Stablecoins not credible for payments at scale, BIS chief says
Related
BIS: Stablecoins lack key monetary attributes, potentially threatening emerging market monetary sovereignty.
PANews reported on June 29th that, according to The Block, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) stated in its Annual Economic Report that stablecoins still lack key monetary attributes such as "singleness, resilience, interoperability, and integrity." Their prices deviate from their peg in the secondary market, and the redemption process is fraught with friction, making them "more like ETF shares than a means of payment." The report estimates that even if the market capitalization of stablecoins reaches $1 trillion to $3 trillion, their net impact on economic output will be "negligible," and they may suppress credit by pushing up bank funding costs. The BIS warns of the risk of "stablecoin dollarization" in emerging markets, with residents holding large amounts of dollar-denominated stablecoins potentially weakening local monetary sovereignty. The report points out that currently, approximately 99% of fiat currency reserve stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar, with USDT and USDC dominating, with a total market capitalization of approximately $320 billion.
Stablecoins Won't Scale Without Banks
With a growing number of institutions exploring stablecoins, the bottleneck is regulated infrastructure they can trust.
Crypto payment card top-ups surpass $10 billion for the first time; stablecoins drive application growth.
According to Mars Finance, on July 2nd, Paymentscan data showed that the cumulative top-up amount for cryptocurrency payment cards surpassed $10 billion for the first time, reaching approximately $10.33 billion, an 82% increase since the beginning of the year and a year-on-year increase of approximately 250%. This data reflects the cumulative top-up volume of cryptocurrency payment cards and related payment projects, not the trading volume of cryptocurrency exchanges. The report states that stablecoins are becoming a major driving force behind the widespread adoption of cryptocurrency payment cards. Compared to volatile assets like Bitcoin, stablecoins can complete payment settlements through traditional bank card networks, lowering the barrier to entry for merchants and making them more suitable for cross-border payments, remittances, and daily consumption scenarios in high-inflation regions. As payment companies, crypto exchage, and asset management institutions continue to improve stablecoin infrastructure, cryptocurrency payment cards are gradually becoming an important entry point for connecting digital assets with real-world consumption. However, as the scale of application expands, regulatory agencies will pay closer attention to issues such as consumer protection, sanctions screening, tax reporting, reserve asset transparency, and transaction monitoring.
Animoca Brands makes strategic investment in AllScale to explore stablecoin payments and AI-powered proxy payment infrastructure.
According to Mars Finance, Animoca Brands announced a strategic investment in AllScale, a stablecoin payment infrastructure company. The specific investment amount was not disclosed. The investment will explore the application of stablecoin payment solutions in more than 600 companies in Animoca Brands' portfolio and promote autonomous payment scenarios for AI agents.
JPMorgan executive: Exploring the application of Agentic AI in cross-border payments and treasury automation.
According to Mars Finance, during New York Tech Week 2026, Zack Anderson, Chief Data and Analytics Officer of J.P. Morgan Payments, shared the latest applications and strategic outlook of AI in payment infrastructure at a seminar. He stated that AI applications in the banking industry are maturing rapidly, with most AI agents now operating invisibly in the background, significantly improving the efficiency of payment flows and risk management capabilities. Anderson pointed out that with the popularization of agentic AI, the core challenge facing the payment field lies in the governance and auditability of "machine authorization" (especially for high-value payments). He emphasized that using AI to handle complex cross-border payment compliance rules is a significant near-term opportunity, potentially leading to a substantial reduction in payment rejection rates. Furthermore, while current corporate AI investments are mostly concentrated on the customer front end, "Agentic Treasury" will be a crucial early opportunity in the future, and its large-scale application still depends on further improvements in underlying data and governance infrastructure.
Bank of England set for new innovation mandate covering stablecoins
The UK plans to expand the Bank of England’s remit to support digital payments innovation, including stablecoins, while keeping financial stability first.