Stablecoin Wallets Put Banks Under Pressure, Bain Says
Bain sees stablecoin wallets as the first threat to bank payments, especially for cross-border transfers. Banks still remain relevant for oversight, custody, and tokenized deposits.
Key Takeaways
- Bain says stablecoin wallets and digital wallets are putting pressure on banks’ dominant role as a place to store and move money.
- According to the report, the battle is shifting mainly to payments, while banks remain important for oversight, protection, and custody of money.
- Banks and major financial players are helping build tokenized deposits and stablecoin initiatives, despite ongoing security risks.
Traditional bank accounts are not disappearing anytime soon, but their role as the only place to store and move money is facing more and more pressure from stablecoins and digital wallets. That’s according to consultancy Bain in a new report. According to the company, the fight is shifting mainly to payments, while banks still remain important for oversight, protection, and custody of money.
Banks Are Losing Ground
Bain paints a picture of a market where banks are becoming less dominant. Their share of revenue is expected to fall from 80% now to 69% in 2030. In the early 2000s, it was still 95%, according to the report. That makes it clear that neobanks and crypto wallets have been chipping away at traditional banks’ position for a while, but stablecoin wallets are now at the center of that debate.
The core question is simple: do wallets replace the bank account, or do they sit on top of it as an extra layer? Stablecoin wallets can hold digital dollars, move money 24 hours a day, and work across borders without account and routing numbers. For users, that mainly means more flexibility, especially for international payments.
Payments as the First Battleground
Not everyone expects wallets to take over savings and credit right away too. Marcin Kazmierczak of RedStone said wallets will probably win first in payments, especially in markets where moving money is expensive and slow. He pointed out that a bank account combines three functions: payments, savings, and credit. In his view, wallets can already build a strong position in the payments part, while banks keep the license but partly lose the customer relationship.
That debate is especially relevant for cross-border payments. Kazmierczak pointed to World Bank figures showing that bank remittances cost an average of 14.99%, compared with a global average of 6.36%. According to him, stablecoin transactions can be settled in seconds for less than 1%.
The growth of stablecoins gives that trend extra weight. In 2025, stablecoin transaction volume reached $33 trillion (€28.4 trillion), more than Visa, Mastercard, and American Express combined. At the same time, Standard Chartered warned that faster adoption could lead to $500 billion (€430 billion) in deposit outflows at U.S. banks by the end of 2028. That makes it clear why banks and fintechs are taking another look at their payment infrastructure.
Banks Are Building Alongside It
Still, this does not automatically mean banks are disappearing. Ran Goldi of Fireblocks expects banks to issue tokenized deposits that can work together with stablecoins. In his words, the bank account then becomes less of a closed system and more something programmable. Alvin Kan of Bitget Wallet also sees the line blurring, because users can move digital dollars across platforms and countries more easily.
That shift fits into a broader institutional move. The GENIUS Act of 2025 has further anchored stablecoins in the United States, while major banks like Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo have announced plans for a joint dollar stablecoin with a target launch in the first half of 2027. For European crypto news readers, that shows how quickly stablecoins are moving from a niche product to part of the broader financial system.
The risks are still there too. Resolv’s USR fell about 70% in March after an attacker minted unbacked tokens and drained $25 million (€21.5 million). StablR reported unauthorized issuance of USDR and EURR in May after a security breach. That underlines that the promise of 24/7 digital rails only holds up if the underlying token and security are strong enough.
