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- Amundi warns US stablecoin policy could destabilise global payments system</p>
<p>Marc JonesJuly 3, 2025 at 6:04 AM</p>
<p>By Marc Jones</p>
<p>LONDON (Reuters) -Europe's largest asset manager has raised concerns that a boom in dollar-backed stablecoins in the wake of the United States' GENIUS Act could cause a major shift in money flows that destabilises the global payment system.</p>
<p>The U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act a bill last month to create a regulatory framework for the U.S.-dollar-pegged cryptotokens.</p>
<p>It is expected to be passed by the House of Representatives and approved by President Donald Trump, leaving other countries worried about a wave of so-called 'dollarization' of economies if their own populations buy them.</p>
<p>"It could be genius, or it could be evil," Amundi Asset Management's chief investment officer Vincent Mortier told Reuters, voicing his concerns about the U.S. act.</p>
<p>JPMorgan expects the amount of stablecoins in circulation to roughly double to $500 billion in the next few years, although some estimates have put it as high as $2 trillion.</p>
<p>As stablecoins need be pegged to the dollar under the U.S. act, it will trigger buying of U.S. Treasury bonds. That has its benefits for the U.S. as it grapples with a gaping budget deficit, but could also pose problems for the U.S. and other countries.</p>
<p>"In doing so you create an alternative to the U.S. dollar and that could lead to more weakening of the dollar," Mortier said. "Because if a country is pushing a stablecoin, it could be perceived as pushing the message that the dollar is not that strong."</p>
<p>Currently, 98% of all stablecoins are pegged to the dollar, but more than 80% of stablecoin transactions happen outside the United States.</p>
<p>Italy's finance minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti, warned in April that the U.S. stablecoin policies presented an "even more dangerous" threat to European financial stability than Trump's trade war.</p>
<p>His argument was that access to dollars without needing a U.S. bank account would be attractive to millions of people and could undermine countries' monetary sovereignty.</p>
<p>The Bank for International Settlements issued a similar warning on the risks posed by stablecoins, noting their potential to undermine monetary sovereignty, transparency issues and the risk of capital flight from emerging economies.</p>
<p>Mortier, who oversees the 2 trillion euros ($2.36 trillion) of assets Amundi manages - none of which are in crypto - said he still had not fully made up his mind about stablecoins, but the worry was that a mass uptake could impact financial stability.</p>
<p>As well as the dollarization issue, they would become "quasi-banks" he said, as people will deposit money in a coin assuming they can take it out again whenever they want. They will also be used as a direct means of payment.</p>
<p>"It could potentially destabilise the global payment system," he said. "I'm not so sure it's a good idea".</p>
<p>($1 = 0.8483 euros)</p>
<p>(Reporting by Marc Jones, Editing by Louise Heavens)</p>
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