Introducing the US Morning Crypto News Briefing where you will get a summary of the significant crypto developments for the upcoming day.
Prepare your coffee to learn about Standard Chartered's insights on stablecoin growth amid new regulations that have concerned Italy’s economy minister and piqued the interest of financial behemoths like JPMorgan.
Stablecoin Volume Poised for Surge, Forecasts Standard Chartered
Today's primary focus in the US crypto news circles around stablecoins, influenced by the recent introduction of the GENIUS Act and STABLE Act. The bipartisan GENIUS Act seeks to strike a balance between state and federal oversight to promote innovation by establishing a federal structure that mandates asset reserves matching each coin, transparency, and compliance with anti-money laundering regulations by issuers.
Concurrently, the STABLE Act fortifies these regulations with stringent reserve requirements and audits, guaranteeing stability and trust among consumers. These legislations are designed to safeguard users while nurturing the expansion of digital currencies, creating a path for secure adoption of stablecoins.
As per Standard Chartered's forecast, the upcoming legislation, anticipated for implementation in the near future, could trigger a dramatic surge in outstanding stablecoin volume.
Geoff Kendrick, the Head of Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered, projects that stablecoins are set to skyrocket from $230 billion to $2 trillion by the end of 2028. He notes that this growth will necessitate an additional $1.6 trillion in US Treasury bills to be maintained as reserves.
This sentiment is echoed by Italy’s Economy Minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti, who envisions a surge in stablecoin adoption amidst the cryptocurrency-friendly stance of the Trump administration.
During a financial forum in Milan, Giorgetti expressed concerns about the growing prevalence of stablecoins backed by the US dollar and the broader implications of the US's shift towards cryptocurrencies. He acknowledges the convenience that stablecoins offer European citizens for cross-border payments, but he perceives the rising adoption of dollar-backed stablecoins as a threat to the euro's standing as a global reference currency.
Giorgetti warns that the US’s evolving stablecoin policy could pose a more significant challenge to European economic autonomy than trade tariffs introduced during the Trump presidency. He urges EU leaders to hasten the development of the digital euro, a central bank digital currency aimed at providing Europeans with a domestic alternative to dollar-based crypto payment systems.
In response to new guidelines from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), certain stablecoins will be exempt from securities regulations if they meet stringent criteria.
In a similar vein, the traditional finance industry is swiftly adapting to address the dominance of the dollar in stablecoins. JPMorgan Chase, through its Onyx platform, has integrated British pound (GBP) accounts into its Kinexys blockchain-based payment network to cater to the GBP market in addition to recent euro integrations. JPMorgan aims to establish itself as a critical infrastructure provider for settlements with stablecoin-like features in various currencies.
The provided chart shows the market cap of stablecoins from DefiLlama and byte-sized alpha updates in the crypto equities pre-market overview, focusing on companies like MSTR, COIN, GLXY, MARA, RIOT, and CORZ provided by Finance.Yahoo.