Aug
What Industry Leaders See Ahead for Banks in the Stablecoin Era
How stablecoins reshape banking—from custody to cross-border payments—through expert insights and strategic frameworks.
Dr. Ignacio E. Carballo
Director, Alternative Finance
In building our recent report “How Banks Can Make Money with Stablecoins”, I interviewed several leaders across the stablecoin and digital asset ecosystem. While their input helped shape the report’s framework, their full responses went far beyond the scope of that piece—in depth, complexity, and clarity.
This article brings those unfiltered perspectives to the forefront. It surfaces insights that didn’t make it into the original report: the overlooked opportunity for regional and mid-sized banks, the operational risks and design tradeoffs that come with 24/7 settlement, and how stablecoins are already enabling a rethink of custody, compliance, and liquidity management. It also reveals why the real competitive edge may lie in partnerships, not product launches.
Across five themes, we explore what leading experts from Kraken, Paxos and Zodia Markets are seeing up close. Their views offer not just validation—but challenge. And for banks serious about staying relevant in a programmable, borderless financial system, these conversations are essential reading.
Erick Schneider
Banking & Payments Lead for the Americas
Chuk Okpalugo
Product Lead
Nick Philpott
Co-Founder and Head of Partnerships
By Standard Chartered & OSL
1. Where the Real Money Lies: Revenue Streams and Hidden Potential
While our report identified six core monetization paths for banks—ranging from FX spreads to tokenized deposits—all three leaders agreed: stablecoins don’t just replicate existing revenue; they amplify it.
“Stablecoins aren’t a magical new cash cow—they’re a serious upgrade to existing business models,” said Erick Schneider of Kraken. “They sharpen what banks already do well—payments, custody, treasury—just with a blockchain backbone instead of 1980s plumbing.”
Nick Philpott added nuance: “Stablecoins open up a host of revenue opportunities, many hiding in plain sight. Beyond FX and custody, there’s revenue in brokering treasuries, repo, strategic equity stakes in issuers, and more. It’s not just about product—it’s about embedding banks in programmable, real-time, borderless finance.”
Perhaps most critically, Chuk Okpalugo emphasized the democratization of access that stablecoins enable:
“The most underappreciated opportunity is how stablecoins level the playing field for smaller regional banks. Without costly correspondent networks, they can now offer real-time cross-border payments and access to digital dollars.”
PCMI Key Insight
As we can see, the revenue conversation is evolving from where banks can earn to who gets to earn. Stablecoins don’t just unlock new streams—they lower the barrier to entry. If regional or smaller banks adopt the right models, they can outmaneuver incumbents. That alone should shift how executives prioritize stablecoin strategy.
2. Custody and Wallet Infrastructure: The Next Competitive Edge?
Banks are naturally positioned to offer regulated custody and wallet abstractions—but should they compete with crypto-native players or partner?
“Offering digital asset custody is just a logical extension of what banks already do,” said Philpott. “Clients want trusted institutions, and as adoption grows, the banks that move now will become the anchors of this new ecosystem.”
For Okpalugo, banks’ advantage lies in abstraction: “Clients don’t want to manage a crypto wallet just to access stablecoin benefits. Banks can offer seamless interfaces, hiding complexity while unlocking the value.”
Schneider took a more colorful approach: “Think of it like peanut butter and jelly—banks bring the consistency, crypto firms bring the flavor. Together, they create something much stickier for the customer.”
PCMI Key Insight
All three emphasized that hybrid custody models—bank-branded front ends with crypto-native back ends—will define the winning formula. Banks that integrate programmable infrastructure without compromising trust or compliance will stand out. This is the make-or-break battleground. Wallet and custody infrastructure will define who owns the customer experience in stablecoins. Banks that wait may find themselves disintermediated by front ends they don’t control. Those who move early—ideally through smart partnerships—will own both interface and trust.
3. What Could Go Wrong? Key Risks to Manage
Stablecoins may accelerate opportunity, but they also introduce a new operational paradigm. Banks must prepare accordingly.
Operational risk was top of mind for Schneider: “These systems run 24/7/365. Even minor outages can have major consequences if your ledger or API can’t keep up.” Liquidity risk is equally pressing: “Digital liabilities can move faster than traditional banking cycles. A run on tokenized deposits could expose cracks in minutes.” he added.
Philpott brought attention to tokenized deposits, predicting they “won’t consistently trade at par,” particularly outside closed systems. He also raised concerns about permissioned networks failing to scale: “If you’re not on the open internet, you’ll never match the scale of the open internet.”
Banks must not treat stablecoin integration as a side project. As Schneider put it bluntly: “It’s not just a tech upgrade—it’s a full-spectrum operational commitment.”
PCMI Key Insight
What’s clear is that stablecoins don’t merely digitize existing workflows—they require banks to rethink their infrastructure mindset. This is about system design, not product rollout. If executives frame it that way, they’ll build lasting capability—not just compliance band-aids.
