A recent news story has caused a stir in the financial world: the CEO of a major American bank warned during the earnings call that if Congress allows stablecoins to pay interest, the US banking system could face a withdrawal of $6 trillion in deposits. It sounds exaggerated, but a closer look at the underlying logic reveals that this concern is quite reasonable.

The numbers themselves tell the story. The total deposits in the US banking system amount to about $18 trillion, and $6 trillion accounts for over one-third of that. This is not sensationalism but hits the real pain point — currently, US bank deposit interest rates are low, with ordinary savings accounts offering an annual interest rate of only around 1.8%, which cannot keep up with inflation.

Where are the advantages of stablecoins? They are pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, making them essentially risk-free assets. Once paying interest is permitted, their yield—based on reserve assets (mainly US Treasuries)—can easily surpass bank interest rates. More importantly, they support instant deposits and withdrawals, cross-platform circulation, and flexibility that far outstrips traditional deposits.

For ordinary people, idle funds can earn high interest while remaining readily accessible, and they can avoid bank risks. For businesses, they can bypass banking transfer restrictions, significantly improving capital flow efficiency. How tempting is this? Imagine if such measures were truly implemented—how much capital would shift back?

Allowing stablecoins to pay interest may seem like financial innovation on the surface, but fundamentally, it is a direct challenge to the traditional bank deposit model. Once this door opens, the chain reactions that follow could be unpredictable.