Wall Street giants assess the issuance of stablecoin plans. The project is still in the preliminary exploration stage.

On Friday, ten major global banks announced a joint exploration of issuing stablecoins linked to fiat currencies, indicating that traditional finance is accelerating its integration into the blockchain and crypto asset ecosystem. This news follows closely on the heels of the decision by the U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley to expand its crypto investment channels, marking a significant shift in Wall Street's attitude towards digital assets. The institutions participating in this exploration include Bank of America Corp(BAC.US), Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.(GS.US), Citigroup(C.US), Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft(DB.US), UBS Group AG(UBS.US), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. Sponsored ADR, Barclays PLC Sponsored ADR(BCS.US), Toronto-Dominion Bank(TD.US), Banco Santander S.A. Sponsored ADR(SAN.US), and BNP Paribas Bank(BNPQY.US). According to a joint statement released on Friday, the banks will collectively study the feasibility of issuing stablecoins on public blockchains pegged 1:1 to the major currencies of the Group of Seven (G7). The statement notes, "This collaboration aims to evaluate whether an industry-wide innovative solution can balance the efficiency gains and market competitiveness brought by digital assets, while ensuring compliance with all regulatory requirements and risk management standards." The project is currently in its early stages, focusing on verifying whether stablecoins can play a substantial role in cross-border payments, clearing, and asset circulation. In recent years, stablecoins have gradually attracted the attention of financial giants as a core asset type in the crypto ecosystem. With U.S. President Trump expressing support for the crypto industry and mainstream currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum rebounding in price, traditional Financial Institutions, Inc. are re-evaluating their roles in future monetary systems. However, regulatory concerns still exist. Bank of England Governor Bailey warned that if stablecoins were issued by commercial banks, they could weaken the core position of traditional banks in payments and settlement. European Central Bank President Lagarde also stated in June this year that stablecoins issued by private institutions could pose risks to monetary policy and financial stability. According to estimates from market research institutions, currently about 90% of stablecoin transactions are still used for internal circulation within the crypto market, with only about 6% of transactions related to payments for real goods or services. The market is dominated by Tether, headquartered in El Salvador, with a circulation of $179 billion, accounting for nearly 60% of the global stablecoin market. The French Industrial Bank issued the first U.S. dollar stablecoin through its digital asset subsidiary this year, but the circulation size is only about $30.6 million. At the same time, another consortium of nine banks in Europe (including ING Groep NV Sponsored ADR ING and Italy's UniCredit) also plans to launch a euro stablecoin project, indicating that competition in this field is intensifying. Although stablecoins are currently the focus, some bank executives believe that the future lies in "asset tokenization," digitizing traditional financial assets such as deposits, bonds, and stocks into blockchain form. The CEO of Citigroup said in July that "tokenized deposits" may be more strategically significant than stablecoins, but the progress of various pilot projects is slower than expected. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley is also taking action. Sources revealed that the bank has informed its financial advisors that starting from October 15, all customers, including retirement account holders, can invest in cryptocurrency funds through Morgan Stanley. This means that channels previously limited to high net worth clients with net assets exceeding $1.5 million will be open to the public. Morgan Stanley stated that the company will adopt automated risk monitoring mechanisms to prevent clients from excessively concentrating their investments on volatile crypto assets.