Global banks are integrating stablecoins like USDC into their systems to handle expanding digital asset volumes. Standard Chartered and BNY have announced new services for institutional clients this week.
Standard Chartered said it would give institutional clients direct access to minting and redeeming Circle's USDC. The move came days after BNY, the world's largest custody bank with $59 trillion in assets under management, expanded its USDC support to include custody, minting and redemption.
Both banks are classified as global systemically important by the Bank for International Settlements. Chainalysis estimates stablecoin settlement volumes could reach a quadrillion dollars a year by 2030.
European lenders are also developing euro-denominated stablecoins under the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework. Qivalis, a group of 37 institutions, is building the Euro On-Chain stablecoin to keep settlement in euros rather than dollar-backed tokens.
Executives note that network effects and liquidity matter more than the tokens themselves. "The network is what creates the value," said Adrian Cachinero Vasiljevic of Steakhouse Financial.
