Abstract:
- Introduction, objective, hypotheses, and methodology
Over the past decade, the digital asset market has expanded rapidly, with stablecoins gaining particular importance. These are digital instruments tied to traditional currencies or other reserve assets, designed to limit the price volatility of Bitcoin, Ether, and other cryptocurrencies (Arner, Auer & Frost, 2020). Their fast growth raises concerns about effects on the banking system, monetary policy transmission, and the role of deposits. Some scholars argue that stablecoins could gradually act as a partial substitute for deposits (Brunnermeier, James & Landau, 2019; Gorton & Zhang, 2021). It is also crucial to assess whether the doctrine of deposit guarantees, fundamental to banking stability, should be adapted in the context of crypto-assets.
This article aims to deliver a multidimensional analysis of stablecoins’ role in the financial system, focusing on guarantee mechanisms comparable to deposit guarantees. It includes a theoretical part (cryptoasset classification, links between stablecoins and e-money, deposit substitution theories), a regulatory review (with emphasis on EU and US frameworks and international bodies’ positions), and an empirical section for 2015–2024, drawing on data from the EU and the US.
