Recently, according to Spanish financial media outlet Cinco Días, Banco Santander announced that it is exploring the issuance of a stablecoin alongside nine other major international banks, including Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and Bank of America. The banks plan to jointly issue digital currencies pegged 1:1 to major fiat currencies on a public blockchain network, targeting major G7 currencies such as the US dollar, euro, yen, pound sterling, and Canadian dollar. The banks have already engaged with regulators in relevant countries. According to a statement, the goal of this collaboration is to "assess whether the new proposal can bring the advantages of digital assets to the financial system and enhance market competitiveness." In other words, by jointly issuing stablecoins, the banks hope to integrate the efficiency and innovation brought by blockchain technology into interbank payment systems while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Before and after this announcement, major traditional financial institutions were making frequent moves in the digital currency space. In September, the international payment system Swift announced that it would collaborate with 30 major global banks, including Santander and BBVA, to develop its own blockchain platform to enable 24/7 real-time cross-border payments. Meanwhile, Europe has similar plans: Previously, banks including Spain's CaixaBank, the Netherlands' ING, and Italy's UniCredit announced the formation of a consortium to jointly issue a euro-denominated stablecoin in the second half of 2026. Spain's BBVA also announced this year that it would independently launch its own stablecoin, expected to be released in 2026. Furthermore, Societe Generale, through its digital asset subsidiary, pioneered the issuance of a dollar-backed stablecoin. While only approximately $30.6 million is currently in circulation, it demonstrates that major global banks are actively testing the potential applications of this technology. The banking industry's attitude toward stablecoins is undergoing a significant shift. In 2017, then-JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon publicly called Bitcoin a "scam" and compared it to the tulip bubble. However, just two years later, the bank launched "JPM Coin" for institutional clients. This exchanged dollars deposited with the bank for an equivalent amount of digital tokens, with real-time transfers enabled via the bank's internal blockchain. JPMorgan Chase subsequently stated in a statement that it would support cryptocurrencies as long as they were properly regulated. The current stablecoin market is approaching $300 billion. Although the vast majority of stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar, and nearly 90% of transactions occur on crypto platforms for digital asset exchange, with only approximately 6% used to pay for real goods or services, their potential as an emerging payment method has garnered significant attention in the financial community. Bloomberg estimates that by 2030, global stablecoin payments could exceed $50 trillion annually. JPMorgan analysts also calculate that widespread adoption of stablecoins overseas could generate approximately $1.4 trillion in new US dollar demand by 2027. Although mainstream stablecoins are currently primarily used within the cryptoasset ecosystem, their impact on traditional payment systems and the international monetary landscape cannot be underestimated if they were adopted for everyday payments. JPMorgan Chase has stated that its "digital currency" can "reduce counterparty and settlement risks, reduce capital requirements, and enable instant value transfer," significantly optimizing traditional transaction structures. For multinational banks, issuing their own stablecoins can also help them seize control of global payment networks and avoid relying solely on the existing US-dominated settlement system. Of course, regulators around the world remain cautious about stablecoins. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that, given the current market capitalization of stablecoins, a run on the assets of stablecoin issuers would have an impact on traditional markets such as bank deposits and government bonds. The IMF also points out that if US dollar-denominated stablecoins become widely popular, the monetary sovereignty and effectiveness of monetary policy of other countries could be eroded. The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has also proposed banning cross-border stablecoin projects issued simultaneously in multiple jurisdictions to prevent the transmission of risks across borders. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey have both publicly expressed concern about the potential risks of privately issued stablecoins. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS)'s latest annual report notes that while stablecoins offer new features such as decentralized transactions, they lack the three core characteristics of traditional currencies: "identity," "resilience," and "integrity," and can only play a supporting role outside the existing monetary system. The BIS recommends that legitimate applications of stablecoins be brought into a regulated framework to prevent them from jeopardizing financial stability.
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