Overview
- Bank of England policymaker Megan Greene said on Sunday that tokenised bank deposits could overtake private stablecoins within about five years as banks move to protect retail deposits.
- Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller told the same conference on Sunday that stablecoins are a legitimate payment instrument that can lower costs and may extend U.S. monetary influence abroad.
- European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel warned on Monday that rapid growth in dollar‑pegged stablecoins, now approaching a $300 billion market, could reinforce the dollar and impair some countries’ ability to set policy.
- Regulators are moving to bind rules and public alternatives with the ECB targeting digital euro technical standards in 2026, a pilot around 2027 and readiness for possible issuance by 2029 while the Bank of England plans draft rules in June 2026 and bank pilots for tokenised deposits in 2026–27.
- The market is highly concentrated with Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC making up roughly 90% of supply which raises network‑effect and sovereignty concerns and has spurred industry projects such as the Qivalis bank consortium and other euro stablecoin efforts.