banks

According to Cointelegraph, Piero Cipollone, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), stated that the large-scale adoption of stablecoins could weaken the retail deposit base of commercial banks and alter the competitive landscape of the traditional banking system. Cipollone pointed out during a speech at the Italian Banking Association in Rome on Friday that digital payments are reshaping the banking industry while increasing Europe’s reliance on non-European payment infrastructures.Banks are currently facing declining payment fee revenues and loss of transaction data due to the development of mobile payment service providers. As payment tools like stablecoins and other digital assets become more widespread, commercial banks may face increased pressure from deposit outflows. Cipollone emphasized that the digital euro will help maintain the status of public money and ensure that banks continue to participate in the payment ecosystem while meeting the evolving financial needs of customers."The digital euro can both maintain the role of public funds and ensure that banks retain an important role in the payment system," Cipollone stated. This Tuesday, the European Central Bank selected 36 payment service providers to participate in a 12-month pilot project for the digital euro, including banks, fintech companies, and payment firms.The pilot program is set to launch in the second half of 2027, aiming to test the feasibility of retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) operating in the eurozone. The European Central Bank has previously stated that if relevant legislation and testing progress smoothly, the digital euro could be officially issued as early as 2029.

India imposes a uniform 30% tax on the income from virtual digital assets and an additional 1% withholding tax on the transfer amount. Approximately 54 cryptocurrency service providers in the country have registered with the financial intelligence department, serving 39 million verified users, who collectively hold about $2.1 billion in assets.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has repeatedly expressed to Parliament its preference for a prohibitive policy towards private cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, urging banks to avoid related exposures to protect financial stability. The long-promised cryptocurrency bill has yet to be completed.Indian government agencies are also using permissioned blockchain in non-trading scenarios. AIIMS Delhi uses blockchain to manage teacher recruitment records, the Cotton Corporation of India tracks cotton bales through a blockchain identification system, and the aviation regulator DGCA is building a digital service platform associated with blockchain.

According to Bloomberg, several major banks in the United States, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and HSBC, have announced the formation of a joint network operated by The Clearing House, using blockchain to connect tokenized bank deposits in response to the rapid expansion of dollar stablecoins represented by USDT and USDC in the payment and clearing sectors.The network is scheduled to launch next year, aiming to achieve interoperability among the internal blockchain systems of various banks, with a priority on wholesale payments and liquidity management scenarios.Data from Artemis Analytics shows that the trading volume of stablecoins is expected to reach approximately $33 trillion by 2025, and Bloomberg Intelligence predicts that related payment flows could exceed $50 trillion by 2030. The banking industry believes that this trend has already posed direct competitive pressure on traditional deposit and payment businesses.

According to a report by South Korea's "Daily Economic News" on July 12, driven by the stock market investment boom and sustained housing demand, the five major commercial banks in South Korea (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH Nonghyup) saw a surge in household loans in the first half of this year. As of the end of June, the household loan balance of the five major banks (excluding policy loans) reached 647.57 trillion won, an increase of about 3.7 trillion won compared to the end of last year. This means that in just half a year, the five major banks have exhausted 85.3% of the annual new loan limit set by financial regulatory authorities (approximately 4.33 trillion won), with two banks even exceeding the annual new limit ahead of schedule.To meet the strict overall control targets set by financial regulatory departments, banks are currently accelerating the tightening of credit thresholds. For example, KB Kookmin Bank recently significantly lowered the maximum limit for housing loans from 600 million won to 300 million won, while other banks are focusing on limiting new credit loans and reducing overdraft account limits. However, in just the first nine days of July, the household loan balance of the five major banks increased by over 1 trillion won. Industry insiders point out that against the backdrop of a severely limited remaining quota, banks will have to adopt stricter lending measures in the second half of the year to control the annual growth rate, and the South Korean market is expected to face a severe "credit winter."

According to official news, Swift announced that its blockchain-based ledger is ready, and 17 banks from six continents are preparing to pilot the use of tokenized deposits for 24/7 cross-border payment trials.The ledger provides a secure orchestration layer for participating banks, supporting them in issuing tokenized deposits on their own ledgers, enabling around-the-clock fund movement before final settlement through existing systems. Participating banks include ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Citibank, DBS Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, FirstRand Bank, HSBC, Itaú Unibanco, Lloyds Bank, Mashreq Bank, MUFG, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered, UBS Group, UOB, and Wells Fargo.

