BlockBeats report: On June 29, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) released its 2026 Annual Economic Report at the annual conference in Basel, offering a systematic critique of stablecoins. The report argues that existing stablecoins exhibit significant deficiencies in four key monetary attributes—uniformity, elasticity, interoperability, and integrity. Their prices frequently deviate from their pegs, redemption processes involve substantial friction, and they resemble ETF shares more than genuine payment instruments.
As of the end of May, the total market capitalization of stablecoins was approximately $320 billion, with over 99% pegged to the U.S. dollar, led primarily by USDT and USDC. According to BIS modeling, even if stablecoin market capitalization expands to $1 to $3 trillion, the net impact on economic output would be minimal, potentially slightly negative, due to increased bank funding costs and reduced credit provision capacity.
The report also specifically warns of the risk of "dollarization via stablecoins"—if residents of emerging economies use dollar-denominated stablecoins as a store of value, it could disrupt domestic capital flows and erode monetary sovereignty. The BIS again advocates for a tokenized "unified ledger" anchored in central bank money, citing the Agora cross-border payment initiative, which involves eight central banks and over 40 private institutions, as evidence of its feasibility.