a state school. Instead of waiting three days for the payment to clear, you get paid instantly. That dramatically improves your cash flow.
05:28Okay, I can see that. And the cost side.
05:31On costs, moving payments onto a DLT, even if it's a private permissioned one like this will be, it generally cuts down on the middlemen, the processing overhead. So you can potentially see transaction costs dropping by, say, 50% or even more compared to what third-party processors or banks might charge for smaller frequent payments.
05:49Okay, that economic argument makes sense. But we need to hit the political angle, too, because this is where people might get nervous. And here's the really crucial distinction. You called it the aha moment. This is not a CBDC, a central bank digital currency.
06:02Absolutely. Critical distinction. Cannot stress that enough. A true CBDC would be issued and totally controlled by the Federal Reserve. That comes with all sorts of potential issues around privacy, financial surveillance, centralized federal control, things that make a lot of people uneasy.
06:19Right. The Rough Rider, though, it's structured differently. It operates as a genuine public-private partnership. And that structure, that's what gives it, arguably, its legitimacy within the current financial system, not as a replacement for it.
06:32So how does that partnership work exactly? Who does what?
06:35Okay, so the state of North Dakota, they provide the legal framework, the regulations, they set the rules. They're the ones ensuring those one-to-one reserves are actually there, properly audited, held securely, likely by the state's own bank. They provide the legal backing.
06:48The government oversight piece.
06:50Right. But Feeser, the private partner, they're the ones actually building and running the tech.
06:55Yeah.
06:56The blockchain infrastructure itself, the cryptographic security, handling the KYCML compliance checks, you know, know your customer, anti-money laundering.
07:06All the stuff needed to connect to the real financial world.
07:09Exactly. And the payment rails that let it plug into existing point-of-sale systems that businesses already use.
07:14So this division of labor, it keeps a certain degree of, let's call it, decentralization of implementation.
07:20Yeah.
07:20Even though the asset itself is ultimately backed and overseen centrally by the state.
07:25Okay, that makes sense. So the goal is crystal clear then. Build a payment network that's just technologically better, faster, secure, available 247, and crucially, locally controlled.
07:36Designed specifically to compete head-to-head with ACH and Fedwire, at least within North Dakota.
07:40Yeah. Precisely. And what's really fascinating from a broader perspective is that this gives us a workable, scalable, state-level model for issuing digital money.
07:48It pulls the control, and importantly, the speed of implementation, away from Washington, D.C., and gives it to state governments.
07:55Right. If North Dakota can actually pull this off without getting tangled in federal red tape.
07:59If they can bypass that massive bureaucracy, the political gridlock, they could potentially innovate years ahead of whatever federal digital dollar eventually emerges, if it ever does.
08:10Yeah.
08:10And this specific model, you know, state ownership of the reserve institution, combined with private sector tech expertise for the build-out that could absolutely be a powerful template for other states, we've seen states lead before.
08:24Oh, yeah. Wyoming with crypto banks.
08:26Wyoming, exactly. They led the way creating those special-purpose depository institution charters, basically crypto-friendly banks.
08:34Texas carved out policies to attract Bitcoin miners.
08:37North Dakota is now trying to lead the way on state-level issuance itself.
08:41You can really see a state-level race heating up here for digital financial leadership.
08:45Okay, so that brings us right to the core question. Why North Dakota? I mean, seriously, when you think fintech hubs, you think New York, maybe Miami now, maybe Austin, San Francisco. Why the Roughrider State?
08:57Yeah, it's not the first place this brings to mind for cutting-edge finance, is it?
09:00Not typically, no.
09:01But the answer lies entirely in its unique institutional setup. They have this massive strategic advantage that literally no other U.S. state has.
09:11And that is the Bank of North Dakota, the BND. It was established way back in 1919, and it is the only state-owned bank in the entire United States.
09:22I know.
09:22This isn't just some historical quirk. It's the absolute structural bedrock for the Roughrider Project.
09:28Okay, state-owned bank. What does that actually mean in practice? How does it give them an edge?
09:33Well, think about how state funds work elsewhere. Tax revenues, agency funds. In other states, that money sits in accounts at large. Private commercial banks, right, like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, whatever.
09:45Those banks then use those deposits for their own lending, subject to federal banking regulations, FDIC insurance rules, the whole nine yards.
09:51But in North Dakota, all state deposits are held at the Bank of North Dakota by law.
