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Indian Express
11 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
From the US to Japan, stablecoins are causing a global financial rewrite
Written by Sanhita Chauriha When Facebook (now Meta) launched its ill-fated stablecoin project, Libra, in 2019, central banks dismissed it as a corporate fantasy. Fast-forward to 2025. The same monetary authorities are now crafting legal blueprints for what is shaping up to be the next great leap in financial infrastructure: The regulation and integration of stablecoins. These cryptoassets, pegged to fiat currencies and often backed by real-world reserves, are no longer just liquidity tools for crypto traders. They are becoming foundational rails for payments, settlement, and programmable money. But as stablecoins inch closer to mass adoption, governments across the world are grappling with a new policy trilemma: How to encourage innovation, maintain financial stability, and preserve monetary sovereignty. The US, in a rare bipartisan feat, passed the GENIUS Act, a sweeping federal bill designed to regulate fiat-backed stablecoins. Under its provisions, stablecoins must be backed 1:1 by high-quality liquid assets (HQLA), be redeemable on demand, and be subject to monthly reserve disclosures and anti-money laundering checks. Issuers over $10 billion in circulation are now federally overseen, while smaller ones can operate under state charters, provided those states meet minimum national standards. In effect, the US is laying the groundwork for a tokenised digital dollar, while retaining oversight through traditional financial plumbing. Critics argue the GENIUS Act is a Trojan horse for financial incumbents. The law requires issuers to either be licensed financial institutions or partner with one effectively handling regulatory advantage to major banks. Unsurprisingly, Bank of America's CEO Brian Moynihan recently announced the bank is ready to issue its own stablecoin, following moves by JPMorgan (JPM Coin) and PayPal (PYUSD). If this trend continues, Wall Street may soon displace the DeFi startups that once pioneered this space. Nonetheless, such institutional entry brings maturity, deeper liquidity, and integration with the broader economic traits necessary for stablecoins to scale beyond crypto-native applications. Europe has taken a more technocratic path. The Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, to be enforced from late 2024, classifies stablecoins as either 'e-money tokens' or 'asset-referenced tokens.' Stablecoin issuers must meet capital requirements, submit whitepapers, disclose reserve asset composition, and adhere to redemption guarantees. 'Significant' stablecoins that with large circulation or systemic reach will face direct oversight by the European Banking Authority and may be barred from excessive transaction volumes. MiCA aims to future-proof the euro's digital periphery while preventing stablecoins from competing directly with sovereign currency, a concern central banks share across continents. The United Kingdom, post-Brexit, is scripting its own stablecoin strategy with a regulatory regime that will place fiat-backed stablecoins under the supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England. Interestingly, the UK proposes to exempt overseas issuers from full domestic compliance if their home jurisdictions maintain equivalent safeguards. This open-but-cautious model aims to position London as a magnet for global crypto-finance, without abandoning core prudential standards. In Asia, innovation is swift but cautious. Singapore's Monetary Authority (MAS) has finalised a comprehensive regulatory framework for stablecoins pegged to the Singapore dollar or any G10 currency. Issuers must ensure full reserve backing, fast redemption (within five business days), and high transparency. Only those who meet the MAS's standards may market their coins as 'MAS-regulated', a label likely to become a global credibility mark. Meanwhile, Hong Kong has also passed stablecoin legislation, effective by 2025, limiting issuance to licensed financial institutions. Already, major fintech players like Ant Group are applying for licenses, eager to gain early-mover status in the city's evolving digital asset ecosystem. Japan stands apart with perhaps the strictest regime: Only banks, fund-transfer firms, or trust companies can issue yen-pegged stablecoins. Amendments to the Payment Services Act in 2022 tightly regulate redemption, disclosure, and asset segregation, favouring stability over growth. While the market is small, Japan's emphasis on consumer protection and conservative financial norms reflects a broader regional wariness toward crypto's more volatile edges. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates has emerged as the Gulf's most aggressive regulator of stablecoins. Its Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and the UAE central bank have mandated 1:1 reserve backing, monthly third-party audits, and strict anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) protocols. Dubai, in particular, is branding itself as a digital finance hub. Its approach mirrors Singapore's in one key way: Credibility must be earned, not assumed. What unites these regulatory initiatives despite differing geographies and philosophies is a growing consensus that stablecoins are no longer hypothetical. Their programmable nature makes them attractive for everything from cross-border settlements and tokenised trade finance to retail micropayments. The Bank for International Settlements, in its April 2024 paper, warned that more than 600 de-pegging events occurred in 2023, underscoring their fragility. Yet it also acknowledged that, with proper regulation, stablecoins could serve as complements to Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), not threats. The stablecoin race is not merely a question of financial regulation. It is one of economic statecraft. The US sees it as a lever to maintain dollar dominance in a multipolar world. Europe views it as a way to secure financial autonomy in the age of digital platforms. Asia, meanwhile, seeks to modernise without destabilising. And the Gulf hopes to leapfrog into fintech relevance. In short, stablecoins are forcing countries to rethink not just how money moves but who moves it, who regulates it, and to whom it ultimately belongs. The writer is a technology lawyer. Views are personal
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
JPM Files Digital Asset Trademark: Set to Ride on Stablecoin Traction?
