BOE Governor Cites Threats to Financial Stability Over Private Stablecoin Issuance

The Bank of England (BOE) governor, Andrew Bailey, has expressed concerns over the rise of banks issuing their own stablecoins. He emphasized the significant systemic risks that these stablecoins pose to the financial system.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Bailey said he “would much rather” prefer tokenized bank deposits over private stablecoins. He said that stablecoins would take “money out of the banking system” and the “credit creation world”.

By advocating for tokenized bank deposits, Bailey is promoting a more integrated and regulated digital financial system, aligning with existing banking practices.

“I would much rather [banks] go down the tokenized deposit streets and say, how do we digitize our money, particularly in payments,” he noted.

His comments come at a time when stablecoin markets have grown from $125 billion less than two years ago to around $255 billion today, according to a latest BIS report.

Furthermore, the British central banker stated that England should not adopt a central bank digital currency (CBDC), also known as a ‘digital pound.’ He said that it would be “sensible” for the UK to rather work towards digitizing deposits.

Andrew Bailey was recently appointed as the new chairman of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international financial regulator.

Additionally, he openly disagreed with the Trump administration’s backing of stablecoins.

“I would say that the US is going towards stablecoins. The European Central Bank is going towards central bank digital currency. Neither of them is going towards tokenising deposits.”

The US House Financial Services Committee announced ‘Crypto Week,’ starting Monday, to consider three key crypto bills, including the GENIUS Act for stablecoins.

The US lawmakers noted that mid-July will be 'Crypto Week' to create a clear regulatory framework for digital assets and protect financial privacy.#USLawmakers #CryptoWeek #CryptoRegulationshttps://t.co/yhbiz4tMwr

In June, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a speech at the White House Digital Asset Summit that stablecoins would “reinforce dollar supremacy.” Fed Chair Jerome Powell has also emphasized the need for stablecoin regulation, noting the importance of protecting consumers.

However, according to BOE’s governor Bailey, stablecoins need to be looked at closely through lens.

“Stablecoins are proposed to have the characteristics of money. That money is a medium of exchange. Therefore, they really do have to have the characteristics of money and they have to maintain their nominal value.”

He also expressed concerns that the spread of stablecoins would undermine their sovereign control over money.

Besides stablecoins, Bailey noted that the extreme volatility of Bitcoin shows that it is “unbacked asset.”

“It’s not money, it doesn’t have the function of money, and if you’re going to buy it, please buy it with your eyes open,” he advised users.

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