Ah, dear reader! Gather ’round as we delve into the curious case of U.S. Bancorp, a bank that has recently found itself in the delightful embrace of stablecoins, all thanks to the whims of a crypto-friendly administration led by none other than the illustrious Donald Trump! Yes, you heard it right! The bank is now “studying and watching” its role in this digital circus, as proclaimed by its CEO, Gunjan Kedia, who seems to have a flair for the dramatic.
At the grand Morgan Stanley US Financials Conference, Kedia regaled the audience with tales of her bank’s crypto custody service, birthed in the year of our Lord 2021. Alas, it was a time of uncertainty under the Biden administration, where the product floundered like a fish out of water. But lo and behold! Interest has surged once more, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of regulatory chaos.
“The product didn’t really take off because the regulatory regime at that point was very uncertain for large institutional investors,” Kedia lamented, as if reciting a tragic poem. “But fear not! That product is back, and we are very able to provide it.” Oh, the optimism! 🌟
Meanwhile, the Biden-era Securities and Exchange Commission, in its infinite wisdom, unleashed a torrent of legal actions against crypto offerings, leaving institutional investors feeling as though they had been doused in cold water. But fear not, for Trump, with his family businesses entangled in the crypto web, has promised to roll back the SEC’s past enforcement like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat!
US Bancorp: The Stablecoin Whisperers
Now, Kedia, with a twinkle in her eye, declared that the “bigger conversation right now” revolves around payments with stablecoins. “We are studying and watching,” she said, as if peering through a telescope at the stars of financial innovation.
She further mused that U.S. Bancorp, the fifth-largest bank in the US, might just create its own stablecoin! “We have enough pilots going on,” she quipped, as if the bank were a high-flying circus act ready to take off into the wild blue yonder.
But wait! There’s more! Kedia revealed that her bank could also provide the infrastructure for this token, holding the backing assets and offering services like escrow. “These are yet to be figured out,” she added, with a shrug that suggested a delightful uncertainty.
Stablecoins: The Crypto Conundrum
As Kedia continued her soliloquy, she pointed out that while stablecoin transaction volumes may dazzle the untrained eye, much of it is merely a dance of cryptocurrency-to-cryptocurrency trading. “Underneath that, 90% of it is just cryptocurrency-to-cryptocurrency trading volume,” she noted, as if revealing a magician’s secret.
And so, the questions surrounding the structure of a stablecoin offering will soon be addressed by the GENIUS Act, a legislative masterpiece that aims to provide rules for issuers. “There’s a lot to be sorted out before the role we play solidifies in our mind,” she concluded, leaving us all in a state of delightful suspense.
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2025-06-12 09:29