It’s earnings season. JPMorgan, Citi, and Bank of America all reported this week, and analysts kept pressing each CEO on one topic: stablecoins.

We did the digging. Here’s the executive summary:

• Jamie Dimon (JPM): Deep into tokenized deposits and stablecoins, but still unsure if stablecoins are useful long-term.

• Jane Fraser (Citi): Exploring four main areas: A Citi-branded stablecoin, stablecoin on- and offramps, reserve management for stablecoins, and tokenized deposit (already processing billions of dollars). Calls digital assets “the next evolution of payments.”

• Brian Moynihan (BoA): Very eager to enter the stablecoin space. Details still TBD.

Oh — and all three are open to forming a consortium, some candidly admitting it’s a way to fend off emerging payment networks. We’ll check back on that next quarter.

• Standard Chartered rolls out institutional crypto trading

• Bank for International Settlements issues double warning against stablecoins

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Standard Chartered Rolls Out Institutional Crypto Trading

A historic first: On Tuesday, Standard Chartered became the first globally systemic bank (G-SIB) to offer spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading to institutional clients. Offered through its UK branch, the service will be available globally.

Long time in the making: In a statement to Blockstories, Standard Chartered said the offering has been in development for over three years. The decision to go live now reflects what the bank describes as “growing institutional client demand for digital assets.”

• “I’ve often emphasized the need to strike a balance between innovation and risk management. Today’s announcement marks an important step toward building a reliable, secure, and efficient environment for institutional clients to engage with digital asset markets,” said Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered.

Embedded, not separate: The new offering is fully integrated into Standard Chartered’s existing platforms, providing a seamless end-to-end service with built-in flexibility for institutional clients.

• Familiar interface: Clients access crypto spot trading via the same interface they already use for FX.

• Custody by choice: Settlement is also flexible. Clients can choose to have their trades settled via Standard Chartered’s institutional-grade custody solution or through a qualified third-party custodian of their preference.

More products on the way: While the rollout begins with the two largest cryptoassets, Standard Chartered confirmed that additional products are on the way. Among them are crypto-linked non-deliverable forwards (NDFs), which are expected to launch in the coming months.

A growing digital asset footprint: The launch builds on a broader portfolio of digital asset initiatives. Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets, two ventures backed by Standard Chartered, are already live and focus on institutional-grade custody and trading. Libeara, another venture, supports tokenization and digital asset issuance. Meanwhile, the bank is in the process of securing a MiCA license through its Luxembourg-based subsidiary, further strengthening its position in the European market.

Bank for International Settlements Issues Dual Warnings Against Stablecoins

Three weeks, two critical reports: Over the past three weeks, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has issued a double-barreled warning on stablecoins. Behind the technical language lies a clear message: stablecoins are not fit to anchor the future of the financial system. In response, the BIS calls on regulators to step up oversight and prioritize public-sector alternatives.

• Why it matters: The warnings come as stablecoin adoption accelerates. Market cap now exceeds $250 billion, with over 90% concentrated in two issuers and nearly all value tied to the U.S. dollar. The BIS sees rising systemic risk and as “central bank of central banks”, policymakers around the world are taking note.

Not money, by design: The critique is anchored in what the BIS calls the “triple test” for any monetary instrument: singleness, elasticity, and integrity. Stablecoins, the BIS argues, fail on all three fronts.

1. No singleness: Unlike central or commercial bank money, stablecoins are bilateral claims on private issuers. That creates fragmentation across the many different issuers and undermines fungibility.

2. No elasticity: Because stablecoins are pre-funded and fully backed, they offer no credit creation, no intraday liquidity, and no backstop in times of stress. These are all capacities central to modern payment systems.

3. Weak integrity: Unlike bank deposits or e-money, stablecoins often move through wallets with limited or no KYC. That leaves them vulnerable to illicit use, from sanctions evasion to ransomware payments, with public authorities playing catch-up.

Systemic spillovers: The BIS also flags rising linkages with traditional finance. Stablecoin issuers are now major holders of short-term U.S. Treasuries, with reserve balances large enough to move yields. According to the BIS, a $3.5 billion shift in flows can move 3-month T-bill yields by several basis points, underscoring the risk of disorderly redemptions in times of stress.

Second warning: In a follow-up bulletin published on July 11, the BIS sharpened its tone. Stablecoins, it writes, are “rarely at par.” Bespoke frameworks are needed that go beyond “same risk, same regulation.” In some cases, stablecoins may require even stricter treatment than comparable instruments in traditional finance.

The BIS alternative: Behind the critique lies an alternative vision. Rather than letting stablecoins fill the gap with features like 24/7 transfers and programmability, BIS urges policymakers to develop a new financial infrastructure anchored in public money. Its preferred solution: a “unified ledger” where central and commercial bank money coexist as tokenized liabilities on a shared platform.

• “Legitimate user demand should be channeled into regulated digital money,” the BIS writes.

Programmable, not private: This system, BIS argues, can offer the programmability and efficiency users want without fragmenting money or weakening control. Pilot projects like Project Agora, Jura, and Mariana are early examples. But a fully operational system remains years away.

• “Momentum is clearly with stablecoins. I’m embarrassed for the BIS, that rant in the Annual Report is beneath them,” said John Kiff, CBDC expert and former Senior Financial Expert at the IMF (2005–2021). “They’re fighting to defend the banking system, and it’s starting to show.”

BIS influence in the UK? Shortly after the BIS reports were released, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned domestic banks not to engage with stablecoins, despite earlier signals of openness for wholesale use. The timing was not lost on observers.

A conversation with Simon Barnby, Chief Marketing Officer at Archax. This week, Archax facilitated the tokenized transfer of collateral between Lloyds Banking Group and Aberdeen Investments for an FX trade, using the Hedera public permissioned DLT.

1. Decrypting Crypto: How to Estimate International Stablecoin Flows (IMF) — A working paper that estimates the geographic distribution of international stablecoin flows using an AI/ML methodology. It claims that stablecoin flows are highest in North America, followed by Asia and Pacific.

2. Third progress report on the digital euro preparation phase (ECB) — The ECB’s third progress update outlines ongoing design work on a digital euro, with 70+ institutions testing features like conditional payments. Focus areas include offline functionality, accessibility, and a draft rulebook for rollout readiness by late 2025.

3. The Crypto Treasury Playbook (ParaFi, Blockworks) — A podcast conversation with Ben Forman and Josh Solesbury from ParaFi Capital in which they explain all the details and current trends around publicly traded crypto vehicles.