American Banker's 2025 On-Chain Finance Report
American Banker's On-Chain Finance survey was fielded online during August and September, 2025, among 142 employees of banks, credit unions or payments companies. All respondents are knowledgeable about their institution's plans for digital currencies, including cryptocurrencies and digital assets.
Top findings from the report- Improving payments speed was key to issuing a stablecoin at financial institutions.
- Corporate clients are the main audience today for stablecoins.
- Pegging stablecoins to fiat currency is the top method for price security.
- The market for stablecoin networks is vast, with early leaders.
- Lack of consumer demand, not risk, is the top reason for not issuing a coin.
Results from the report are highlighted below using interactive charts. Mouse over each section for more detail, click on the chart labels to show or hide sections and use the arrows to cycle between chart views. This item is the latest in a series diving into new data from American Banker, so check back for the latest updates.
What's behind the decision to mint a stablecoin?
Among banks and credit unions planning to launch a stablecoin, most seek to improve the payment process.
Increasing the speed of payments was the top use case behind financial institutions' decision to launch a stablecoin, with 55% of respondents citing this reason.
Close behind was cross-border payments (including interoperability), which garnered 36% of responses, followed by a tie for third between 24/7 access and directness of payments, which each earned 27%.
Other purposes identified by experts surveyed include expanded client offerings (18%), stability of the asset (18%), transparency in payments (9%), increased security (9%), cheaper payments options (9%) and increased inclusion (9%).
Key takeaway: Improvements to payments-related operations were top motivators for driving stablecoin adoption.
Targeting corporate clients first
Corporate clients were the No. 1 customer base that financial institutions plan to offer stablecoin access to, with 54% of respondents in agreement. Institutional clients and small/medium business clients were tied for second, at 38% of respondents each.
Wealth management clients were third, with 23%, followed by retail clients at 15%, and 8% who said stablecoins are for internal use only at this point in time.
Key takeaway: Corporates are the most popular client base for banks and credit unions to extend stablecoin access to today.
Putting the "stable" in stablecoin
Stablecoins typically gain their stability by linking their value to another asset. Otherwise, they are far more likely to experience the volatile swings in valuation that Bitcoin is known for.
"Fiat," or government-issued currency, is the predominant choice among banks and credit unions for pegging stablecoin values.
The majority of respondents surveyed, 62%, said their organizations were pegging their stablecoin to the U.S. dollar. None responded that their institutions were anchoring their stablecoin to a cryptocurrency or commodity price.
Thirty-eight percent of respondents are algorithmically stabilizing the value of their organization's stablecoin, which outside of pegging to the value of fiat currency was the only other noteworthy anchoring method identified by respondents.
Eight percent of respondents said their organizations have no customers using stablecoins yet.
Key takeaway: Banks and credit unions are pegging stablecoin values to fiat currency.
Stablecoin networks of choice
Deciding to launch a stablecoin is no small feat, and picking the right network to offer the asset is just as important.
Ethereum and Solana were the top choices among respondents; each were preferred by 15%.
XRP, Tron, Coinbase and closed-loop blockchains, each with 8%, were other popular network options for making stablecoins available. Fifteen percent of experts said their network choice was confidential and declined to provide its name.
More than 20% of respondents were undecided or unsure which network their institution selected to make their stablecoin available.
Key takeaway: The mix of networks for supporting stablecoin offerings is varied, but Ethereum and Solana were the top two.
Why are some banks saying no to stablecoins?
The digital-asset markets are growing fast, as is institutional interest, but not all are eager to jump on the bandwagon.
The No. 1 response to why institutions decided against issuing a stablecoin was lack of client demand and inquiries, with 35% of respondents in agreement. Next was a preference to use or partner with existing stablecoins, at 18%.
High launch costs, the novelty of stablecoins as an asset and a murky regulatory environment, each with 12%, were other top hurdles holding back banks and credit unions from exploring stablecoins.
An assortment of other factors steering financial institutions away from stablecoin adoption, all with 6%, include risk, economies of scale, limited staff sizes and the compatibility with an institution.
Key takeaway: While risk is a factor in decisions from banks and credit unions to not launch a stablecoin, lack of demand was the top reason for not engaging further.