On June 15, JPMorgan JPM filed a trademark application for 'JPMD' with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), suggesting potential plans related to digital currency. This move indicates a rising interest in stablecoins, a form of cryptocurrency designed to maintain its value pegged to the U.S. dollar. The application describes 'JPMD' as a product or service intended to offer 'trading, exchange, transfer, and payment services for digital assets,' along with other functions associated with cryptocurrencies and blockchain company introduced JPM Coin in 2019 for wholesale payments, which was processing $1 billion in daily transactions by 2023. CEO Jamie Dimon, once a vocal critic of cryptocurrencies, recently softened his stance. With U.S. regulations becoming more favorable, Dimon announced last month that JPMorgan would allow clients to buy Bitcoin, though it won't offer custody speculations about JPMorgan intensified amid growing interest in stablecoins, especially as President Donald Trump expressed support for the industry and regulations eased. Several companies are now exploring options to integrate stablecoins, often used for cross-border transactions and as a hedge against fiat currency inflation, into their payment to a Wall Street Journal report, JPMorgan has been in discussions with other large banks, including Bank of America BAC, regarding the potential launch of a joint stablecoin. Further, at an industry conference in New York last week, large banks, including Bank of America and U.S. Bancorp USB, stated they were open to adopting stablecoins.U.S. Bancorp revealed that it is reviewing how it could use stablecoin for payments, but much of that will depend on how the new regulations shape case stablecoins continue to gain traction, large global banks are set to benefit the most, given their solid liquidity positions. As stablecoins offer yield opportunities, traditional banks may need to increase deposit rates to stay competitive. While banks like Bank of America, JPMorgan and U.S. Bancorp are well-positioned to deal with the changes, many smaller regional banks could face greater challenges. Shares of JPMorgan have gained 15% compared with the industry's growth of 10.5% in the past six months. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research From a valuation standpoint, JPM trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05X, slightly above the industry. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate for JPMorgan's 2025 earnings indicates a year-over-year decline of 6.4%, while the same for 2026 earnings suggests 4.9% growth. Earnings estimates have been revised upward for both years over the past month. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research JPMorgan currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Bank of America Corporation (BAC) : Free Stock Analysis Report JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) : Free Stock Analysis Report U.S. Bancorp (USB) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
10-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Blockchain: The Operating System For Global Finance
Block chain network technology Blockchain infrastructure ↔ Traditional financeDigital assets ↔ Real-world usageStartups and protocols ↔ Institutional systems In November 2024, while crypto headlines fixated on volatility, the European Investment Bank (EIB) issued a €100 million digital bond on HSBC's Orion platform—settling the same day using wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) tokens issued by the Banque de France. Days later, Goldman Sachs announced plans to spin out its GS DAP® blockchain platform into an industry-owned utility. Neither event made headlines, yet both signal a profound shift in global finance. These aren't innovation lab pilots—they're strategic moves by financial titans rebuilding the core infrastructure powering traditional finance. Blockchain isn't disrupting Wall Street; it's becoming its operating system. While headlines obsess over Bitcoin, the real shift is happening quietly. Institutions are laying tracks beneath the surface—moving trillions, settling trades, and weaving decentralization into the foundations of financial infrastructure. This is about the mechanics of how money moves—legacy systems controlled by intermediaries, burdened by high costs and delays, or blockchain rails enabling direct, peer-to-peer, atomic settlement. By embedding itself into the plumbing of global finance, blockchain is rewiring the system from within—driving the most significant transformation since electronic trading replaced floor brokers. Just as cloud computing became the invisible backbone of digital ecosystems, blockchain is rapidly becoming the core of global finance. That transformation is already shaping tomorrow's winners and losers. Whether you're investing, leading a company, or building financial products, understanding the ecosystem is essential to smart decision-making. It comes down to grasping how these once-separate worlds are converging—and recognizing the key players making it all work. This isn't theoretical. It's actively reshaping competitive dynamics, creating new opportunities, and rendering old models obsolete. Once dismissed as speculative, blockchain is now a strategic priority for institutions like JPMorgan, BlackRock, and Goldman Sachs. Blockchain is quietly reengineering a financial system that supports more than $100 trillion in global capital markets and moves trillions daily. The shift has been deliberate and strategic—years in the making, but now rapidly gaining traction. What was once seen as a fringe experiment