Stablecoin issuers operating in Switzerland create a risk for the banks they work with, the country's financial markets regulator, FINMA, wrote in guidance published on Friday.

That's because the issuers, who take deposits from the public and might otherwise be treated as banks themselves, can obviate the need for a banking license by reaching an agreement with a registered lender to repay their customers in case of default.

"This creates risks for the stablecoin holders and the bank providing the default guarantee," FINMA said in the guidance note. "In the event of irregularities at the stablecoin issuer, the bank providing the default guarantee may suffer reputational damage due to its contractual relationship with the issuer and may also be exposed to legal risks."

Concern over the backing carried by issuers of stablecoins, which are crypto tokens whose value is tied to another asset such as the U.S. dollar or gold, has proliferated for years. As far back as 2021, Tether, whose USDT is by far the largest stablecoin by market cap, published its first account of reserves to deal with queries about its funding. Circle, whose USDC is the No. 2, followed suit in 2022.

FINMA's guidance, which builds on an initial note from 2019, sets out a number of requirements to ensure adequate protection. Customers must have their own claim against the guarantee-providing bank, and the guarantee must cover the full amount of deposits and interest. In addition, the bank must ensure that the deposits it receives don't surpass the cover provided by the guarantee.

The regulator plans to ensure that the risks associated with default guarantees are addressed in future discussions.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。