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Stablecoins: The View from Chicago 🗓 Wed, Jan 7 at 4 pm CDT
Join Us for a Subscriber Only Event
Start out the New Year with a virtual deep dive by leading thinkers on one of the most consequential financial innovations of our time.
📌 Subscribe by Dec 31 to secure your subscriber discount and access this discussion.
Why Now?
Stablecoins — digital tokens pegged to fiat currencies — have rapidly moved from crypto fringe to systemically relevant financial infrastructure, offering improved settlement times and new payment capabilities. In 2025, regulatory breakthroughs such as the GENIUS Act established the first US federal framework for stablecoin issuance under trusted collateral rules.
At the same time, stablecoin issuers have become major holders of US Treasuries, giving them real influence in safe-asset markets and placing them at the intersection of banking liquidity, monetary policy, and global payment systems. As banks, fintech firms, and regulators increasingly converge around stablecoins, early 2026 the right moment to take stock of what comes next.
Introductory remarks by our speakers will be recorded, but the Q&A session will be off the record.
↳ Time
Wed, Jan 7 at 4 pm CDT
Please register early—space is limited to encourage active participation.
Join the audience discussion. Whether you are an expert in the field, or just learning about stablecoins, you will find this session valuable.
↳ Panelists
SPECIAL GUEST
Gina Pieters
Gina Pieters is Lead Research Economist, Confusion Capital. Consultant specializing in cross-border macro and financial policy issues related to decentralized digital assets, financial infrastructure, stablecoins, and CBDCs.
📍Chicago
On the integration of stablecoins and the global banking system
Karim Pakravan is an economist, global finance specialist, and consultant in the fields of emerging markets, international finance, monetary policy, and banking regulation.
Collin Canright heads the Chicago Payments Forum, and a communications specialist who thrives on making complex technologies understandable to business and technology leaders.
Lyric Hughes Hale serves as Editor-in-Chief of Econvue, which publishes a newsletter, econVue+. She hosts The Hale Report, a podcast series on global economics. She is Director of Research at Hale Strategic
1. Stablecoins & the US Treasury Market Issuers like Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC) now hold large portfolios of US Treasuries and similar safe assets, raising questions about market dynamics, yield effects, and systemic footprint.
2. Big Banks Enter the Stablecoin Arena Traditional banks are no longer mere observers. Major institutions are launching stablecoin initiatives, offering tokenized assets, and integrating blockchain rails (e.g., JPMorgan’s Onyx, tokenized deposits). Stablecoins are becoming part ofBanking 2.0 — the next evolution of core finance.
3. Faster Payments — The Value Proposition Stablecoins enable settlement in minutes instead of hours or days, directly challenging legacy systems such as SWIFT and ACH, supporting real-time value transfer both domestically and internationally.
4. Regulator Responses & Financial Stability As stablecoins affect safe-asset demand and bank funding dynamics, central banks and regulators, including the CFTC, Federal Reserve, ECB are intensifying their focus on governance, risk management, and disclosures.
5. The Role of Chicago in Money & Payments Chicago’s financial ecosystem, from exchanges and clearinghouses to Federal Reserve oversight, makes it uniquely positioned to host a forward-looking conversation about stablecoins and the future of money.
⧉Background
Recommended reading will be shared with all registered attendees in advance of this panel.
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