Will stablecoins really threaten banks? Circle CEO provides an answer at Davos

【Crypto World】At the Davos World Economic Forum, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stirred the crypto community with his viewpoints. He straightforwardly dismissed the idea that stablecoin interest rates could collapse the banking system as “purely absurd.”

Why does he say that? Allaire compares it to government money market funds—which have long been criticized for draining bank deposits. And what’s the result? Their scale has already expanded to $11 trillion, banks are still lending, and there’s no sign of a financial crisis. Stablecoin interest can attract users, but its size is far from comparable. The real issue isn’t the threat of stablecoins, but that the US financial structure has quietly changed—bank-led lending models are shifting toward private credit and capital markets.

Circle’s approach also reflects this trend. They’re not just issuing tokens but building an entire lending system based on stablecoins. Even more interestingly, Allaire believes that in the future, the payment needs of “billions of AI agents” will make stablecoins the only reliable choice—without them, these autonomous agents simply cannot participate efficiently in economic activities. In other words, stablecoins are not competing with banks but are laying the groundwork for the next generation of financial infrastructure.