JPMorgan warns: What is the risk of interest-bearing stablecoins? How should regulatory safeguards be strengthened?

【BlockBeats】 Recently, JPMorgan Chase brought up an interesting topic at the Q4 earnings call—stablecoins.

The Wall Street giant’s CFO Jeremy Barnum was frank: We support blockchain innovation, but some stablecoin designs need to be improved. Specifically, he pointed the finger at yield-bearing stablecoins—these products look like bank deposits and can earn interest, but their operational logic completely bypasses the regulatory framework that traditional banks have built over hundreds of years.

In Barnum’s own words: You can’t build a parallel system with all the features of a bank—deposits, interest, liquidity—but without the corresponding prudential safeguards. That’s clearly not acceptable.

Interestingly, JPMorgan Chase actually has no issue with competition and innovation; what they oppose is creating parallel banks outside the existing regulatory protection framework. In other words, innovation is fine, but it must be orderly. This attitude aligns with the original intent of the GENIUS Act—the legislation that aims to establish regulatory guardrails for stablecoin issuance.

This stance signals a clear message: traditional financial institutions and regulators are now taking a supportive but regulated approach to stablecoins. This could be beneficial for the long-term development of the entire Web3 ecosystem, as compliance is key to going further.