Interest-Bearing Stablecoins Could Drain $6T From Bank Deposits
Bank of America CEO: Interest-Bearing Stablecoins Could Take $6T Out of Bank Deposits
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan warned that interest-bearing stablecoins could pull a large share of money out of the traditional banking system, estimating that as much as $6 trillion in U.S. bank deposits could move into stablecoins.
The comments reflect growing concern among major banks that stablecoins offering yield—digital tokens typically designed to track the U.S. dollar—could compete directly with bank deposit accounts by giving customers a more attractive return while still aiming to maintain a stable value.
Moynihan argued that a significant shift of deposits into stablecoins could have downstream effects for the real economy, saying small-to-medium-sized businesses could be hurt as a result. Banks generally use deposits as a core funding source for lending, including loans that support business operations and expansion.
In that context, banks have warned that if deposits migrate at scale to yield-bearing stablecoins, it could reduce banks’ capacity to lend, tightening credit availability for some borrowers.
The remarks highlight an emerging policy and market debate over how stablecoins should fit into the financial system, particularly as products begin to resemble familiar banking functions—such as holding cash-like value and generating interest—without being structured as traditional deposit accounts.