09:57And because the BND is state-owned, it doesn't operate under the exact same commercial banking rules as a typical FDIC-insured bank.
10:06It functions almost like an operational arm of the state treasury itself.
10:12Ah, I see. So that's the key legal difference. Having their own bank lets them issue and back this stablecoin directly.
10:18They don't need to go cap-in-hand to some big commercial bank and say, hey, can you please hold our reserves for this experimental token?
10:25Exactly. They sidestep a huge layer of complexity and potential conflict.
10:29They don't need to negotiate complex custody agreements, deal with FDIC regulatory hoops for the reserves, pay correspondent banking fees, none of that.
10:36Because the BND is the reserve holder. It is the clearinghouse, essentially.
10:40Precisely. It massively simplifies the whole regulatory pathway, at least at the state level.
10:45They can guarantee with absolute state backing that every single Rough Rider token is fully collateralized one-to-one with U.S. dollars or maybe short-term U.S. treasuries held directly within their own state financial institution.
10:57Wow. That level of direct control and transparency, a private issuer like Tether or Circle just can't match that.
11:05They really can't.
11:06So, yeah, the Rough Rider branding taps into state pride, sure.
11:09But functionally, this is all about leveraging that unique BND structure for a broader digital innovation push.
11:17It's about modernizing the local economy using the direct institutional control they already have.
11:23And the benefits they're hoping for flow from that control.
11:25It's not just cutting transaction costs, as we said, but also things like maybe increased financial transparency for state agencies tracking public money.
11:33Definitely. Imagine state budgets operating on a transparent ledger.
11:37And, importantly, maybe improving financial inclusion, reaching local businesses or even residents who might feel underserved or maybe even excluded by the big national banking chains that dominate elsewhere.
11:48Right. BND already has a mandate focused on North Dakota's needs.
11:51Exactly. This isn't totally out of the blue for them. The BND already has experience, you know, trying out digital banking tools, providing services to local community banks and residents.
12:00The Rough Rider isn't some radical departure from their mission. It's more like the next logical step.
12:06Yeah.
12:06Digitizing the ecosystem they already essentially manage. Just moving settlement from slow, old ledgers onto a modern DLT.
12:13OK. That explains the North Dakota why. Now let's talk about the partner, Fiserv.
12:19This seems to be where the project goes from being like a quirky state initiative to something with real national weight.
12:24Absolutely. Bringing Fiserv on board lends massive, undeniable credibility.
12:29And maybe even more importantly, it brings enterprise-grade scalability. Fiserv isn't some small crypto startup.
12:36They are a pillar of traditional finance, a true payments powerhouse.
12:40What are their stats again? Like, how big are they?
12:42They process transactions for something like over 6 million merchants globally, and they provide core processing and payment services for around 10,000 financial institutions.
12:52Banks, credit unions, they're deeply embedded everywhere.
12:55OK. So their involvement signals that a major TradFi player sees state-backed stablecoins not as a weird experiment, but as potentially serious emerging financial infrastructure.
13:06That's exactly the signal it sends. It's a huge vote of confidence from the establishment, if you will.
13:11So let's get into the tech a bit. What exactly is Fiserv likely building here?
13:15You mentioned DLT, not blockchain necessarily. It can't be like a public open chain like Ethereum, right?
13:21Not for state government use with compliance needs.
13:23No, almost certainly not. You're absolutely right. Given the stringent regulatory requirements, especially KYC, Know Your Customer, and AML, anti-money laundering controls, Fiserv will definitely be deploying a private permission DLT.
13:37Meaning only approved users can participate.
13:39Exactly. Think platforms, maybe like Hyperledger Fabric, or perhaps R3 Corda.
13:44These kinds of enterprise-grade ledgers are designed specifically for these types of applications, where transaction speed needs to be high, but critically, the identity of every participant, whether it's a citizen using it, a merchant accepting it, or a state agency issuing it, has to be known, verified, and explicitly permissioned to join and transact on the network.
14:05Right. Keeps it controlled.
14:06Fiserv provides that core ledger tech, but also the enterprise-level security around it, the compliance systems that can plug into existing financial reporting frameworks, and the custody solutions to make sure the kokans themselves are handled securely.
14:20This choice of permissioned ledger, it guarantees the kind of auditability and settlement finality a state government needs. It separates it completely from the volatility and the, let's say, pseudo-anonymity you get on public blockchains.
