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Dollar-pegged stablecoins circulate roughly $304 billion, DefiLlama data shows, against under $1 billion in euro-pegged tokens.
That ratio, more than 300 to 1, framed Isabel Schnabel's case at Jackson Hole on Friday: the European Central Bank wants to issue euros directly onto a blockchain, and its executive board member was unambiguous about what that means for stablecoins in European settlement.
The settlement stakes The policy concern is concrete. If private dollar-denominated tokens capture wholesale settlement in tokenized markets, European transactions settle in dollars.
Schnabel accepts that a stablecoin can be engineered to near-perfect safety. In a panic, demand for cash spikes and a central bank can expand supply; a stablecoin issuer cannot.
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