Crypto News: Stablecoin Market Tops $280B as ECB Flags Systemic Risk

The stablecoin market exceeded $280B. The ECB warns of systemic risk, citing potential destabilization if retail deposits shift from banks.

The ECB stated stablecoins could destabilize the financial system. This may occur through the attractions for retail deposits. These would run away from eurozone banks. The stablecoin market cap has exceeded $280 billion.

Dollar Stablecoins Dominate 99% of Market Amid Regulatory Shift

A run on stablecoins could result in a fire sale. This is the situation with reserve assets. This would strike US Treasury markets. It may even possibly lead to a financial crisis. This would happen in the absence of coordinated regulation at the global level.

Stablecoins have grown at a phenomenal rate. They accelerated their combined market capitalization to more than USD 280 billion. This is a new record. It is about 8% of the crypto-assets market globally. Their rapid rise has incurred attention.

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While the demand from investors is key to growth, regulatory clarity also matters. This is the cause of rising concern for policymakers. Financial stability is an important concern. The European Central Bank addresses structural weaknesses. These include the risks of de-pegging. They also suggest dynamics in running. Their growing interlinkage with conventional finance is worrisome.

Two U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins are popular on the market. Tether (USDT) is worth USD 184 billion. This is 63% of the entire sector. USD Coin (USDC) adds another 75 billion USD. This is 26% of the total.

Dollar-based stablecoins are now worth 99% of the total supply. Stablecoins denominated in euros are still marginal. They have about $395 million in total market value. Growth has accelerated. This is in light of regulatory initiatives. These include the full implementation of MiCAR by the EU in 2024. The US approval of the GENIUS Act also helped. Both made it clearer for the issuers. Additional jurisdictions like Hong Kong have also put forward stablecoin rules.

Stablecoin Market Could Hit $2T by 2028, Amplifying Systemic Threats

Today, by far, stablecoins are used for crypto trading. Nearly 80% of all trades on centralized exchanges are using stablecoins. This makes them a fundamental support for the operation of the wider market.

Despite frequent assertions about remittances or store of value use, there is still very little retail activity. Less than 0.5% of the transaction volume seems to be from small retail transfers. This demonstrates the lack of use cases for the real economy at present.

Major worries about financial stability are caused by asset-backed reserve models. These are utilized by the top stablecoins. USDT and USDC have combined reserves now. Their size is comparable to that of the 20 largest global money market funds.

Much of these reserves are in U.S. Treasury bills. This puts stablecoin issuers in a position of being some of the biggest buyers. This can be said of short-term Treasuries since early 2024. A sudden run on these tokens could force them to liquidate.

This would include these government securities. This runs the risk of straining Treasury markets. Forecasts indicate that stablecoin market capitalization could be as high as USD 2 trillion by 2028. This intensifies the potential shock channels greatly.

Banks also suffer from the risks of deposit flight. This would hold if the stablecoins become popular for payments. Stablecoin adoption could move household deposits into digital tokens. This would make banks more dependent. They would rely on volatile wholesale funding.

MiCAR reduces this risk in Europe. It prohibits the payment of interest on stablecoin holdings. However, similar steps are still controversial in the United States.

While risks for the euro area are limited for now, the ECB warns. Cross-border inconsistencies in regulation provide opportunities. This allows for arbitrage. Global coordination is necessary. This is especially so through the G20, the Financial Stability Board, and Basel standards. This is seen as important in containing future systemic threats. These are the result of the growth of stablecoins.