No. 1069 - Anchored to what? Payment stablecoins and the central bank balance sheet
This paper examines various options for stablecoin issuers to access the central bank balance sheet, including direct or indirect access (through other intermediaries) and access on either the asset or the liability side of the balance sheet. It assesses both the advantages and drawbacks of these options and how their design - together with the regulatory requirements on the composition of backing assets and on the timing and terms of convertibility - may affect the effective anchoring of stablecoins to sovereign money.
In practice, there is no single regulatory solution for anchoring stablecoins to sovereign money. The European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom combine two dimensions in different ways: the type of backing assets and the terms of access to the central bank balance sheet. Direct access strengthens the credibility of conversion at par into sovereign currency, but may not be sufficient on its own: the requirements on backing assets and on the terms of token conversion also matter.
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13 October 2026
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