14:32Okay, but wait a second. If Fiserv is building and running these rails, aren't we just swapping one set of intermediaries for another? Doesn't this reintroduce the centralization risks, maybe even transaction fees eventually, that Web3 was supposed to get rid of? Is this really progress? Or just, you know, putting a blockchain wrapper on efficient centralized finance?
14:53That is the absolute core tension here, and it's a totally valid criticism from a decentralization purist standpoint. Yes, functionally, this is a centralized system, ultimately overseen by the state via the BND, and implemented by a large corporation, Fiserv.
15:08So, what's the advancement then?
15:10The primary advancement here isn't about achieving philosophical decentralization. It's about achieving massive gains in technological efficiency, and providing absolute regulatory certainty within the state's borders.
15:20Fiserv's involvement guarantees two critical things that most DeFi projects struggle with.
15:26Rock-solid compliance frameworks and, crucially, seamless interoperability with the existing financial world.
15:32Ah, the interoperability piece. Making it easy to use.
15:35Exactly. Fiserv systems are built to connect.
15:39They ensure this Rough Rider token can, theoretically, integrate almost instantly with global payment standards.
15:45Think Visa, MasterCard networks, the major point-of-sale POS terminals that practically every business already uses.
15:54So, a small business owner in Fargo doesn't need to figure out some weird crypto wallet.
15:58Hopefully not.
15:59Ideally, their existing payment terminal just gets an update, and suddenly it can accept Rough Rider as another payment option, one that settles instantly.
16:07That kind of pragmatic, user-friendly, scalable approach, that's what makes us a potential blueprint for how other public-private stablecoin partnerships could work elsewhere.
16:16It bridges the gap.
16:17Okay, let's zoom out now. Let's shift gears and look beyond North Dakota itself.
16:21Because here's where it gets really, really interesting for the broader crypto world.
16:25How does one state, even with a unique setup, launching its own stablecoin, how does that actually impact the, you know, multi-trillion dollar global crypto and Web3 market?
16:34Well, the first, and I think arguably the most powerful, immediate impact is the sheer legitimization it brings, regulatory credibility.
16:42No, so.
16:42Think about it. You have a U.S. state, a sovereign entity within the U.S. system, formally adopting a stablecoin structure, backing it with its own state bank and integrating it directly into its core financial operations.
16:55That sends an incredibly powerful, unambiguous message.
16:59To who?
17:00To institutional investors, to federal regulators, to other states, to the market as a whole.
17:05The message is, stablecoins are now being recognized as legitimate financial infrastructure.
17:11Not just speculative internet money.
17:12Exactly.
17:13They're moving beyond being seen as just these, you know, fringe assets for crypto trading.
17:18Sure.
17:18This kind of formal, state-level endorsement, especially one backed by the transparent reserves at the BND, it significantly chips away at the regulatory uncertainty that still hangs over purely private stablecoins like USDC or USDT.
17:32And that could unlock, what, more institutional money?
17:35Potentially, yeah. You have large pools of capital pension funds, endowments, conservative asset managers that basically require clear government sign-off for regulatory clarity before they'll touch anything crypto-related.
17:47A state-issued, fully-reserved stablecoin might just meet that threshold for some of them.
17:51Okay, that makes sense.
17:52The elephant in the room, yeah.
18:01If the Rough Rider actually launches successfully in 2026, if it delivers on that promise of instant, cheap settlement for state business, it could genuinely beat the Federal Reserve's own digital dollar project to market.
18:14It could set a working, trusted precedent before the feds even finalize a design.
18:19And that possibility that a state effectively gets there first with a viable digital currency that could ignite a really dynamic and potentially messy states-versus-federal digital currency race right here in the U.S.
18:32How so? What would that look like?
18:33It offers a powerful counter-narrative to the idea of a single, monolithic, centrally-controlled federal CBDC issued out of D.C. states could start arguing, much more credibly, hey, why do we need your digital dollar, controlled by the Fed, potentially tracking everything, when we've built our own efficient, locally-regulated system that works just fine for our citizens and businesses?
18:53Creates political leverage for the states.
18:55Huge leverage.
18:57And you should absolutely expect a significant ripple effect from this.
19:01You mentioned Wyoming, Texas, Florida, states that are already way ahead in thinking about blockchain policy, maybe attracting minors, setting up legal frameworks.
19:11They're watching North Dakota like hawks right now.
19:13Absolutely.
