What does it have to do with us if major American banks team up to issue 'official stablecoins'?
1. What exactly happened?
Core event: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and other major banks want to band together to create a cryptocurrency (stablecoin) that is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, to compete against the privately issued stablecoins like USDT and USDC that are currently popular in the market.
Why the urgency: Currently, private stablecoins have a global trading volume of $33 trillion a year, surpassing Visa and Mastercard combined. Banks are afraid of losing their payment business, as young people are no longer using bank cards.
2. What are the banks' calculations?
Reclaiming the payment market: Using their own stablecoins for cross-border transfers, transaction fees can be reduced from hundreds of dollars to just a few dollars, competing with Alipay.
Controlling dollar hegemony: 97% of stablecoins globally are tied to the US dollar; banks want to act as the market makers themselves, preventing private companies from profiting from this.
Monitoring the flow of funds: On-chain transaction records are completely transparent, making it clear who is transferring money to whom, which facilitates anti-money laundering efforts.
3. What impact does this have on ordinary people?
Benefits:
Cheaper transfers: Sending money abroad could only cost a few cents in fees.
Faster arrivals: Transactions can be completed in seconds within 24 hours, without waiting 3-5 business days.
More stability: Backed by major banks, unlike smaller companies' stablecoins that might crash (like the Terra collapse).
Risks:
Bank monopoly: If only major banks can issue stablecoins, they may collude to raise fees.
Privacy issues: All transaction records can be accessed by banks and the government.
Systemic risk: If a bank encounters problems (like a bank run), it could trigger a chain reaction.
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