Former BIS Chief Now Sees Room for Stablecoins Alongside Fiat
Agustín Carstens, once a fierce crypto skeptic, says stablecoins can boost inclusion but need global rules to coexist with traditional money.
Agustín Carstens, the former general manager of the Bank for International Settlements and one of the most prominent institutional voices skeptical of digital assets, has meaningfully shifted his public position on stablecoins. Rather than dismissing them outright, Carstens now acknowledges that stablecoins carry genuine potential to expand financial inclusion and drive innovation in payments — a notable departure from the harder line he maintained during his tenure atop global central banking's de facto umbrella organization.
The evolution in Carstens' thinking matters beyond the personal. As the former steward of the BIS — the so-called bank for central banks — his views have historically shaped how monetary policymakers around the world frame their approach to crypto. A softening at that level signals that the institutional consensus on stablecoins may be quietly shifting from outright resistance toward managed accommodation.
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Carstens did not offer an unconditional endorsement. His position rests on a significant condition: that coherent, cross-border regulatory frameworks be developed to govern how stablecoins operate alongside sovereign fiat currencies. Without those guardrails, the risks of monetary fragmentation, consumer harm, and regulatory arbitrage remain live concerns that central banks have raised repeatedly in recent years.
The call for global coordination is easier stated than achieved. Jurisdictions are moving at very different speeds — the European Union has enacted its MiCA framework, the United States remains legislatively gridlocked on stablecoin rules, and emerging markets face their own distinct pressures. Carstens' framing implicitly acknowledges that coexistence is increasingly inevitable; the open question is whether the international regulatory architecture can keep pace with the market's growth before systemic risks accumulate.
For observers tracking the long arc of institutional crypto skepticism, this moment is instructive. The debate is no longer whether stablecoins will exist within the global financial system, but on whose terms and under what oversight. Continue reading at Cointelegraph.
