Search Results
Journal Article
Stablecoins Could Increase Treasury Demand, but Only by Reducing Demand for Other Assets
Many expect the establishment of a U.S. framework for stablecoins to increase demand for Treasuries, thereby supporting the Treasury market. Although stablecoin issuers are currently only a small part of the Treasury market, they could become a much larger part under some external projections. However, such a large funding shift could have important implications for other parts of the economy, such as a possible reduction in the supply of credit.
Journal Article
"Future of Banking: Navigating Change” Conference Highlights Opportunities and Challenges for Community Banking
On June 5, experts from the financial industry and regulatory community gathered at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. While panelists discussed challenges for community bankers, such as rising funding pressures and difficulty attracting talent, they also highlighted opportunities. As faster payments and strategic third-party relationships help level the technological playing field, community banks may be better able to differentiate themselves through relationship banking.
Journal Article
“Future of Banking: Powering Progress, Protecting Trust” Conference Explores Implications of Technological Change
On May 14, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s “Future of Banking: Powering Progress, Protecting Trust” conference brought together more than 100 community bankers to discuss how technology is changing the banking industry. Panelists covered topics ranging from digital assets, fraud, and artificial intelligence (AI) to the future of the community banking industry.
Journal Article
Jackson Hole Economic Symposium Explored Innovation in Financial Markets
The 2026 Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium brought together academics and policymakers from around the world to discuss how stablecoins, tokenization, and artificial intelligence could transform financial markets and reflect on what those changes may require of central banks and regulators.
Journal Article
Pushing the Limit: Last-Minute Debt Limit Resolutions Have Increased Market Volatility and Uncertainty
Since reaching the debt limit in January 2023, the U.S. Treasury has used extraordinary measures to fund the government. However, the Treasury estimates those measures will be exhausted later this year. To gauge possible effects, we review economic and financial market outcomes during previous debt limit episodes. In each case, these episodes led to increased borrowing costs, financial market volatility, and uncertainty, particularly when the resolutions were prolonged.
Journal Article
Rapid Declines in the Fed’s Overnight Reverse Repurchase (ON RRP) Facility May Start to Slow
The value of assets held at the Federal Reserve’s overnight reverse repurchase (ON RRP) facility has dropped by close to 60 percent from its peak in December 2022. Much of this drop is attributed to an increase in Treasury bill issuance to refill the Treasury General Account (TGA) after the most recent debt-limit debate. However, the TGA is not expected to grow much more, suggesting the rapid decline in assets held at the ON RRP could slow.
Journal Article
The Increasing Brick-and-Mortar Efficiency of Community Banks
The number of community banks in the United States has been declining steadily for decades, as has the share of total industry assets held by these banks. Because community banks play an outsized role in originating loans to small businesses, a continued decline in their numbers and asset holdings could constrain entrepreneurs’ access to credit—and, accordingly, constrain growth in the overall economy.One possible explanation for the declining number of community banks is that larger banks have benefitted from economies of scale and outpaced them in efficiency. Stefan Jacewitz examines ...
Journal Article
A Method for Estimating the Price of Stablecoin Insurance
As crypto assets such as stablecoins have gained traction in recent years, they have also raised financial stability concerns. The attention has likely been motivated by a steady stream of stablecoin collapses, which are essentially bank runs. One approach to mitigating this risk could be to insure stablecoins in a way similar to bank deposits—that is, with a third-party guarantee to cover the depositor’s (or coin-holder’s) losses should the bank (or issuer) collapse. Because stablecoins have many functional similarities to bank deposits, the theory underlying deposit insurance pricing ...
Working Paper
An Analytical Price of Stablecoin “Deposit” Insurance
With the passage of the GENIUS Act of 2025, stablecoins are poised to play a greater role in the U.S. financial system. Although very similar to bank deposits, stablecoins lack the government guarantees offered for bank deposits in the form of deposit insurance. This paper is the first to analytically derive the price of hypothetical “deposit” insurance for stablecoins. The price of this insurance is shown to be a function of the volatility of the stablecoin’s price (the price of debt), reflecting Merton’s (1977) deposit insurance pricing model. Empirical estimates of the price of ...
Working Paper
An Analytical Price of Stablecoin “Deposit” Insurance
With the passage of the GENIUS Act of 2025, stablecoins are poised to play a greater role in the U.S. financial system. Although very similar to bank deposits, stablecoins lack the government guarantees offered for bank deposits in the form of deposit insurance. This paper is the first to analytically derive the price of hypothetical “deposit” insurance for stablecoins. The price of this insurance is shown to be a function of the volatility of the stablecoin’s price (the price of debt), reflecting Merton’s (1977) deposit insurance pricing model. Empirical estimates of the price of ...