The impact of stablecoins on small banks has received a lot of attention, but not for the right reasons.
Let’s recap: Multiple empirical studies have found no meaningful link between stablecoin growth and bank deposits. As USDC grew to ~$75B, overall bank and community bank deposits grew right alongside it. In fact, over the last 6 months, USDC has grown 4.6%, and total demand deposits have grown 4.5%. No displacement there.
Now the part small banks should actually care about: stablecoins enable ~4,000 community and regional banks to punch above their weight. Same 24/7 settlement and cross-border rails as a $3T GSIB. And with partners like @Fiserv, @Visa, and @crossriverbank, it's a configuration, not a multi-year build. No billion dollar IT budget or crypto team required.
For more detail, see our new @coinbase Institute @CoinbaseCBI paper: "Small Banks and Stablecoins: Nothing to Fear, Much to Gain"
A piece from @greg_ip in @WSJ today asks whether stablecoins are a risk to the economy because they are "private money." It's a fair question, but the framing skips over how the US monetary system has actually worked for 160 years.
"Private money" isn't the exception in our system — it's the rule. Roughly 90% of M2 is privately issued: commercial bank deposits and money market fund shares. Each carries different risks and is regulated commensurately — banks by Basel, capital, FDIC, and stress testing; MMFs by SEC liquidity rules; and now GENIUS stablecoins by a purpose-built federal regime.
The right question isn't "public or private." It's whether the regulation matches the risk. GENIUS does.
Banks are regulated the way they are because of what banks do: lend, transform maturities, run roughly 10:1 leverage, and create credit. GENIUS issuers cannot do any of those things. By statute, they hold cash and short-dated US Treasuries 1:1 against on-demand claims. No loans. No leverage. No fractional reserve. The free-banking analogy doesn't hold. Pre-1863 notes were backed by speculative state bonds under inconsistent state rules, with no federal floor. GENIUS imposes exactly the floor that era lacked: high-quality liquid assets, segregation, par redemption, monthly attestations, and federal supervision.
The article's three risk claims — "broke the buck," "reach for yield," and loss of singleness — actually argue for GENIUS's design rather than against it. Prime MMFs broke the buck in 2008 because they held commercial paper. GENIUS stablecoins cannot. The reserve list is closed by statute: cash, short-dated Treasuries, and Fed-eligible repo. Reach-for-yield is foreclosed in law, not left to issuer discretion. On singleness, what matters is whether a holder can redeem a stablecoin for a dollar at the issuer and spend it as a dollar in commerce. GENIUS guarantees this: par redemption, segregated reserves, a statutory priority claim, monthly attestations, and real-time on-chain visibility — more transparent than any bank deposit. Small secondary-market price moves on exchanges are normal market dynamics, not a singleness failure — what matters is that every deviation resolves back to par at the point of redemptions. GENIUS ensures that it will.
The Senate Banking Committee marks up the Market Structure bill next week, and stablecoin rewards remain under debate. Congress already settled this in GENIUS—reopening it now only creates uncertainty and risks the future of the US Dollar as commerce moves onchain. Here’s why Congress should protect the GENIUS Act, and why rewards help consumers without harming community banks. 1/ 🧵
It’s no mystery why big banks want rewards banned. U.S. banks earn $176B/year on the ~$3T they park at the Fed—and another $187B/year from card swipe fees (~$1,440 per household). That’s $360B+ annually from payments and deposits alone (and massive unused lending capacity that the @federalreserve pays the banks to have sit in a drawer somewhere). 2/
Stablecoin rewards threaten those margins—not because it reduces banks' ability to lend, but because they introduce real competition in payments. Lower payment costs mean billions in savings for consumers and businesses (and a boost to GDP). This is not a community bank issue, it's the big banks. That’s the real fight. 3/
The big banks are working overtime to shield themselves from any possibility of competition.
Their latest trick? Objecting to language that they negotiated in the GENIUS Act, in an effort to undermine one of @POTUS’s signature legislative achievements. Remember, GENIUS is a law that is not yet two months old.
Translation: instead of building a better product, they’d rather dig a deeper moat. A 🧵
Banks say there is an “interest loophole” in the GENIUS Act because platforms like @Coinbase can still pay rewards on stablecoins. Rewards are a way platforms compete, an incentive for customers to use their products. Lots of industries give their customers rewards, including the banks who say it's critical for their competitiveness. Here's their own rewards campaign: handsoffmyrewards.com
Yesterday, a former Obama Administration staffer put out a paper supporting the bank narrative. It conveniently ignores why crypto technology exists in the first place — to fix the inefficiencies baked into our legacy payment system. Meanwhile, leaders like @Visa, @stripe, @Shopify - and even @jpmorgan - are adopting crypto tech to make payments faster, cheaper, and more reliable.
The Council will bring together some of the most talented and well-respected leaders to advise @coinbase on the development and growth of our business, and on maintaining our status as the most trusted name in crypto.
Over the next few weeks, we plan to add leaders from the US and internationally to bring additional perspectives to the Council, and help us advance our mission of promoting economic freedom around the world.
1/ Really pleased to see the introduction of the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act from @SenStabenow, @JohnBoozman, @CoryBooker, and @SenJohnThune. This bill will ensure the @CFTC has the authority it needs to regulate the digital asset commodity markets.
2/ DCCPA creates a much-needed federal regulatory regime for crypto, which is a big deal. It's a balanced bill that protects consumers, and affirms that top Ds and Rs in Congress understand the importance of digital asset commodity markets and the need for regulatory clarity.
3/ At @coinbase, we commend the sponsors for putting together thoughtful legislation that puts consumers and American innovation first, and we look forward to playing our part in helping much-needed legislation work its way through Congress.
Some reasons for optimism about President Biden’s Executive Order. The White House seems to understand and embrace the transformational potential of digital asset technology, and the importance of maintaining American leadership. Some thoughts: whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…
First, we’re at an inflection point. Digital assets are now widely embraced by millions and there's growing interest in it from officials across government. They’ve become an integral part of the fabric of American life. Today, the White House has confirmed they know this too.
Second, we applaud the White House for recognizing this as a defining moment for U.S. innovation on the world stage. It is and we need to harness our resources and entrepreneurship to lead. If we don’t support Web 3; we cede American leadership.