On Friday, ten major global banks announced a joint exploration into issuing stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies, demonstrating traditional finance's accelerating integration into blockchain and crypto asset ecosystems. This announcement closely follows Morgan Stanley's decision to expand crypto investment channels, marking a significant shift in Wall Street's attitude toward digital assets.
The institutions participating in this exploration include Bank of America (BAC.US), Goldman Sachs (GS.US), Citigroup (C.US), Deutsche Bank (DB.US), UBS (UBS.US), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Barclays (BCS.US), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.US), Banco Santander (SAN.US), and BNP Paribas (BNPQY.US).
According to a joint statement released Friday, the banks will collectively research the feasibility of issuing digital assets on public blockchains that are pegged 1:1 to major Group of Seven (G7) currencies, known as stablecoins. The statement noted: "This collaboration aims to assess whether an industry-wide innovative solution can balance the efficiency improvements and market competitiveness brought by digital assets while ensuring compliance with all regulatory requirements and risk management standards."
The project remains in its early stages, focusing on validating whether stablecoins can play a substantial role in cross-border payments, clearing, and asset circulation.
In recent years, stablecoins, as a core asset class within the crypto ecosystem, have gradually attracted the attention of financial giants. With President Trump's expressed support for the crypto industry and the recovery in prices of mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, traditional financial institutions are reassessing their role in the future monetary system.
However, regulatory concerns persist. Bank of England Governor Bailey warned that stablecoins issued by commercial banks could potentially undermine the traditional banking system's central position in payments and settlements. European Central Bank President Lagarde also stated in June that privately issued stablecoins could pose risks to monetary policy and financial stability.
According to market research estimates, approximately 90% of current stablecoin transactions are still used for internal crypto market liquidity, with only about 6% of transactions related to actual goods or services payments. The market is dominated by Tether, headquartered in El Salvador, with a circulation of $179 billion, accounting for nearly 60% of the global stablecoin market.
Société Générale issued its first USD stablecoin through its digital asset subsidiary this year, but with a circulation of only approximately $30.6 million. Meanwhile, another European consortium of nine banks (including ING and UniCredit) also plans to launch a euro stablecoin project, indicating intensifying competition in this sector.
While stablecoins are currently the focus, some banking executives believe that "asset tokenization" - digitizing traditional financial assets such as deposits, bonds, and stocks in blockchain form - may have greater future potential. Citigroup's CEO stated in July that "tokenized deposits" might be more strategically significant than stablecoins, though the progress of various pilot projects remains slower than expected.
Concurrently, Morgan Stanley is also taking action. Sources revealed that the bank has notified its financial advisors that starting October 15, all clients, including retirement account holders, can invest in cryptocurrency funds through Morgan Stanley. This means channels previously limited to high-net-worth clients with assets exceeding $1.5 million will now be open to the general public.
Morgan Stanley stated that the company will implement automated risk monitoring mechanisms to prevent clients from over-concentrating investments in highly volatile crypto assets.