Ryozo Himino: Singleness of money and the role of central banks
Speech by Mr Ryozo Himino, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan, at the 2026 Spring Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Monetary Economics, Tokyo, 16 May 2026.
I. GENIUS Act and Digital Euro
Last year, both the United States and Europe took critical steps in the design of their monetary systems (Chart 1).
The United States enacted the GENIUS Act in July to regulate and promote stablecoins. An executive order in January prohibited the development and issuance of CBDC by federal agencies.
On the other hand, in October, the ECB announced plans to launch a CBDC in 2029, and the European Parliament began the relevant legislative processes. Stablecoins have been under the MiCA regulation since December 2024.
The developments in 2025 seem to show that the United States has steered itself toward stablecoins, and Europe toward CBDC, though the possibility of further twists and turns cannot be excluded.
In his statement on the enactment of the GENIUS Act, Secretary Scott Bessent of the U.S. Treasury commented that the stablecoin technology will "buttress the dollar's status as the global reserve currency, expand access to the dollar economy for billions across the globe, and lead to a surge in demand for US Treasuries, which back stablecoins." Here, stablecoins are expected to strengthen the dollar's privilege as the global key currency and attract and induce people around the world to finance the U.S. fiscal deficit.