While Mortier said he had not fully made up his mind about stablecoins, he said they could cause a major shift in money flows, weaken the U.S. dollar by creating an alternative to it, and become “quasi-banks” because people will deposit money in a stablecoin and assume they can withdraw it at any time, according to the report.
“It could potentially destabilize the global payment system,” Mortier said, per the report. “I’m not so sure it’s a good idea.”
Amundi is Europe’s largest asset manager, and Mortier manages 2 trillion euros (about $2.4 trillion) of assets that the company manages, per the report.
Mortier’s comments came at a time when U.S. lawmakers are racing to push forward a stablecoin bill, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins of 2025 Act (GENIUS Act), that has already cleared the Senate.
President Donald Trump said in a social media post that the House should move “LIGHTNING FAST” on the Senate’s stablecoin bill.
The GENIUS Act aims to regulate digital tokens at the federal level and bring transparency to stablecoin issuance.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global organization targeting money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing, said June 26 that the growing adoption of stablecoins and other virtual assets “could amplify illicit finance risks.”
The organization said in a press release that the use of stablecoins by North Korean agents, terrorist financiers, drug traffickers and other illicit actors has grown over the past year, and “most on-chain illicit activity now involves stablecoins.”
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said June 24 that stablecoins “fall short” as a form of sound money and “without regulation pose a risk to financial stability and monetary sovereignty.”
Because stablecoins do not deliver acceptance for payment at par, timely discharge of obligations or safeguards against financial crime, “their future role is unclear,” BIS said in a press release.
Stablecoins also face challenges around user experience, compliance and technological frictions, PYMNTS reported June 26.
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