Like many players in traditional finance, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America are interested in stablecoins. How far have they got with their work so far?
Bank of America is interested in stablecoins
Since the beginning of the year, the topic of stablecoins seems to have taken a decisive turn, particularly in the United States with Donald Trump’s famous GENIUS Act. Over the months, we have seen a number of players launch themselves, or at least express their willingness to take the plunge.
In this context, the latest Reuters report on the subject confirms this momentum. When asked, Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, indicated that investors could expect progress on this front:
We believe that the industry and we ourselves will have answers. We have been working hard. We are still trying to determine the extent of the situation, because in some places capital movements are limited. So you could expect us all to respond, for our company to act accordingly.
While such comments show a clear interest, they remain particularly vague about a possible timetable for putting all this into practice.
According to Brian Moynihan, Bank of America is first seeking to gauge customer demand, which is still relatively low at present. He explains that the bank will roll out a stablecoin “at the right time” and that this will probably be done through a partnership. This last point echoes what we reported last May regarding a potential alliance between JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo with a view to launching a hypothetical stablecoin.
Morgan Stanley is also looking into the issue, but nothing has been finalized yet
Meanwhile, Sharon Yeshaya, Morgan Stanley’s chief financial officer, made similar comments about the bank:
As you would expect, we are actively discussing this. We are studying the landscape […] and potential uses for our own client base. But it is still too early to comment, particularly with regard to the business we conduct relative to our competitors, on the role a stablecoin would play.
Once again, the subject is under review and we will have to wait to find out more.
In terms of concrete progress in the sector, we can note that today, the stablecoin market is valued at $264.54 billion. On the stock market, Circle continues its strong momentum and is now valued at over $53 billion, currently up 238% since its introduction on June 5.
On the institutional side, BlackRock’s BUIDL fund and Securitize have a market capitalization of $2.82 billion. After a very sharp rise that began in March, the fund has been stagnating since May and has even attempted a few exits.