4. The Anatomy of a Successful Bank–Crypto Partnership
If banks are to move quickly but responsibly, the success of partnerships becomes central. So what separates the good from the great?
“Trust is the cornerstone,” said Okpalugo. “Crypto firms must operate with enterprise-grade compliance and be proactive—sharing insights, flagging risk, and maintaining open lines of communication throughout the relationship.”
Philpott echoed the need for alignment on values, not just goals: “When both sides bring their strengths—banks with regulation and trust, crypto with agility and tech—you get genuine, mutually reinforcing partnerships.”
Schneider detailed the operational playbook: “You need clear SLAs, mutual reconciliation processes, shared governance. Crypto moves fast—but moving fast and getting fined isn’t a win.”
PCMI Key Insight
Ultimately, success means co-managed infrastructure—not just a vendor relationship. Crypto firms can’t treat banks as slow dinosaurs. Banks can’t treat crypto as a compliance headache. The winners co-design their stack—and own it together. The market doesn’t need more PoCs or pilot headlines. It needs execution. The bank–crypto partnerships that will lead this wave are those treating each other not as vendors, but as codevelopers of infrastructure. The mental shift? Move from control to coordination.
5. Will Stablecoins Win the Cross-Border Game?
Finally, we asked the big question: Will stablecoins become the default settlement rail for B2B cross-border payments within the next 3–5 years?
For Philpott, the answer was a firm yes—but not for reasons often cited: “CBDCs are unlikely to work cross-border. CLS has been trying to network central banks for 20 years and only linked 18 currencies. At that pace, we’ll finish in 200 years. Stablecoins scale faster—because they run on open infrastructure.”
Schneider offered an equally assertive vision: “Explaining a SWIFT wire to my daughter in five years will be like explaining Blockbuster. Stablecoins aren’t the future of B2B payments—they’re the present.”
Still, Okpalugo warned against declaring stablecoin supremacy prematurely: “It’s not a binary outcome. In high-friction corridors, stablecoins will dominate. But globally, it will be a layered stack—stablecoins complementing, not replacing, SWIFT and APMs.”
Even so, all three agreed: stablecoins are gaining traction where it matters most—speed, transparency, and programmable value. That makes them hard to ignore and even harder to displace.
PCMI Key Insight
We’re not looking at a binary outcome. The real trend is hybridization. Stablecoins will dominate underserved corridors first—but their programmability and liquidity advantages mean even tier-one banks will soon rely on them beneath the surface. The best players will orchestrate multiple rails—and own the intelligence layer on top.
Final Thoughts: From Strategy to Execution
If our original report was a blueprint, this article is a look inside the architect’s mind. What these conversations reveal is that the future of banking isn’t about replacing legacy infrastructure—it’s about composing new capabilities on top of it.
Stablecoins are becoming the connective tissue of a new global financial system—one that is faster, flatter, and programmable by design. the institutions that learn to harness their full potential—through custody, compliance, API delivery, or co-issuance—will define not just the next wave of revenue, but the very architecture of modern finance. Those who embed stablecoins into custody, compliance, treasury, and payments will lead the next era of trusted financial infrastructure.
Next Steps
The conversations in this article make one thing clear: stablecoins are no longer an optional experiment for banks—they’re fast becoming the foundation of the next-generation financial infrastructure. From custody and compliance to treasury and cross-border payments, the question is no longer if you should act, but how to move quickly and responsibly.
At PCMI, we help banks, fintechs, and infrastructure providers move from strategy to execution in this evolving landscape.
Whether you are:
- A bank exploring custody or wallet infrastructure to stay relevant in a programmable payments ecosystem.
- A regional institution aiming to level the cross-border playing field with real-time digital dollars.
- A financial provider seeking strategic partnerships with crypto-native players to unlock new revenue streams.
—we bring research, strategic frameworks, and actionable intelligence to guide your roadmap.
Here’s how we can help your team:
Understand the opportunity: We map market activity, competitive positioning, and the real revenue pools—from tokenized deposits to FX spread capture.
Design your playbook: We prioritize use cases, evaluate partnership models, and build go-to-market strategies aligned with your regulatory and operational reality.
Validate what matters: Through expert interviews and end-user research, we uncover adoption triggers, partner requirements, and operational risks.
Protect your lead: We provide continuous competitive intelligence, regulatory tracking, and risk assessments to ensure your strategy stays ahead as the market evolves.
The architecture of trust in the stablecoin era is being written now. The firms that act early—building compliance-first, partnership-driven models—will own the key revenue streams of programmable finance.
At PCMI, we can help you become one of them. If you’re ready to explore how stablecoins can reshape your revenue and infrastructure strategy, let’s talk.
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Dr. Ignacio E. Carballo
Director, Alternative Finance
