Bank of America: U.S. Banks Moving On‑Chain as Regulators Greenlight Stablecoins
Bank of America says U.S. banks are beginning a multi‑year shift toward blockchain-based operations as federal regulators move to integrate stablecoins and tokenized deposits into the regulated banking system. The report highlights the OCC’s conditional national trust charters granted to five digital-asset firms as early federal acceptance of crypto custody and compliant stablecoin activity. It expects the FDIC and Federal Reserve to issue stablecoin capital, liquidity and approval rules under the GENIUS Act — proposed rules this week, final by July 2026 and effective January 2027 — that would allow supervised banks or their subsidiaries to issue payment stablecoins. On market structure, BoA notes growing industry pilots in tokenized deposits and tokenized bonds, stocks and money‑market funds (examples: JPMorgan, DBS) as alternatives to commercial stablecoins and as drivers of on‑chain settlement and cross‑border payments. Analysts led by Ebrahim Poonawala recommend banks build blockchain fluency, experiment with tokenized assets and on‑chain settlement, and prepare operationally and capital-wise for regulated on‑chain payments and expanded real‑world asset tokenization. Key keywords: stablecoins, tokenized deposits, FDIC rules, OCC approvals, on‑chain payments, GENIUS Act.
Bullish
Regulatory moves that formally permit banks to custody crypto and issue supervised payment stablecoins are likely to be positive for the crypto market, especially stablecoins and tokens used in tokenization and settlement. In the short term, clarity from the OCC and expectation of FDIC/Fed rules under the GENIUS Act should reduce policy uncertainty, encouraging institutional onboarding and liquidity into regulated stablecoins and tokenized asset markets — a bullish signal for stablecoin demand and on‑chain settlement volumes. Over the medium to long term, migration of deposits, bonds, money‑market funds and cross‑border payments on‑chain would expand use cases and transaction volume, supporting growth in tokenization platforms and settlement tokens. Risks include implementation delays, conservative capital rules that raise issuance costs, or banks favoring internal tokenized deposits over public stablecoins, which could mute upside for commercial stablecoins specifically. Overall, the net effect favors adoption and higher on‑chain activity, which traders should view as bullish for stablecoin-related liquidity and tokens tied to tokenization and settlement infrastructure.