Ethereum is de facto controlled by Tether and Circle, and by extension by the US gov.
By only allowing redemptions on their consensus of choice, they control it. Ethereum has been allowed to choose its own consensus thus far only because it didn't displeased the US gov, Tether

ETH nerds aren't ready for when US stablecoin operators run nodes and propose hard forks for any state updates they don't like
do you think app devs will continue on the chain with USDC/T or the one where USDC/T just went to 0...
is this credible neutrality? x.com/aeyakovenko/st…

Ameen Soleimani

Twitter

Monthly stablecoin volume reached $7.2 trillion in February 2026, surpassing the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network for the first time, which had $6.8 trillion.
ACH is an outgoing payment system...

Stablecoins have moved more money than the core US financial system.

President Trump's April 1, 2024 speech on the Iran conflict predicted another two to three weeks of intense military airstrikes, halting the brief recovery of the US stock market...

Three US stocks were heavily impacted by Trump's speech on Iran this week.

XRP 's 30-day liquidation index on Binance has fallen to a record low, near zero. Trading volume has plummeted from over $200 billion in January 2025 to virtually nothing.
The...