Standard Chartered analysts have issued a comprehensive warning regarding the structural risks posed by the proliferation of stablecoins, asserting that these digital assets represent a significant, non-trivial threat to traditional commercial bank deposit bases globally. The core concern articulated in the report is that regulated, fiat-backed stablecoins offer a superior combination of features—instantaneous settlement, high liquidity, and global transferability—that make them highly competitive alternatives to holding traditional bank deposits.
Unlike standard bank accounts, which often offer negligible interest, many regulated stablecoin reserves are backed by high-quality liquid assets, such as short-term US Treasury bills. If issuers choose to pass on even a fraction of the yield generated by these reserves, stablecoins become considerably more attractive than zero-interest checking or savings accounts, especially for corporate treasuries and large institutional holders seeking instant cash management solutions.
The report emphasizes that the primary risk to banks is disintermediation. If a critical mass of corporate and retail users shift their working capital and savings from low-cost bank deposits to stablecoins, banks will be forced to seek more expensive sources of wholesale funding. This structural shift would compress Net Interest Margins (NIMs) and fundamentally challenge the traditional profitability model of fractional reserve banking.
Standard Chartered urges regulatory bodies to swiftly establish clear frameworks for stablecoin issuance and reserves to manage systemic risk, while simultaneously pressuring commercial banks to modernize their infrastructure. The bank concludes that failure by the traditional financial sector to innovate and integrate competitive instant payment solutions could result in an irreversible erosion of their core funding mechanisms as the global digital economy matures.
Source: Stablecoins are a real threat to bank deposits, says Standard Chartered
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