According to The Block, Cash App's parent company Block has agreed to pay $45 million to settle with regulatory agencies in nearly 50 states in the U.S. over allegations of misleading security promotions and insufficient anti-fraud measures. Regulators accused Block of marketing Cash App as having security protections comparable to traditional banks, but failing to establish a comprehensive fraud detection system and not providing an effective fraud reporting hotline, resulting in users suffering losses from scams.Additionally, regulators accused Block of continuing marketing activities despite being aware of the increase in scams and amplifying scam risks in promotional activities. Under the settlement agreement, Block must improve customer support services, provide 24-hour live customer service, and cease related promotions regarding Cash App's security. Block denies any wrongdoing, stating that the settlement involves previously disclosed legacy issues.

The European Central Bank has requested banks to develop plans to address the growing cybersecurity threats posed by cutting-edge AI models such as Anthropic's Claude Mythos. In a letter to the chief executives of banks, the ECB's chief supervisory officer, Claudia Buch, asked lending institutions to submit action plans by the end of October.She urged banks to accelerate software patch updates, strengthen AI-driven cyber defenses, and enhance oversight of third-party vendors, while emphasizing that banks need to modernize their infrastructure in the long term. Buch stated, "The ECB calls on all significant institutions to immediately assess the impact of the evolving threat landscape and develop comprehensive action plans outlining specific measures to strengthen relevant controls." ECB President Christine Lagarde warned last month that artificial intelligence could lead to a financial crisis and stated that bank CEOs need to ensure they are prepared and recognize that countermeasures require substantial investment. The ECB has conducted cyber attack tests under severe scenarios on 109 banks, and most of the vulnerabilities identified have been addressed.

According to Bloomberg, citing informed sources, SK Hynix Inc. is considering paying underwriting fees of approximately 0.5% of the total fundraising amount to investment banks participating in its U.S. listing project. This deal is expected to become one of the largest stock issuances in history.Informed sources stated that although SK Hynix has indicated plans to issue new shares equivalent to a maximum of 2.5% of the company's total equity, the final issuance scale has not yet been determined, which will directly affect the amount of underwriting fees that the investment banks will ultimately receive.Additionally, SK Hynix may also pay extra discretionary bonuses to the investment banks involved in the transaction, beyond the basic underwriting fees. Informed sources mentioned that discussions are still ongoing, and the final agreement details may still change.

According to Bloomberg, Germany's financial system is experiencing a rapid expansion of cryptocurrency asset services. Several local financial institutions, including cooperative banks and savings banks, are planning to launch cryptocurrency trading services for retail customers, allowing users to buy and sell virtual assets directly without going through third-party trading platforms.It is reported that banks in Germany, which have long served local families and businesses, are gradually embedding cryptocurrency trading functions into their existing retail banking systems. Relevant services are expected to be launched in the coming months. This trend indicates that Germany's traditional banking system is accelerating its embrace of the digital asset market within a compliance framework, which may further promote the penetration of cryptocurrencies into the mainstream financial system in Europe.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reiterated its support for a regulatory strategy of "containment and a tendency to prohibit" regarding crypto assets in a document submitted to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, stating that "prohibition" remains one of the policy options recognized by the international regulatory framework. The RBI suggested that banks and other regulated financial institutions should not hold, trade, or provide exposure to crypto assets and privately issued stablecoins to avoid potential contagion risks to the financial system.The RBI stated that implementing traditional financial regulation on crypto assets could mislead the market, granting "legitimacy" to speculative assets that lack actual economic value and creating a false sense of security for users. The RBI also warned that the widespread use of stablecoins could undermine India's monetary sovereignty, weaken the transmission mechanism of monetary policy, disrupt the payment system, and pose risks to financial stability. Therefore, it recommended prioritizing the development of sovereign digital payment infrastructure such as Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Additionally, the RBI questioned the relevant rankings claiming "India is the country with the highest global crypto adoption rate," arguing that the data from private blockchain analytics firms has methodological flaws. It pointed out that there are currently 54 crypto service providers registered with the FIU in India, with approximately 39.3 million users who have completed KYC verification holding crypto assets worth about 20.437 billion rupees. It should be clearly distinguished between speculative crypto assets and the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) such as government bonds and corporate bonds to avoid impacting the innovation of financial asset tokenization.

According to Bloomberg, AirTrunk, a data center operator under Blackstone Inc., has selected partner banks and plans to conduct a real estate investment trust (REIT) initial public offering (IPO) in Singapore.According to informed sources, the fundraising scale for this IPO is expected to be around $1.5 billion, with the listing work likely to be completed as early as this year. Currently, Citigroup Inc., DBS Group Holdings Ltd., and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. have been chosen to assist in preparing for the listing project.

