Today in Crypto: PayPal found nearly 40% of US merchants accept crypto, Nomura’s Laser Digital has applied for a US national trust charter license and Standard Chartered says stablecoin growth could drain bank deposits.
Nearly 40% of US merchants accept crypto: PayPal
Almost 40% of US merchants now accept crypto at checkout, as customers have shown increasing interest in crypto for payments, according to a PayPal survey released on Tuesday of 619 payment-strategy decision-makers from several industries.
PayPal vice president May Zabaneh said that “crypto payments are moving beyond experimentation and into everyday commerce,” as it found nearly nine in 10 merchants said they received customer inquiries about crypto payments.
The survey found 84% of merchants think crypto payments will become mainstream in the next five years, with crypto adoption strongest among large enterprises at 50%, while 32% of midsized businesses and 34% of small companies accept crypto.
PayPal said that crypto payment infrastructure needs to be simplified to reach the next level of adoption, as 90% of merchants said they would try accepting crypto if it were as simple as credit card payments.
Nomura-backed Laser Digital seeks US bank charter: Report
Laser Digital, a full-service digital asset company backed by Japanese financial group Nomura, has reportedly filed for a US national bank trust charter, signaling that crypto-focused companies are seeking deeper integration into the US financial system amid a more permissive regulatory environment.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Financial Times reported Tuesday that Laser Digital had submitted its application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The charter would allow the company to operate at the federal level without applying for state-by-state custody licenses.
The company plans to offer spot trading for digital assets but does not intend to take customer deposits, the report said.
Approval of an OCC charter is a two-stage process, beginning with preliminary approval and followed by final authorization once the applicant demonstrates sufficient capital and operational credibility, a process that can take up to a year, the FT said.
Laser Digital was established in 2022 and is headquartered in Switzerland. The company has secured regulatory approvals in multiple jurisdictions, including Switzerland and Dubai.
Stablecoins a threat to bank deposits: Standard Chartered
Stablecoins pose a real risk to bank deposits both globally and in the United States, according to a new report by Standard Chartered analysts.
The delay of the US CLARITY Act — a bill proposing to prohibit interest on stablecoin holdings — is a “reminder that stablecoins pose a risk to banks,” Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, said in a report on Tuesday seen by Cointelegraph.
“We estimate that US bank deposits will decrease by one-third of stablecoin market cap,” the analyst said, referring to a $301.4 billion market of US dollar-pegged stablecoins, as measured by CoinGecko.
Standard Chartered’s findings add to the CLARITY Act debate amid companies like Coinbase withdrawing support, and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire dismissing fears of stablecoin-driven bank runs as “totally absurd.”
In the report, Kendrick highlighted net interest margin (NIM) income — a key profitability metric that measures the difference between interest earned and interest paid, divided by average interest-earning assets.
“NIM income as a percentage of total bank revenue is the most accurate measure of this risk because deposits drive NIM, and they risk leaving banks as a result of stablecoin adoption,” Kendrick said.
“We find that regional US banks are more exposed on this measure than diversified banks and investment banks, which are least exposed,” he added, citing Huntington Bancshares, M&T Bank, Truist Financial and CFG Bank as the most exposed.
