International cooperation needed to manage the risks of stablecoins
News, Staff memo Stablecoins have the potential to improve payment services by making payments faster and programmable. But stablecoins can also pose a threat to financial stability, consumer protection and trust in money. Strong international cooperation is an important part of addressing the challenges posed by the emergence of stablecoins, according to the authors of the Staff Memo “Stablecoins could lead to better payments, but risks remain”.
In a new Staff Memo, authors Claire Ingram Bogusz and Björn Segendorf from the Department of Financial Stability and Reimo Juks and Gabriel Söderberg from the Payments Department describe why and how the use of stablecoins has increased, how stablecoin arrangements work and the policy questions they have prompted worldwide.
The market for stablecoins has grown rapidly in recent years. From a total value of 4 billion USD in January 2020, to 272 billion USD in October 2025. Ninety-nine per cent of stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar. This rapid growth has prompted regulatory action at global and national levels.
However, that stablecoins could deliver better payment services must not allow them to jeopardise financial stability, consumer protection and trust in money. One concern is that stablecoins pegged to the US dollar could lead to increased dollarisation in some countries. Linked to this is the concern that countries are becoming dependent on foreign providers of stablecoins and the infrastructure behind them, undermining their autonomy in payments. This is similar to concerns about the dominance of Visa and Mastercard in some countries.
The use of stablecoins outside decentralised finance, for example for buying and selling of crypto-assets and use as collateral, is still limited but is growing rapidly in some areas. Whether this development will lead to wider use remains uncertain. But managing the risks that may arise requires strong international cooperation, especially given their global nature.
Authors: Claire Ingram Bogusz and Björn Segendorff from the Financial Stability Department, and Reimo Juks and Gabriel Söderberg from the Payments Department.
Staff Memo
A Staff Memo provides members of the Riksbank's staff with the opportunity to publish advanced analyses of relevant issues. It is a publication for civil servants that is free of policy conclusions and individual standpoints on current policy issues. Publication is approved by the appropriate Head of Department. The opinions expressed in staff memos are those of the authors and are not to be seen as the Riksbank's standpoint.