According to Jinshi News, the Governor of the Bank of Thailand stated that banks will be allowed to issue Thai baht stablecoins this year.

According to Jinshi reports, the Federal Reserve stated that the banks tested were able to withstand losses of over $700 billion under hypothetical scenarios, with capital only declining by 1.6%, still above the minimum regulatory requirements.

According to CoinDesk, blockchain infrastructure company Chainlink Labs has announced that it will join an alliance composed of several banks that collectively manage assets exceeding $10 trillion, aiming to promote real-time cross-border foreign exchange payment settlements based on stablecoins within a year.The alliance is named "Project Pangea." Niki Ariyasinghe, Vice President of Chainlink for the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, stated in a video interview on Tuesday that the project aims to reshape the global foreign exchange market.In addition to Chainlink, the alliance also includes: a euro stablecoin consortium Qivalis supported by 37 European banks; and a Korean banking alliance UniKA representing more than 10 commercial banks.The goal of the project is to explore moving foreign exchange settlements from the traditional T+2 (48 hours after the transaction) cycle to an almost instantaneous T+0 settlement method, primarily relying on regulated euro and Korean won-pegged stablecoins—cryptocurrencies that are pegged 1:1 to the underlying fiat currency.

Aave founder Stani stated that he could accept the reserve requirement if the Bank of England (BoE) is willing to pay market rates on the 30% of base assets that need to be held at the central bank for systemic stablecoins. Previously, the BoE proposed that part of the reserves for systemic stablecoins should be held at the central bank to reduce risk; Stani's statement focuses on whether the passive deposit rates can cover the opportunity cost of these "locked" assets.

According to SBS Biz, in the past three years, overseas remittances through cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea have increased by 380%, while remittances through traditional banks have only grown by 20%. Last year, the total amount of foreign currency remittances from South Korea's five major banks was 159 trillion won (approximately 122 billion USD), an increase of 20% compared to 131.8 trillion won (approximately 101 billion USD) in 2022.At the same time, data from the office of Congressman Kim Sang-hoon shows that during the same period, the remittance amount through the five major won-denominated cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea surged from 34.02 trillion won (approximately 26.2 billion USD) to 163.55 trillion won (approximately 125.8 billion USD), an increase of 380%. Dongguk University professor Hwang Seok-jin attributes the significant growth in cryptocurrency remittances to their lower transaction fees compared to banks.

According to CoinDesk, Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered crypto bank in the United States, announced the launch of a new platform to help banks issue and manage tokenized deposits.The platform provides banks with round-the-clock payment and settlement services through blockchain technology, without the need to replace existing core systems. The platform operates in a parallel layer, with Anchorage responsible for blockchain infrastructure, wallet management, and smart contract technology, while banks continue to maintain customer relationships and deposit custody.Currently, several large banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America, also plan to jointly establish a tokenized deposit network in the first half of 2027.

According to The Information, the prediction market platform Kalshi has annual revenue exceeding $2 billion and has begun early, informal discussions with several investment banks regarding its initial public offering (IPO).

According to Jinshi, large bank stocks in the United States generally rose, with Morgan Stanley up 2.6%, Goldman Sachs up 2.3%, and Citigroup up 1.8%.

According to Bitcoin.com, the Bank of Ghana has issued a mandatory directive requiring all regulated financial institutions to immediately cease support for unauthorized foreign currency digital wallet services provided by cryptocurrency platforms. The central bank stated that several cryptocurrency platforms operating in Ghana offer digital wallet services denominated in foreign currencies (primarily US dollars) that integrate with the local banking system through direct bank transfers, payment cards, and other channels. These cryptocurrency platforms are not authorized to conduct such activities.The central bank pointed out that these foreign currency digital wallets involve compliance requirements under the Payment Systems and Services Act of 2019 and the Foreign Exchange Act of 2006. Due to the lack of necessary approvals for cryptocurrency platforms, the banking infrastructure supporting these services is illegal. The directive takes effect immediately and applies to banks, deposit-taking institutions, electronic money issuers, and payment service providers, prohibiting the establishment or maintenance of any arrangements supporting these unauthorized fiat wallet systems. Non-compliant institutions will face regulatory or enforcement actions. The central bank has established a virtual asset service desk for businesses to consult on compliance matters.