Moody’s Says Stablecoins Top $300B but Pose Limited Bank Threat

Moody’s said stablecoins have moved beyond US$300 billion (AU$420 billion) in market value but still pose a limited near-term threat to banks because adoption remains narrow and US rules restrict yield-bearing products.

Abhi Srivastava, associate vice president of Moody’s Investors Service Digital Economy Group, told Cointelegraph that stablecoin use is expanding across payments, cross-border commerce and on-chain finance. 

He added that disruption risk to banks remains contained at this stage because mainstream payment systems are already fast, low-cost and trusted:

For the banking sector, at this stage, disruption risk appears limited. In the near term, US rules that prohibit stablecoins from paying yield mean they are unlikely to replace traditional deposits at scale domestically.

Abhi Srivastava, Associate Vice President of Moody.

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Limited Deposit Threat

Srivastava said US rules that prohibit stablecoins from paying yield mean they are unlikely to replace traditional deposits at scale domestically in the near term. That yield restriction is important because bank deposits can still compete on account access, insurance, payments integration and interest-bearing products.

Moody’s view cuts against some bank-industry warnings that stablecoins could rapidly drain deposits from regulated lenders. The more immediate effect appears concentrated in crypto trading, cross-border settlement and decentralised finance, rather than broad household or business cash management.

Stablecoins still give users a dollar-linked asset that can move around blockchain rails without bank settlement windows, making them useful for digital-asset markets and international transfers, though it does not automatically make them a replacement for everyday checking accounts or commercial banking relationships.

In that sense, Srivastava said stablecoins and tokenised real-world assets could eventually pressure banks through deposit outflows and reduced lending capacity if adoption spreads beyond crypto-native use cases, so Moody’s warning is more serious over a longer horizon. 

Keep in mind Congress.gov identifies H.R.3633 as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, known as the CLARITY Act, while stablecoin debates in Washington continue to focus on yield, issuer rules and market-structure oversight.

Read more: Tom Lee Calls Crypto Slump a ‘Mini Winter,’ Predicts Massive Upside for Ethereum

RWA.xyz data listed Tether Holdings at US$176.9 billion (AU$247.7 billion) and Circle at US$70.4 billion (AU$98.6 billion), showing how concentrated the market remains around the two largest issuers.