Franklin Templeton’s Sandy Kaul believes the financial system is heading toward a historic turning point – one where blockchain-based money could ultimately eclipse the role of banks.
Kaul, who oversees digital assets and advisory strategy at the investment giant, argued that the combination of regulatory approval and maturing crypto infrastructure has quietly set the stage for an upheaval. In her view, what seems like incremental change today may one day be remembered as the moment the banking system began to lose its dominance.
From Accounts to Tokens
At the heart of her argument is a shift in how dollars themselves circulate. Instead of remaining locked within bank accounts, funds are increasingly moving into stablecoins – dollar-backed digital tokens that live on blockchain rails. Each dollar that migrates to this system is instantly transferable peer-to-peer, reducing reliance on banks as intermediaries.
Kaul suggested that this migration could accelerate now that regulators have opened the door. Stablecoins can now be used as collateral in derivative markets after the CFTC’s recent approval, a change that places them on par with traditional safe assets. Combined with the Genius Act, which gave privately issued stablecoins a legal framework in the U.S., these steps effectively push digital cash into mainstream finance.
Institutions Take Notice
That shift, Kaul believes, will not only impact retail investors but also draw institutions back into the crypto ecosystem. The ability to transact with stable, regulated tokens removes a key barrier for pension funds, asset managers, and other traditional players who once stayed away due to concerns about volatility and oversight.
She argued that as adoption widens, banks will increasingly find themselves sidelined. Their decades-old model of controlling deposits and processing transfers could be replaced by decentralized rails that settle instantly across borders.
The Beginning of the End?
For Kaul, the irony is that regulatory clarity – long sought by the banking lobby as a way to restrain crypto – may instead hasten the industry’s disruption. She described this moment as a potential “beginning of the end” for traditional finance, one where blockchain-powered settlement systems quietly grow until they make the old architecture obsolete.
The transformation won’t happen overnight, but the foundation is now in place. Stablecoins are no longer just crypto’s gateway to dollar liquidity; they may be the mechanism that redefines how global finance operates in the decades ahead.
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Source: https://coindoo.com/banks-on-borrowed-time-stablecoins-move-into-the-spotlight/