The news: The Clearing House and Zelle-owner Early Warning Services are reportedly contemplating issuing a joint stablecoin, per The Wall Street Journal.

The consortia are backed by JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and other major US banks. 

EWS is primed to be a leader for this initiative as the operator of Zelle, the connective tissue between banks for P2P transactions.

What’s the value add for banks? With an institutional stablecoin—which holds a one-to-one exchange ratio with the dollar—banks can speed up transactions, especially for cross-border payments. 

Banks coalescing around one stablecoin—rather than pursuing individual coins—ensures interoperability and improves the customer experience. 

What changed? Federal regulator’s approach to crypto. 

While the Biden administration cracked down on crypto two years ago, Trump has billed himself as the crypto president and encouraged stablecoin adoption. Recent bipartisan legislation like the GENIUS Act has also pushed for stablecoin adoption.