Internal leak! Bankers collectively rebel, and the $300 billion stablecoin is actually a $36 billion "legal printing press"?

A senior executive in the payments sector who worked at Citigroup for twenty years recently made a decision that puzzled his peers. He abandoned a privately permissioned blockchain solution he personally designed and that was recognized by the Bank for International Settlements, in favor of embracing public blockchains. His reasoning was simple: private chains cannot solve the cold start problem, while public chains already have users, liquidity, and developers.

He observed that with the signing of the US GENIUS Act, banks being allowed to operate on public blockchains has become inevitable. Therefore, he founded Ubyx, aiming to build a Visa-like clearing network for stablecoins. He believes that banks’ fear of stablecoins stems from a fundamental categorization error.

Market analysis indicates that regulators define stablecoins as “cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat currency,” which is like saying “a check is a piece of paper linked to fiat.” The core issue is the issuer’s redemption promise, not the technology supporting it. From this perspective, stablecoins are not new; they are simply the latest form of the oldest commercial instrument—transferable notes—similar to American Express traveler’s checks in 1891.

Traveler’s checks could circulate globally not because of the paper itself, but because of a robust clearing network backing their redemption. When the network collapsed, the instrument quickly disappeared. Today’s stablecoins face a similar dilemma: they can be transferred quickly on public chains like ETH, but lack a universal mechanism for regulated financial institutions to redeem at face value.

Ubyx’s solution is a collection model, not a trading model. Users deposit $USDC into a bank, the bank submits it to Ubyx, Ubyx requests redemption from issuer Circle, and the cash ultimately returns to the user’s account. The bank does not bear asset-liability risk, similar to handling a check. This system is designed to be issuer-agnostic, not tied to a specific issuer, blockchain, or fiat currency.

The key to a cognitive shift lies in the economic accounting. Currently, the global stablecoin market is about $300 billion. If it grows to $1 trillion, and 0.5% of the circulation is redeemed daily, annual redemption volume would reach $1.8 trillion. With a 100 basis point fee plus another 100 basis points in FX spread, annual revenue could hit $36 billion.

This is especially attractive for non-US banks. Every dollar-stablecoin inflow converted into local currency is pure FX income. Additionally, when stablecoins are redeemed through regulated channels, they also meet central banks’ requirements for compliance and transparency.

The shareholder list of Ubyx reveals which forces endorse this logic. Its seed round was led by Galaxy Ventures, with rare participation from Founders Fund, Coinbase Ventures, VanEck, LayerZero, and others. Paxos and Monerium are both investors and network issuers. In January 2026, Barclays made a strategic investment—the second-largest bank in the UK invested in a stablecoin company for the first time. Subsequently, an accelerator under an Arab bank also participated.

Of course, challenges remain. Circle, with its dominant market share, is building its own Circle Payments Network. Whether a single issuer network will prevail or a multi-issuer clearing system becomes the standard is still uncertain. Additionally, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s draft rules on stablecoin yield mechanisms will directly impact market size and attractiveness.

This former banking executive’s career has gone through three phases: defending the fiat system, designing private chains for banks, and ultimately embracing public blockchains. His core argument can be summarized in one sentence: banks can handle stablecoins just like checks. He believes that once an authoritative figure publicly states this, the global financial system will know how to act. Ubyx is betting that this statement will be made soon.

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