19:14Right.
19:14With intense scrutiny.
19:15They have the regulatory groundwork already laid, or at least the political desire, to potentially launch their own state tokens next.
19:23Wyoming, remember, passed its Stable Token Act back in 2023.
19:26That law literally gives the state treasurer the authority to issue a state-backed, fully-reserved, redeemable stablecoin.
19:34They just haven't done it yet.
19:35Right.
19:36North Dakota is providing the practical how-to guide, the implementation playbook that Wyoming or Texas or others might now feel emboldened to follow.
19:43Okay, beyond the state politics and the CBDC race, let's talk about actual adoption.
19:47Boots on the ground.
19:48If North Dakota really pushes this, maybe mandates it, or strongly incentivizes using Rough Rider for state payments, that creates immediate real-world use cases, right?
19:58Not just speculation.
19:59Exactly.
20:00And that's potentially huge for crypto adoption overall, even if users don't realize they're using crypto.
20:07The use cases become tangible, necessary things.
20:10Local businesses using it for instant payments between each other, or maybe for paying state taxes instantly, avoiding delays and paperwork errors.
20:17Or running payroll.
20:18Could businesses pay employees in Rough Rider?
20:22Potentially, yeah.
20:23If the regulatory framework allows for it and employees opt in, imagine getting paid and the funds are instantly available, fully backed, no waiting for ACH.
20:32That directly onboards potentially thousands of people, business owners, employees, ordinary citizens, onto Web3 infrastructure without them ever having to consciously decide to get into crypto.
20:42Right.
20:43They're just using the fastest, cheapest way to pay their taxes or get paid.
20:46It's kind of stealth adoption.
20:48You're using blockchain technology to solve a real, everyday financial friction point.
20:52And the driver isn't crypto hype.
20:54It's boring stuff like bureaucratic efficiency and saving money.
20:57But the result is wider use of the underlying tech.
21:00And we need to remember the scale we're already at.
21:03Just to frame this, the global stablecoin market is already enormous, right?
21:06Oh, yeah.
21:07It's massive.
21:07The total supply of major stablecoins, Tether, USDT, USDCoin, USDC, even PayPal's PYUSD now, it's already blown past $150 billion globally.
21:20That number alone tells you there's gigantic existing demand and proven momentum for dollar-pegged digital assets.
21:27So the Rough Rider isn't trying to create demand out of thin air.
21:31Not at all.
21:32It's tapping into that existing demand, but providing a localized, state-sanctioned, and perhaps perceived as safer vehicle for it.
21:39One that comes with the guarantee of institutional stability via the BND.
21:42Okay, but like any big leap forward, especially where government and new tech collide, there have got to be hurdles, roadblocks.
21:50North Dakota's Rough Rider isn't going to just magically appear in 2026 without issues.
21:54We've talked up the excitement, the efficiency.
21:56Now let's talk about the challenges.
21:58What are the big ones?
21:59Oh, there are definitely significant challenges, both political and technical.
22:02The first big one that jumps out is regulatory overlap or maybe regulatory conflict with the federal government.
22:07Ugh, the federal question again.
22:09So will D.C. just let this happen?
22:13Will the big federal regulators think the OCC, the FDIC, maybe even the SEC just stand by while a state issues its own version of digital dollars?
22:23That's the multi-billion dollar question, isn't it?
22:25The potential for federal regulatory pushback is, I'd say, extremely high.
22:31It's almost guaranteed there will be friction.
22:33Where's the friction point legally?
22:34Well, the primary legal battleground is likely around interstate commerce and who ultimately has authority over banking and money transmission.
22:42Okay, the Bank of North Dakota has its unique status, maybe some exemptions from certain commercial banking rules within North Dakota.
22:49Right.
22:49But the instant that Rough Rider token is used for a transaction that crosses state lines, even if it's just a North Dakota business paying a supplier one state over, say in Minnesota or Montana.
22:59Which will happen constantly.
23:00Constantly.
23:01Constantly.
23:01The minute that happens, it arguably triggers federal jurisdiction under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
23:08The Federal Reserve, or the OCC, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, could absolutely step in and assert that any digital asset functioning broadly as money needs to conform to national standards.
23:20Standards for reserves, for systemic risk management, for consumer protection.
23:24They could potentially try to impose federal rules that could complicate or even cripple the project.
23:29Wow.
23:30Okay, so that sounds like a potential legal nightmare that could easily push that 2026 timeline way off track.
