The country’s biggest banks are gingerly moving forward with stablecoin efforts after the Trump administration gave the industry legitimacy with the passage of the GENIUS Act. 

“The banks are opportunistic engines,” Pierre Buhler, managing director of financial services practice at consultancy SSA & Co., told Bank Automation News. “Stablecoins currently are considered very esoteric, and banks are evaluating their place in the market on how they can be the biggest players in the space.”

The stablecoin market is expected to hit $1.6 trillion by 2030, up from $270 billion in 2025, according to Citi’s Digital Dollar report published on April 14.  

While it’s beneficial for major banks to issue their own stablecoins, they will take the time to study the market before taking a concerted step, Roy Ben-Hur, senior managing director at Deloitte, told BAN. 

“One would assume that they are contemplating the dual strategy at this point, either consortium, but also non-consortia as well,” Ben-Hur said. 

A difference in each bank’s tech stack and if it can support stablecoins is one important factor to consider before creating a consortium, Buhler said. 

Possibility of a consortium 

Banks are likely to approach stablecoins similarly to how they approached tech modernization — with the realization that it’s essential but will come at different paces across the industry, Buhler said. 

Banks have different asset sizes, tech capabilities, clientele and needs, Pierre said, and this will determine their strategies. 

The top three U.S. banks all weighed in on stablecoin and consortium opportunities when they reported second-quarter earnings:  

J.P. Morgan 

“We’re going to be involved in both J.P. Morgan Deposit Coin and stablecoins to understand it, to be good at it,” Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said on July 15. 

Bank of America 

CEO Brian Moynihan said his bank is “still trying to figure out how big or small [stablecoin] is.” The bank is open to a consortium and “will partner with some of the stablecoin [providers] and already have partnerships with some of them,” he said on July 16.  

Citi  

CEO Jane Fraser said the bank will evaluate issuing its own stablecoins or working with a consortium. “We aim to deliver the benefits of advancements in stablecoin and digital assets to our clients in a safe and sound manner by modernizing our own infrastructure,” she said on July 15. 

Other top banks 

While Wells Fargo did not break out its stablecoin plans, Buhler told BAN: “If Wells had been out of the asset freeze sooner, [CEO Charles Scharf] would already be looking at stablecoins.” 

Citizens and KeyBank are exploring the possibility of a stablecoin consortium.

“We, as an industry, need to educate ourselves on all of the alternatives, but we also have to wait for the legislation to be passed,” Michael Cummins, executive vice president of treasury solutions, told Bank Automation News, adding that the bank is evaluating a consortium for stablecoins as a good alternative to issue its own.

Competition from fintechs 

While banks appear to be taking the lead in capturing the stablecoin market, some fintechs have had years-long head starts and others will look to innovate quickly to catch up. 

For example, crypto and stablecoin service provider Circle went public on the New York Stock Exchange on June 5 and has a market capitalization of $41 billion. Similarly, Coinbase is working with Shopify to allow customers and merchants make and accept payments in cryptocurrencies, by-passing traditional banks altogether.

JPMorgan’s Dimon said he is keeping an eye on fintechs, noting, “these guys are very smart. They’re trying to figure out a way to create bank accounts and get into payment systems and rewards programs,” he said. “We have to be cognizant of that, [and] the way to be cognizant is to be involved [in stablecoin].” 

Deloitte’s Ben-Hur agrees, saying fintechs and megabanks will adopt more quickly due to existing tech stack and market reach.