S&P Global: US Banks Will Enter the Stablecoin Market

A new bill focused on stablecoins has been introduced to the US Senate, which S&P Global Ratings believes could prompt banks to enter the stablecoin market.

Released in a research note on April 23, S&P shared that the Payment Stablecoin Act, introduced on April 17, could encourage banks to issue US dollar-pegged stablecoins and could potentially have consequences for major non-US entities such as Tether.

The ratings agency sees stablecoins as a potentially important aspect of financial markets, as evidenced by BlackRock’s newly launched BUIDL fund and their ability to tokenize assets and digital bonds with efficiencies and enhanced settlement security.

The Payment Stablecoin Act, introduced by Senators Lummis and Gillibrand, proposes a $10 billion issuance limit for non-bank stablecoin companies, a ban on unbacked algorithmic stablecoins, and a requirement for stablecoin issuers to hold reserves equal to the amount of the stablecoins in circulation.

If the bill is passed and followed up by relevant banking regulations, this could give banks a competitive advantage by limiting non-bank institutions to a maximum issuance of $10 billion.