Financial Times: Banks and financial institutions join the “stablecoin gold rush”

According to the Financial Times, global banks and fintech companies are competing to launch their own stablecoins to grab a share of the cross-border payment market that is expected to be reshaped by cryptocurrencies. Bank of America expressed an open attitude towards issuing its own stablecoin last month, joining the ranks of payment service providers such as Standard Chartered Bank, PayPal, Revolut, and Stripe that have already entered this field.

Simon Taylor, co-founder of fintech consultancy 11:FS, likened this phenomenon to FOMO (fear of missing out): "This is about people selling shovels in the stablecoin gold rush. Another driving factor is real trading volume, founders want a piece of the pie because they know stablecoin regulation is coming, so all these factors come together." Martin Mignot, partner at Index Ventures and supporter of Bridge, said that stablecoins are attractive in markets lacking "good infrastructure or liquidity and with a lot of currency risk," but their use cases in Western markets are "not so clear."

Analysts warn that as users begin to scrutinize the quality of issuing companies, the market is unlikely to sustain dozens of stablecoins. Taylor pointed out that stablecoins are not cash, but merely a substitute for cash, reflecting the credit risk of the issuer and their ability to manage operational risks: "Fundamentally, the brand of a stablecoin tells you who the issuer is. So, because the issuer is that organization, your credit risk is X or Y. This is not something you do with dollars."