The BIS indicates that stablecoins still fail to meet the criteria of a currency, recommending that the modern financial system combine innovation with trust.

The BIS (Bank of Asia and Digital Economy) reveals that stablecoins still fail to meet the criteria for reliable currency, pointing out that the trend of the modern financial system must be driven by innovation coupled with maintaining confidence in the value of money.

On June 23, 2569 Bank for International Settlements (BIS) It was stated that the approach to a modern financial and fiscal system should focus on using innovation to upgrade the existing two-tier financial system infrastructure, while maintaining confidence in the value of money as a core principle.

The BIS released a special report at its 2026 Annual Economic Report, assessing the development of new financial systems based on programmable platforms and money-like financial instruments.

The BIS states that financial innovation can generate significant benefits if it is conducted on a foundation of credible institutions, a clear legal framework, and a robust regulatory system.

By integrating tokenization technology, or the conversion of assets into digital tokens, into the current financial system, where the central bank acts as the monetary anchor and commercial banks provide services to the public, new opportunities will open up, such as programmable payment systems.

The BIS published a report titled "Anchoring Trust in Money: Innovation Beyond Stablecoins," stating that the global financial system is at a critical juncture due to the growth of blockchain technology, but highlighting that current stablecoins still have fundamental flaws and could undermine financial stability if widely adopted.

Stablecoins: Opportunity on the line.

The report indicates that stablecoins, most of which are pegged to the US dollar (representing 99.4% of the market capitalization), offer advantages in terms of speed and programmable payments. However, their primary purpose is currently limited to crypto trading and as a safe haven for funds in emerging markets facing currency volatility.

The BIS states that current forms of stablecoins “lack” the fundamental characteristics of a reliable currency because they lack institutional mechanisms or a central bank to back them up. This results in frequent deviations from par value in the secondary market and poses a high risk of being used as a channel for financial crimes and money laundering.

Three threats are warned if stablecoins are widely used and become so popular that they replace traditional bank deposits. The report predicts that this will inevitably have an impact on the macroeconomic economy.

1. It affects lending by commercial banks. Public funds will be drawn from retail deposit accounts into stablecoins, forcing commercial banks to compete by raising deposit interest rates to maintain stability. This increases the banks' financing costs and leads to higher lending rates, directly impacting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

2. Risks of bank runs and volatile financial markets. In a crisis, if there is a mass sell-off or withdrawal of funds from stablecoins, the coin holders may need to quickly sell the assets that back them (such as short-term government bonds), which would have a severe impact on liquidity in the currency market and the government bond system.

3. The Silent Threat of “Stablecoin Dollarisation” in Developing Countries. In countries with unstable economies, people may turn to stablecoins pegged to foreign currencies (such as the US dollar) for daily transactions, which undermines monetary sovereignty and significantly diminishes the effectiveness of local central bank monetary policy.

For this reason, the BIS calls on policymakers and central banks worldwide to collaborate in two main areas.

First side Urgently revise regulations to plug loopholes and strictly control the risks of the current stablecoin system, including transparent asset reserve requirements and consumer safety.

Second side The technological advantages of stablecoins, such as tokenization, can be applied within a two-tier banking system with a central bank as the core, through the development of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) or tokenized deposits in commercial banks. This aims to create a programmable digital currency system without compromising the credibility and security of the global financial system.

For its long-term vision, the BIS proposes the concept of a Unified Ledger, a centralized ledger capable of supporting multiple tokenization types on a single platform, to leverage digital innovation while maintaining trust in the financial system.

Examples at BIS. One notable example is Project Agorá, a public-private partnership project involving eight central banks and over 40 regulated financial institutions. Its aim is to develop a wholesale cross-border payment system through a shared platform that links tokenized commercial bank deposits and separate central bank reserves across jurisdictions.

Report III. Anchoring trust in money: innovation beyond stablecoins: www.bis.org

Read news related to All situations around the world can be found here.