Overview
- Dutch central bank governor Olaf Sleijpen said rapidly growing stablecoins could become systemically relevant and may eventually prompt the ECB to reconsider its monetary stance.
- He warned that the roughly $300 billion market, up more than 48% this year after the U.S. GENIUS Act, concentrates risk in dollar tokens and could weaken euro-area policy transmission.
- Sleijpen cautioned that a run could trigger rapid sales of the U.S. Treasuries backing many tokens, disrupting bond markets and spilling over into Europe’s economy and inflation.
- He said the ECB would deploy financial-stability tools first and acknowledged uncertainty over whether rate cuts or increases would be needed if stress escalated.
- The ESRB, chaired by Christine Lagarde, has flagged vulnerabilities in multi-issuer models and backed bans on certain structures, while reports say nine European banks, including ING and UniCredit, are developing a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin targeted for 2026.