Standard Chartered Predicts Shift to Stablecoins in Emerging Markets

According to BlockBeats, Standard Chartered Bank forecasts that up to $1 trillion could move from emerging market bank deposits to stablecoins over the next three years. These dollar-pegged tokens offer households and businesses a way to bypass local banks and access dollar exposure with minimal friction. Geoffrey Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered, along with Madhur Jha, Global Economist and Head of Thematic Research, highlighted that for users in these emerging markets, stablecoins have effectively become 'dollar-denominated bank accounts.' Historically, emerging markets have been hotspots for stablecoin adoption, primarily due to the large unbanked population. The bank notes that even with the U.S. GENIUS Act imposing zero yield requirements on compliant issuers, this trend may accelerate as 'safety of principal is more important than asset yield.' Standard Chartered projects that the global market capitalization of stablecoins will reach $2 trillion by the end of 2028, a prediction cited by the U.S. Treasury Department. The bank estimates that currently, about two-thirds of stablecoin supply functions as savings for emerging market bank deposits.