Author
Sujha Sundararajan
Author
Sujha Sundararajan
Share
Chris Gorman, CEO of KeyCorp Bank that manages assets worth $185 billion, said that stablecoin has “a lot of promise,” making it a good solution for clients.
Joining CNBC’s ‘Squawk on the Street’ to discuss KeyCorp’s operating environment, he touched down on recent US stablecoin legislation.
“When you think about stablecoin, there is really a few things,” Gorman noted. “There’s the institutional piece which will be equivalent, like prime brokerage, that will be dominated by a single handful of international banks.”
He emphasized its store as a value, adding that KeyCorp Bank clients want it.
“They want to hold it in their wallets and we will accommodate that. And so we’ll be sure to do that.”
Speaking about the discussion around whether stablecoins would cannibalize deposits at banks, he said that it’s a threat, however, not an immediate threat. “I think the industry will respond,” said Gorman.
Stablecoins Could Be a Really Good Solution For Clients: KeyCorp CEO
CEO Gorman said that stablecoins are faster, cheaper and better, making them a “really good solution for our clients.”
“The last is just programmable payments, which every bank needs to do, whether its escrows or others. I am pretty enthusiastic about it,” he added.
Further, the bank plans to give customers the ability to trade and store crypto through its banking platform.
The signing of the GENIUS Act last week has led to a more favorable regulatory environment for stablecoins, resulting in large lenders exploring this asset class.
JPMorgan Chase on Tuesday said the biggest U.S. bank is exploring lending against clients’ crypto holdings and called stablecoins, are “real.” JPMorgan will be involved both in deposit tokens and stablecoins, CEO Jamie Dimon recently confirmed.
Besides, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said that the bank is working to launch a stablecoin; however, the timeline is unclear. “We’ve done a lot of work,” he said, adding that there’s going to be a stablecoin for sure.
New York-based Citi is also mulling issuing its own stablecoin, according to CEO Jane Fraser. The $2.6 trillion-asset bank is “very active” in the tokenized deposit space, she said. On the other hand, Morgan Stanley is closely tracking stablecoin developments
