Banking on stablecoins A new letter from the U.S. federal banking regulator could give stablecoin networks the same status as other global payments networks like SWIFT or FedWire. In a possible last act from Acting Comptroller Brian Brooks, U.S. banks can now operate as stablecoin nodes and are free to send transactions, so long as they comply with securities and other regulations. Bitcoin markets rebounded on the news.
The federal banking regulator published an interpretive letter addressing whether national banks and federal savings associations could participate in independent node verification networks (INVNs, otherwise known as blockchain networks) or use stablecoins. The letter said these financial institutions can participate as nodes on a blockchain and store or validate payments.
Ultimately, Dimon seemed to imply to crypto payments settlement won’t greatly change how JPM operates.
“There is this talk about several banks having digital currencies and stuff like that, right?” Dimon concluded. “[...] So I -- I do expect that stuff is coming and it may not change our world that much”
Dimon may be underestimating the impact crypto will have on the payments landscape, however.
Paypal, one of the Fintech giants that Dimon mentioned by name as a payments competitor, confirmed that crypto payments will be available starting in 2021. The CEO — a former noted skeptic of cryptocurrencies — made it clear that payments will become an increasingly crowded and cutthroat field over the next decade:
I expect it to be very, very tough competition in the next 10 years. I expect to win. So help me God.