Iran War Fuels Inflation Fears as New Inflation-Linked Stablecoin USDi Targets Purchasing-Power Risks

Dollar stablecoins are typically backed by cash or U.S. Treasury securities and designed simply to maintain a $1 face value, offering little protection against inflation’s erosion of purchasing power. The market is currently worth about $300 billion. Michael Ashton and Andrew Fately co-founded USDi to link the token to inflation, addressing a gap in the crypto ecosystem as a store of value while targeting insurers and large institutions.

CoinDesk reported on April 11, 2026, that oil prices initially climbed into the $80s per barrel before breaking above $100 after the Iran war erupted in late February and the Strait of Hormuz was closed. Overall U.S. inflation rose 0.9% month on month in March, up from 0.3% in February. USDi is already live, and the team plans to raise about $1.5 million in seed funding in the coming months.