BOA Merrill Lynch: "Stablecoins Will Have a Disruptive Impact on the Existing Banking System"

With the passage of the GENIUS Act, a U.S. bill on stablecoins (virtual assets pegged to fiat currency), analysts have stated that it is necessary to closely monitor the influence of stablecoins.

According to the Chinese financial media Phoenix on the 21st (KST), a report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch predicted that "as the U.S. establishes a regulatory path for stablecoin issuance, a disruptive impact on existing banks’ deposit base and payment systems is inevitable."

The report pointed out that while stablecoins may foster improved liquidity in the short term, such as by boosting demand for U.S. Treasury bonds, in the mid-to-long term, they are expected to pose a direct threat to banks’ core businesses of payments and deposits. In particular, since there is already a growing possibility of application in some areas such as cross-border micro-payments, banks cannot afford to overlook this issue.

In fact, major U.S. banks have already taken action. JPMorgan has launched a tokenized deposit (JPMD) service for institutional clients, and Bank of America has entered into a partnership with Circle, the issuer of USDC. In addition, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of New York Mellon have made investments in asset custody and tokenized payment infrastructure, while some banks are even leaving open the possibility of launching their own stablecoins.