23:36It absolutely could.
23:37Significant legal challenges are almost a certainty.
23:40And what about the tech side?
23:41You mentioned the need for a permission ledger.
23:44What are the technical hurdles there?
23:47The biggest one seems to be interoperability, right?
23:49This thing can't just be a closed loop within North Dakota if it wants to be really useful.
23:53That's exactly right.
23:54Interoperability is probably the single biggest technical challenge.
23:58That closed permission DLT that Pfizer is building.
24:02It needs a way to securely and crucially, compliantly talk to the rest of the financial world, including the wider, wilder crypto ecosystem.
24:12Otherwise, it's just digital state script, basically.
24:13If the Rough Rider is only accepted by state agencies and maybe some local merchants who specifically sign up, its utility is severely limited.
24:23It doesn't help that farmer pay for equipment from John Deere headquarters in Illinois, for example.
24:27So how do you bridge that gap between the controlled state ledger and everything else?
24:30That requires building secure, heavily audited bridges, ways to essentially represent the Rough Rider token on other public blockchains, maybe Ethereum, maybe Solana, maybe BASE.
24:41Who knows?
24:41You'd need to securely wrap the Rough Rider, taking a Kogan issued on that private KYC verified state ledger and creating a corresponding version on a public, potentially pseudo-anonymous network.
24:53That sounds risky.
24:54We hear about bridge hacks all the time in crypto.
24:56It is inherently risky.
24:58It introduces significant smart contract vulnerabilities.
25:02You need incredibly rigorous auditing of those bridge contracts, constant monitoring for exploits.
25:08It's a massive ongoing technical and security challenge to do that safely and reliably.
25:14Okay.
25:14Legal battles, technical bridging risks.
25:16What else?
25:17What about just people, regular folks in North Dakota actually using this thing?
25:21Yep.
25:22You can't forget the fundamental challenge of user trust and just basic education.
25:27Even if the tech works flawlessly and legal stuff gets sorted out, the residents and businesses of North Dakota actually have to want to use it and know how to use it.
25:36Right.
25:37North Dakota isn't exactly Silicon Valley.
25:39Not typically, no.
25:40Yeah.
25:40So you'll need a significant public education campaign, teaching people ordinary citizens, small business owners how to safely get, store, send, and receive a Sablecoin.
25:49You can't just assume everyone's digitally savvy, especially when you're talking about their money and introducing new concepts.
25:55Yeah.
25:55If people see it as just complicated crypto stuff or worry it's risky or hard to use.
25:59Then it doesn't matter how efficient the back end is.
26:02Institutional support won't be enough if there's no grassroots adoption.
26:06For mass use, the system needs to feel almost invisible, totally easy, and completely reliable, like using a debit card today.
26:15Okay.
26:15One last challenge, maybe more philosophical.
26:17The centralization aspect we talked about, this is not decentralized money.
26:22Not even close.
26:23So you're going to get pushback from the hardcore crypto believers, right?
26:27The ones who value decentralization above all else.
26:31Absolutely.
26:31You have to acknowledge that philosophical tension right at the heart of this.
26:35Many crypto purists, the sort of Bitcoin maximalists or DeFi proponents, they will view the Rough Rider very critically.
26:42Because it has direct government backing, because it operates on a permissioned ledger controlled by fees serve in the state,
26:47it will inevitably get labeled a mini CBDC or maybe just GovCoin or Blockchain as a Service for the state.
26:54Seen as counter to the whole point of crypto.
26:57And from their perspective, that criticism is entirely valid.
27:00The core ethos of Bitcoin and much of Web3 is about trustless systems removing the need to trust governments or corporations.
27:08The Rough Rider isn't offering trustlessness at all.
27:11It's offering transparent, state-guaranteed trust.
27:14Trust in the Bank of North Dakota and Fizzerv.
27:17Exactly.
27:18So it's solving a different problem.
27:19It's aiming for efficiency, cost savings, and state control within the existing system,
27:24not for global financial liberation from the system.
27:27That tension is just unavoidable.
27:30And the state and Fizzerv will need to be really clear in their messaging about what problems they are solving and which ones they aren't attempting to.
27:38It's interesting to see how these themes play out elsewhere, too.
27:40We've seen similar dynamics, right?
27:41We have.
27:42Look at PayPal launching their stablecoin, PYUSD.
