Zelle Heads to India, Unveils ZelleUSDSM Stablecoin For Other Markets (Zelle)
Early Warning, the operator of U.S. fast payment system (FPS) Zelle, will launch Zelle in India first for U.S. consumers sending money to family and friends abroad, with initial availability expected before year-end, and it also introduced ZelleUSD (ZLUSD), a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin intended to support future international payments in other markets. The company framed the move as an expansion of its domestic payments network into cross-border remittances, saying financial institutions could offer near-instant transfers through existing banks and credit unions. [Zelle]
The Anatomy of Stablecoin Transactions (BIS)
The BIS published a paper by Schär, Kosse, Rice, Shirakami, and Siridhasanakul that analyze 593 million Ethereum event logs across 141 million transactions to argue that stablecoin transfers are routinely embedded within atomically executed bundles combining trading, lending, and settlement, distorting standard interpretations of stablecoin activity. While 31.6% of transactions involve such complexity, these generate nearly 60% of all transfer events, meaning transfer-level data misclassifies most observations as standalone payments. USDT, USDC, and PYUSD differ systematically in co-usage, computational burden, urgency, and business-hour alignment, reflecting distinct institutional designs rather than interchangeability. The action-set classification offers supervisors a basis for activity-based oversight, while divergent jurisdictional timing patterns underscore the need for cross-border data-sharing among regulators. [BIS]
Stakeholder Engagement and Roadmap for Philippines Wholesale CBDC (IMF)
The IMF published a technical assistance report on stakeholder engagement and roadmap development for Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s (BSP’s) Project Agila wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) project. As part of this work, tokenized government bond settlement and cross-border payments were identified as priority wCBDC use cases. Workshops with financial institutions, the Bureau of the Treasury, and market infrastructure providers highlighted real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system settlement-window limitations, capital market shallowness, and correspondent-banking-dependent cross-border payment inefficiencies. The roadmap calls for cost-benefit analysis of wCBDC against alternatives including trigger solutions and omnibus accounts, although the Securities Clearing Corporation (SCCP) prefers its existing fee-free settlement-bank arrangements, which also provide netting and liquidity-saving features not easily replicated on RTGS, over direct settlement access. Legal framework gaps and financial integrity regulation compliance remain key open issues. [IMF]
BTW if you want to see a complete database of my DFC-related posts going back years, including many that didn’t make the Daily Digest cut, click here.
FYI I produce a monthly digest of digital fiat currency (DFC) developments exclusively for the official sector (e.g., central banks, ministries of finance and international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank)) plus academics and firms that are active in the DFC space (commercial banks, technology providers, consultants, etc.). (DFCs include central bank digital currency (CBDC), stablecoins and tokenized deposits.) It goes out via email on the first business day of every month, and if you’re interested in being on the mailing list, please email me at john@kiffmeister.com.
