Stablecoins, banks and signals

plus: tariffs, markets, why oil prices could rise, and more

“If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers.” – Doug Larson ||

Hi all, and happy Friday!! Wait, Monday marks the official start of summer? Are you kidding me? I feel like Spring just started. Do you know of any way to slow things down?

A while ago I recorded a podcast episode with Validation Cloud, in which I chat with Alex Nwaka about macro, geopolitics, and their impact on crypto – the episode is now out, you can see it here (YouTube), or listen here (Spotify link).

Programming note: This newsletter will take a short break for Memorial Day – I will publish the free weekly tomorrow, and be back with the premium on Tuesday. For all those also taking Monday off, have a great long weekend!

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

• Stablecoins, banks and signals

• Podcast notes: Anas Alhajji on why energy prices are likely to climb

• Macro-Crypto Bits: tariffs and markets, yikes

If you’re not a premium subscriber, I hope you’ll consider becoming one! You get ~daily commentary on markets, tokenization, regulation and other signs that crypto IS impacting the macro landscape. As well as relevant links and music recommendations ‘cos why not.

WHAT I’M WATCHING:

Stablecoins, banks and signals

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been told “banks don’t like to change”, well, I’d have many nickels. I wouldn’t necessarily use them to buy bank stocks, but any skim of headlines over the past few months will highlight just how fast banks are adjusting to the wave of financial innovation triggered by the emergence of a new way to record and distribute data. This started slow many years ago – I remember when you could count the number of suits at a crypto conference on two hands. Now, they would probably outnumber the hoodies if it weren’t for radical changes in dress codes.

The pace of change is certainly picking up. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that some of the largest banks in the US, including JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and others, are contemplating forming a consortium to launch a stablecoin.

Reactions to this have ranged from the victorious (“if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”) to the ominous (“CBDCs through the back door”). As usual, both extremes are seeing what they are pre-disposed to see, while the real development hidden in the news is not about crypto nor is it about centralized digital cash. It’s about the evolution of banking.

So, while I generally don’t dwell on things that might happen, and the consortium is still only at the idea stage, this news is worth looking at more closely for what it says about the convergence of blockchain-based and traditional financial services.

What’s the goal?