is now deeply embedded in traditional financial infrastructure. Institutions are embracing blockchain not for speculation but for cost savings through improved efficiency—streamlining operations, eliminating intermediaries through peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions, and enabling atomic settlement. JPMorgan moves trillions via JPM Coin. BlackRock issues Bitcoin ETFs and integrates blockchain into its $10 trillion portfolio infrastructure. Goldman Sachs, once cautious, is now leaning in—expanding its digital assets desk and signaling that blockchain isn't a side bet; it's part of the long game. And rather than being sidelined, Visa and Mastercard are weaving blockchain into their payment systems—Visa alone processed billions of dollars in crypto transactions in 2024. This isn't capitulation—it's evolution. These giants are using blockchain to streamline systems, improve liquidity, and boost transparency. Still, some of the most transformative innovations are coming from agile startups—solving inefficiencies in payments, trading, and consumer incentives. The companies mentioned illustrate broader trends, not endorsements or prescribed winners. They offer a glimpse into a larger shift—one driven by thousands of startups, protocols, and infrastructure providers reshaping the foundation of global finance. Unlike traditional finance's siloed systems, blockchain is built for composability—where financial applications plug into one another like Lego bricks, driving rapid innovation and more connected services. This modular architecture enables developers to stack functions—trading, lending, staking, identity, settlement—into seamless user experiences. It's most visible in DeFi, where protocols like Aave, Uniswap, and Lido integrate natively, accelerating innovation without the friction of closed systems. But composability extends beyond DeFi. As tokenized assets, on-chain identity, and payment networks evolve, the same plug-and-play architecture is beginning to reshape how institutions build and deploy financial products and infrastructure. Composability doesn't just speed up product cycles—it unlocks entirely new value chains. A lending app can tap into yield protocols or tokenized collateral instantly—without the bottlenecks of backend integrations or clearinghouse approvals. In this emerging financial stack, the winners aren't just fast—they're interoperable. Concept of mobile payments. Wallet connected with mobile phone. The structural limitations of crypto as a medium of real-world payment have long hindered its adoption. Digital assets remained siloed in wallets and exchanges, cut off from everyday financial systems. But that barrier is starting to break down—not by replacing payment giants, but by building infrastructure that bridges the two worlds. In fact, payment giants like Mastercard and Visa have accelerator programs focused on integrating targeted crypto solutions that can plug into existing systems, creating corridors between traditional and decentralized financial systems. Hong Kong-based Aurum exemplifies this approach, enabling users to fund accounts with USDT and spend in local currencies. Its ecosystem offers bots, payment cards, staking, NFT licenses, and a Web3 wallet with low fees and cashback rewards. With $12M in funding, Aurum delivers institutional-grade trading and payment infrastructure powered by advanced AI, complementing traditional financial networks. Former Binance executive Bryan Benson now leads Aurum Exchange, bringing expertise in scaling crypto platforms across emerging markets. The endgame? A world where crypto wallets function seamlessly with traditional payment systems, making digital assets as spendable as cash—without friction. For decades, financial markets have been plagued by opacity, insider advantages, and inefficiencies. The blockchain era is changing that dynamic. Institutions like State Street ($43T AUM) and BNY Mellon ($46.7T in assets under custody), with their extensive trading operations and market influence, are already implementing blockchain-based trade settlement solutions, ensuring real-time transaction verification and eliminating counterparty risks. In the retail trading landscape, Spotware's cTrader stands as a notable example of transparency while delivering sophisticated trading infrastructure. Built on its Traders First™ principles, cTrader aims to establish high standards for fairness, transparency, and security—tackling long-standing industry challenges and helping to level the playing field for all participants. The platform's technology handles millions of transactions daily, connecting over 8 million traders and more than 250 brokers and prop firms to global markets. Specialized infrastructure providers power this shift—the hidden backbone behind evolving trading systems. These providers don't serve end users directly—they power those who do, underpinning the next generation of financial infrastructure. Fireblocks secures over $4 trillion in digital assets for institutions, ensuring transparent custody and seamless settlement. Chainlink delivers tamper-proof price data to more than 1,900 projects, forming the foundation of reliable price discovery. Circle's USDC moves across exchanges, wallets, and payment systems, enabling instant, transparent fund transfers. Together, these firms are becoming the "essential middleware" layer of global finance—quietly powering billions in daily activity. Beyond efficiency, blockchain is redefining who gets to participate in wealth creation. Blockchain's most powerful shift may be this: turning real-world value into liquid, on-chain capital—making