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BIS Presses for Global Stablecoin Rules to Avert Market Fragmentation

The watchdog warns runs on large dollar tokens could hit Treasury markets, with knock-on effects for banks.

Overview

  • - BIS chief Pablo Hernández de Cos, speaking in Tokyo on Monday, called global coordination on stablecoin oversight critical and said Tether and Circle now look more like ETFs than money.
  • - He warned that redemption fees and hurdles can push prices off the $1 peg, which could force issuers to sell Treasury bills or pull bank deposits during stress and spread market strain.
  • - The market has swelled to roughly $315–320 billion with about 85% held in USDT and USDC, concentrating risks in a few issuers that hold short-term government debt and cash at banks.
  • - Policymakers are weighing caps on interest to deter bank‑deposit flight and possible bank‑style backstops for issuers, including deposit‑insurance arrangements or central bank lending access.
  • - Work on common global rules has slowed as regions like the EU, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Switzerland advance their own frameworks, raising the risk that firms shift to lighter‑rule jurisdictions; traders, meanwhile, assign only about 3.6–4% odds to a USDC depeg by end‑2027 on Polymarket.