Talking at Blockchain.RIO 2026 convention, Guto Antunes, head of Itaú Digital Property, stated economies closely depending on financial institution credit score might face unintended penalties if stablecoins exchange conventional deposits too rapidly.
“The Brazilian financial system could be very depending on credit score, and that entails the banking multiplier, demand deposits,” Antunes stated. “If we migrate the whole lot 100% to the world of stablecoins, we might have a crash inside what has been established.”
Financial institution’s stake
The feedback come from a financial institution with a big stake within the consequence. Itaú, Latin America’s largest non-public lender, serves about 70mn clients and held roughly R$3.2tn ($618bn) in complete belongings on the finish of the primary quarter, making buyer deposits one of many predominant sources of funding for its lending enterprise. Its complete funding stood at R$1.67tn ($320bn), together with deposits, securities and borrowings.
However Antunes stopped in need of portraying stablecoins as a menace to banks. As an alternative, he argued that stablecoins, tokenized deposits and conventional financial institution deposits every have distinct roles inside the monetary system, and that issues come up provided that one makes an attempt to exchange the others too rapidly.
“This isn’t the fault of banks, it’s not the fault of the stablecoin, of the tokenized deposit,” Antunes stated. “That is how our financial system has grown over the previous years and what it’s primarily based on. So you’ll be able to’t give a radical shock to what has been constructed.”
Itaú has been increasing its digital belongings enterprise. After creating its personal crypto custody infrastructure, the financial institution launched retail cryptocurrency buying and selling in 2023 and has since expanded the platform to incorporate greater than a dozen digital belongings. It has additionally change into more and more concerned in tokenization, collaborating in an industry-led pilot testing blockchain-based issuance, transfers and settlement of capital-market belongings.
US debate
Antunes’ argument touches on one of many details of friction in Washington across the CLARITY Act, laws that will set up a broader regulatory framework for digital belongings within the US.
US banking teams have opposed provisions that will permit crypto corporations to supply rewards on stablecoin balances, arguing that enticing returns might encourage clients to maneuver cash out of financial institution deposits, decreasing a key supply of funding for loans. The crypto {industry} has countered that such restrictions would defend incumbent banks from competitors somewhat than handle monetary stability issues.
The Senate in the end sought a compromise by prohibiting rewards merely for holding stablecoins whereas permitting incentives tied to transactions and different exercise. The dispute nonetheless dragged negotiations on for months and stays one of many invoice’s most delicate points as lawmakers put together to revisit the laws after the August recess.
Maybe aware of the either-or debate happening in Washington, Antunes cautioned in opposition to turning the dialogue right into a alternative between banks and stablecoins.
“We’ve got to be a little bit cautious with radicalism at this second, to not get too caught up within the thesis of which one is best, one or the opposite,” he stated, “and overlook that the opening is way deeper right here in our banking infrastructure, our financial infrastructure.”
Extra reporting by Danyella Colares
