Former BIS head changes rhetoric: stablecoins and fiat can coexist, but with caveats
Agustín Carstens, former head of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), made an unexpected statement at the Point Zero Forum in Zurich. He suggested that stablecoins could not only coexist with fiat money but also bring real benefits — stimulating financial innovation, expanding access to services, and reducing transaction costs. However, the key condition, according to him, is the creation of a global coordination framework for regulators, which, as he admitted, currently lags significantly behind market development.
"We should try to create conditions under which we can live with fiat money and stablecoins," Carstens emphasized.
This position is strikingly different from the one he held as head of the BIS. Previously, Carstens was one of the harshest critics of private digital currencies. In 2022, he warned that stablecoin issuers have an incentive to invest reserves in risky assets, undermining trust in them. And in 2025, he stated that such assets fail three fundamental tests of money: unity, elasticity, and protection against illicit activity.
It is important to understand that the new rhetoric does not mean a complete capitulation. Carstens is no longer an official representative of the BIS, and his opinion is that of an expert, not an organizational policy. He clearly stated that coexistence is only possible with agreed-upon rules, not in a wild market environment.
The BIS itself maintains a much stricter line. In a recent edition of the Annual Economic Report 2026, the organization indicated that stablecoins demonstrate only some of the benefits of tokenization but do not meet the basic properties of trusted money. The BIS sees them as risks to financial stability, bank funding, and even monetary sovereignty.
Against this backdrop, it is noteworthy that stablecoin regulation is already taking shape in the US (GENIUS Act) and Europe (MiCA). However, as Carstens rightly noted, national laws do not solve the problem of cross-border use. Without international coordination, we risk ending up with a fragmented ecosystem where stablecoins are only effective within individual jurisdictions.
My analysis: Carstens' shift in rhetoric is not a sign of weakness, but a pragmatic signal to the market. Regulators are beginning to understand that banning stablecoins is impossible, but leaving them uncontrolled is dangerous. In the next 2-3 years, we will likely see attempts to create hybrid models where stablecoins operate in parallel with CBDCs, but under strict oversight. This is not the end of fiat, but its evolution.