The stablecoin market continues to exert pressure on the traditional banking system. Piero Cipollone, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), issued a warning: the mass adoption of stablecoins could trigger a significant outflow of retail deposits from credit institutions. This statement was made at the annual meeting of the Italian Federation of Cooperative Credit Banks, Federcasse.
Cipollone emphasized that banks are already losing a significant portion of fee income and control over payment data due to the expansion of mobile financial services. "If the use of stablecoins increases in the future, banks will also lose retail deposits," he stated. In essence, we are witnessing a classic dilemma: innovations that enhance the efficiency of settlements simultaneously undermine the resource base of traditional players.
In response to this challenge, the ECB is actively promoting the concept of the digital euro (CBDC). According to the regulator, a state-backed digital currency can preserve the role of public money in the era of digital payments and, critically, keep banks within the payment ecosystem. The project is also intended to address the issue of infrastructure dependency: currently, two-thirds of all card transactions in the eurozone are processed through non-European systems, and this share is steadily growing.
The statistics are alarming: 13 out of 21 countries in the currency bloc lack a national card scheme, and more than half of the states have no proprietary solutions for e-commerce. The ECB assures that the digital euro, equipped with clear limits and a zero interest rate, will not pose a threat to banking liquidity or financial stability. It is worth recalling that on July 14, the regulator already selected 36 banks and payment companies to participate in the pilot project. The operational phase will begin in the second half of 2027 and will last 12 months.
Analyst's comment: Cipollone's statement is not just a warning but a clear signal to the market. The ECB understands that stablecoins, especially those backed by the dollar, pose not only a competitive but also a geopolitical threat to the euro. In this context, the digital euro is not so much a technological breakthrough as a tool for sovereignty and protecting the banking system from the "cryptocurrency erosion" of the deposit base. The only question is whether the regulator will manage to deploy the infrastructure before stablecoins completely reshape consumer habits.