ECB policymaker and Dutch central bank governor Olaf Sleijpen said that a run on US stablecoin could trigger a rapid sale of the US Treasuries backing them.
Top ECB official and Dutch Central Bank governor, Olaf Sleijpen, recently said that a run on US stablecoin could potentially send shockwaves across the global market. His comments come as the stablecoin volume in 2025 surged by 48% so far, crossing over $300 billion.
The surge follows new rules introduced by US President Donald Trump that open the door for privately issued stablecoins. Last week itself, payments giant VISA introduced its fiat-to-stablecoin pilot program while targeting global businesses, marketplaces, and other gig economy platforms.
Many of these tokens are backed by US Treasuries as their underlying assets. While speaking to Financial Times, ECB policymaker Sleijpen said:
“If stablecoins in the US increase at the same pace as they have been increasing . . . they will become systemically relevant at a certain point. If stablecoins are not that stable, you could end up in a situation where the underlying assets need to be sold quickly.”
Olaf Sleijpen warned that the rapid growth of stablecoins could pose risks to financial stability, the broader economy, and inflation in Europe. He added that such developments could compel action from the European Central Bank for key monetary policy changes.
US Stablecoin Run Can Force ECB Policy Shift
The senior policymaker of the European Central Bank (ECB) stated that the global expansion of US dollar-denominated stablecoins could push the Eurozone, into conditions similar to emerging markets.
He added that heavy reliance on the US currency can undermine local policymakers’ ability to steer interest rates or manage the money supply. As a result, the ECB is already working on blockchain-based euro settlements and plans to introduce them by early 2026.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Jean Tirole has separately cautioned that governments may ultimately face multibillion-dollar bailouts if such tokens were to unravel. Meanwhile, the ECB’s progress on Digital Euro has drawn criticism from the crypto community.
Dutch central bank governor Olaf Sleijpen said the Eurozone’s monetary policy outlook has improved slightly since June. He added that trade uncertainty has eased, economic growth across the bloc is proving more resilient than anticipated.
After delivering eight quarter-point reductions that brought its main rate down to 2%, the ECB has held borrowing costs steady for the past five months. Investors now assign only a 25% probability to another quarter-point cut before the end of next year.
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