Banks could slow stablecoin growth by paying savers more, BIS paper finds
Summary
A BIS working paper finds that higher bank deposit rates are associated with slower stablecoin growth. Using weekly data from January 2019 to June 2025, researchers estimate that a one-basis-point rise in rates reduced average ten-week stablecoin market-cap growth from about 15% to 12%; an adjusted estimate put growth near 6%, though the authors noted limitations. The effect was stronger for USDC than USDT. The findings suggest banks can influence stablecoin adoption through deposit pricing, but do not prove that stablecoins reduce bank deposits or lending. The study covers only one high-rate period, and its results may shift as yield-bearing stablecoins and tokenized money-market funds expand.