27:45That showed how a huge, established fintech can integrate a stablecoin pretty seamlessly into a system millions are to use.
27:51But boom.
27:53Immediately, you had all the debates about centralization, who really controls the keys, censorship risk, because it's issued by a private, heavily regulated company.
28:01Right.
28:02And then there's USDC from Circle.
28:05It's been hugely successful, widely adopted for actual real-world stuff like international salary payments, cross-border business transfers.
28:13It proves the demand the Rough Rider wants to tap into.
28:16Definitely proves the demand.
28:17But look at the intense regulatory scrutiny USDC operates under.
28:22Circle is constantly dealing with regulators, reserve audits, pressure from DC.
28:27It shows that even a well-run, well-backed private stablecoin is still very much subject to the whims and concerns of federal powers.
28:35And even on a national level, remember the Marshall Islands, they tried to launch their own digital sovereign currency, the SOV.
28:41Yeah, that's a fascinating case study in complexity.
28:45It showed that just having the government want to launch its own crypto doesn't make it easy.
28:48The rollout has been incredibly slow, complex, fraught with technical and political challenges.
28:53It proves that launching a sovereign digital currency is way harder than just passing the law authorizing it.
28:58So the takeaway from all these examples seems to be integrating digital currency with big institutions,
29:05whether it's a fintech giant like PayPal or Pfizer or a government entity like a state or a nation.
29:13It always introduces friction, friction around regulation, technical scaling, and just ideological acceptance from different parts of the community.
29:21Exactly.
29:22North Dakota has to successfully navigate all three of those friction points, the legal, the technical, and the philosophical,
29:28pretty much simultaneously if they want to hit that 2026 target.
29:31It's a tall order.
29:32Hashtag tag outro.
29:33All right, that pretty much wraps up our deep dive for today, the Rough Riders stablecoin.
29:38It's really quite something.
29:40Born from that unique setup with the Bank of North Dakota, powered by the massive tech engine of Fiserv,
29:45it feels like a genuinely foundational step for state-level financial innovation here in the U.S.
29:50It really does.
29:51It sets a precedent.
29:52It gives us this groundbreaking model for public-private collaboration in the crypto space,
29:57and it could fundamentally change how state governments manage and move money shifting away from those slow, clunky old rails towards something instant transparent settled on a ledger.
30:07If they pull it off.
30:08If they pull it off.
30:08It really does have the potential to push serious institutional blockchain adoption into the mainstream,
30:14maybe faster than a lot of us expected.
30:16Not through DeFi, but through government efficiency.
30:19Strange pathway, but potentially effective.
30:22So, look, if you found this breakdown useful, if it helped you connect the dots on state finance, digital currency,
30:29the role of Fiserv, maybe that whole regulatory chess game,
30:33if you had some of those aha moments like we did digging into it,
30:39then please do take just a second to engage with this content.
30:42Yeah, it genuinely helps us out.
30:43It really does.
30:45Subscribing to the channel, leaving a comment with your thoughts, hitting that notification bell,
30:48all that stuff actually helps us a ton with visibility, with the algorithms.
30:52You know how it works.
30:53And frankly, it lets us keep justifying the time to do this level of deep, detailed analysis for you each week.
31:00Your engagement really is what keeps these deep dives going.
31:03We appreciate it.
31:04And maybe, as we think about this whole thing, connecting it back to the bigger picture,
31:08considering that potential for federal pushback we discussed,
31:12the states may be trying to assert themselves.
31:15Here's something for you to chew on after we sign off.
31:17Okay, leave us with a final thought.
31:18What if?
31:19What if every U.S. state decided to follow North Dakota's example?
31:23What if all 50 states launched their own state-backed, fully-reserved stablecoins?
31:29Maybe all running on slightly different permissioned DLTs built by different partners?
31:33Would that incredibly fragmented, state-by-state digital currency landscape
31:37ultimately help national blockchain adoption by fostering real competition and local use cases?
31:43Or would it actually hurt the long-term crypto market and maybe even national commerce
31:47by creating 50 different potentially incompatible digital dollars,
31:51making interstate business even more complex?
31:54Wow. Yeah.
31:55Fragmentation versus competition.
31:57The detention.
31:58State sovereignty versus national cohesion in the digital age.
32:01That's a huge question, and it's one that this North Dakota experiment puts
32:05right on the table for the next decade of digital finance.
32:07Something to mull over.
32:08Something to mull over.
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