static assets move, trade, and work for more people than ever before. Tokenization is fast becoming the gateway to unlocking trillions in dormant capital. By converting assets like treasury bills, real estate, and private credit into blockchain-based tokens, platforms are transforming illiquid markets into accessible, tradable units. The impact? Fractional ownership, 24/7 settlement, and borderless access. Major asset managers such as Franklin Templeton, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and HSBC are leading this transformation by developing tokenized investment products. Their participation lends institutional credibility to this emerging market, much like ETFs did for equities decades ago. Similarly, financial institutions like JPMorgan and State Street are laying the groundwork to bring traditional assets on-chain, recognizing tokenization's far-reaching benefits. Tokenized assets are projected to reach $2 trillion by 2030, led by cash deposits, bonds, mutual funds, and loans. Their appeal? Mobility, real-time settlement, programmability, and transparency—infused into markets once defined by slow processes, siloed systems, and rigid structures. 8lends by Maclear exemplifies this trend, offering USDC-backed loans to vetted businesses, making passive investing more accessible. Their platform combines blockchain transparency with the familiarity of traditional finance, eliminating cumbersome procedures and accreditation requirements. Smart contracts automate the entire process, delivering predictable returns with complete on-chain visibility. This represents a foundational shift in financial infrastructure. Tokenization is not only expanding access to investment opportunities—it's reducing friction, unlocking liquidity, and streamlining capital flows across the global economy. The future of finance won't be defined by crypto replacing banks or banks neutralizing crypto. It will emerge at their intersection—where the trust, scale, and regulatory expertise of traditional institutions fuse with the transparency, efficiency, and programmability of blockchain technology. The boundary between these worlds isn't just blurring—it's beginning to vanish. Like the internet before it, blockchain is gradually disappearing into the background—becoming the invisible rails on which global finance runs. The future of money is being written in code. The biggest winners won't be those who merely accumulate tokens—but those who understand blockchain as foundational infrastructure. As blockchain dissolves into the conduits of global finance, it's becoming the architecture through which value will move, scale, and settle in the decade ahead.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bank of America Plans To Launch Stablecoin Once U.S. Legislation is Passed, CEO Says
Bank of America (BoA) CEO Brian Moynihan confirmed this week that the company is ready to enter the stablecoin market once U.S. lawmakers provide regulatory approval. Speaking at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., Moynihan said, 'If they make that legal, we will go into that business.' He compared stablecoins to money market funds or traditional bank accounts, emphasizing their potential role in financial transactions. Stablecoins, digital currencies pegged to the U.S. dollar or other assets, have grown into a $232 billion market despite lacking federal regulation. Tether's USDT leads the sector with a $142 billion market cap, followed by Circle's USDC at $56 billion. While financial giants like JP Morgan have already launched their own blockchain-based payment solutions—such as JPM Coin—BoA has held back, waiting for a clear legal framework. Regulatory efforts are gaining momentum, particularly under the Trump administration. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott has committed to passing the GENIUS Act, a bill focused on stablecoin oversight, within the administration's first 100 days. A broader market structure bill addressing cryptocurrency regulations is also in the works. White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks recently outlined the administration's stance, confirming stablecoin legislation as a priority. Several bills are under consideration, including the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act of 2024, which would allow smaller stablecoin issuers—those with less than $10 billion in market cap—to be regulated at the state level. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller has spoken in favor of stablecoins, saying they could modernize payments and streamline international transactions. Despite the lack of regulations, private companies have already started entering the space. PayPal launched PYUSD in 2023 and plans to expand its use to 20 million merchants this year. In December, Ripple received approval from New York regulators to launch RLUSD. Meanwhile, Uber and Meta have also expressed interest in entering the stablecoin market. Moynihan has previously stated that banks will play a major role in stablecoin transactions once legal hurdles are cleared. In a CNBC interview, he hinted that BoA would integrate stablecoins into its services, enabling faster and more efficient money transfers. While BoA has yet to enter the market, its readiness signals a broader trend of major financial institutions embracing digital assets. If lawmakers pass stablecoin legislation, banks could compete directly with crypto firms and fintech giants, further legitimizing stablecoins as part of the financial system. For now, BoA and others are waiting for Washington to provide the green light. Sign in to access your portfolio
