IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/fip/a00068/102974.html

Fiat-Backed Stablecoins and Narrow Banking

Author

Listed:
  • Oz Shy

Abstract

Devastated by the misery of millions of people during the Great Depression caused by the collapse of the entire US financial system, a group of economists at the University of Chicago sought to reform the banking sector. The "Chicago plan" suggested a replacement of "fractional-reserve banks" with "full-reserve banks" (also called "narrow banks" and "limited-purpose banks"). Most economists dismiss this idea. However, the rising popularity of stablecoins and the 2025 GENIUS Act in the US introduce this form of banking to the general public. The goal of this note is to analyze the similarities and differences between the narrow banking proposal and the fast-growing fiat-backed stablecoins.

Suggested Citation

  • Oz Shy, 2026. "Fiat-Backed Stablecoins and Narrow Banking," Policy Hub, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 2026(2), pages 1-12, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:a00068:102974
    DOI: 10.29338/ph2026-02
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.atlantafed.org/-/media/Project/Atlanta/FRBA/Documents/research/publication/policy-hub/2026/03/31/02-fiat-backed-stablecoins-and-narrow-banking.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.29338/ph2026-02?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James Tobin, 1987. "The case for preserving regulatory distinctions," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 167-205.
    2. Samuel Demeulemeester, 2018. "The 100% money proposal and its implications for banking: the Currie–Fisher approach versus the Chicago Plan approach," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 357-387, March.
    3. Kristoufek, Ladislav, 2021. "Tethered, or Untethered? On the interplay between stablecoins and major cryptoassets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    4. Douglas W. Diamond & Philip H. Dybvig, 2000. "Bank runs, deposit insurance, and liquidity," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 24(Win), pages 14-23.
    5. Mr. Michael Kumhof & Mr. Jaromir Benes, 2012. "The Chicago Plan Revisited," IMF Working Papers 2012/202, International Monetary Fund.
    6. Lyons, Richard K. & Viswanath-Natraj, Ganesh, 2023. "What keeps stablecoins stable?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    7. Anil K. Kashyap & Raghuram Rajan & Jeremy C. Stein, 2002. "Banks as Liquidity Providers: An Explanation for the Coexistence of Lending and Deposit‐taking," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 33-73, February.
    8. Ronnie J. Phillips & Alessandro Roselli, 2009. "How to Avoid the Next Taxpayer Bailout of the Financial System: The Narrow Banking Proposal," NFI Policy Briefs 2009-PB-05, Indiana State University, Scott College of Business, Networks Financial Institute.
    9. Duan, Kun & Urquhart, Andrew, 2023. "The instability of stablecoins," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    10. Pennacchi, George, 2006. "Deposit insurance, bank regulation, and financial system risks," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 1-30, January.
    11. Christian Catalini & Alonso de Gortari & Nihar Shah, 2022. "Some Simple Economics of Stablecoins," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 117-135, November.
    12. Lai T. Hoang & Dirk G. Baur, 2024. "How stable are stablecoins?," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(16), pages 1984-2000, November.
    13. Grobys, Klaus & Junttila, Juha & Kolari, James W. & Sapkota, Niranjan, 2021. "On the stability of stablecoins," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 207-223.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Palazzi, Rafael Baptista & Schich, Sebastian & de Genaro, Alan, 2025. "Stablecoins as anchors? Unraveling information flow dynamics between pegged and unpegged crypto-assets and fiat currencies," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    2. Dionysopoulos, Lambis & Urquhart, Andrew, 2024. "10 years of stablecoins: Their impact, what we know, and future research directions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    3. Lee, Yi-Hsi & Chiu, Yu-Fen & Hsieh, Ming-Hua, 2025. "Stablecoin depegging risk prediction," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Verdier, Marianne, 2024. "Digital payments and bank competition," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    5. Gregory, Gadzinski & Alessio, Castello & Vito, Liuzzi & Patrice, Sargenti, 2024. "Break a peg! A study of stablecoin co-instability," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    6. Hui, Cho-Hoi & Wong, Andrew & Lo, Chi-Fai, 2025. "Stablecoin price dynamics under a peg-stabilising mechanism," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    7. Afzol Husain & Kwang-Jing Yii & Chorng Yuan Fung & Richard Busulwa, 2025. "Portfolio risk of cryptocurrency inclusion: a comparison among conventional cryptocurrencies and asset-backed cryptocurrencies," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 15(3), pages 687-739, September.
    8. Dirk Niepelt, 2020. "Reserves for All? Central Bank Digital Currency, Deposits, and Their (Non)-Equivalence," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 16(3), pages 211-238, June.
    9. Evan Gatev & Til Schuermann & Philip E. Strahan, 2009. "Managing Bank Liquidity Risk: How Deposit-Loan Synergies Vary with Market Conditions," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 995-1020.
    10. Danisewicz, Piotr & Lee, Chun Hei & Schaeck, Klaus, 2022. "Private deposit insurance, deposit flows, bank lending, and moral hazard," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    11. Ahmed Bossman & Mariya Gubareva & Samuel Kwaku Agyei & Xuan Vinh Vo, 2024. "When you need them, they are not there: hedge capacities of cryptocurrencies disappear in downtrend markets," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 1-38, December.
    12. Matthias Hafner & Marco Henriques Pereira & Helmut Dietl & Juan Beccuti, 2023. "The four types of stablecoins: A comparative analysis," Papers 2308.07041, arXiv.org.
    13. Maciej Albinowski, 2022. "The role of fractional-reserve banking in amplifying credit booms: Evidence from panel data," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 35(1), pages 63-88, March.
    14. Radojičić Jelena & Radovanović Predrag, 2015. "Narrow Banking – Banking System Without Private Issuance of Credit Money as a Solution for More Resistant Banks and More Stable Financial System," Economic Themes, Sciendo, vol. 53(3), pages 376-397, September.
    15. Acharya, Viral & Naqvi, Hassan, 2012. "The seeds of a crisis: A theory of bank liquidity and risk taking over the business cycle," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(2), pages 349-366.
    16. Rustom M. Irani & Ralf R. Meisenzahl, 2015. "Loan Sales and Bank Liquidity Risk Management: Evidence from a U.S. Credit Register," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2015-1, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    17. Maciej Albinowski, 2017. "The role of fractional-reserve banking in amplifying credit booms: evidence from panel data," Working Papers 2016-024, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of Economic Analysis.
    18. Mahmut Bağcı & Pınar Kaya Soylu & Selçuk Kıran, 2024. "The Symmetric and Asymmetric Algorithmic Trading Strategies for the Stablecoins," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 64(5), pages 2663-2684, November.
    19. Perez Riaza, Baptiste & Gnabo, Jean-Yves, 2025. "From depegs to jumps: The role of stablecoin instabilities in crypto market dynamics," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    20. Ratnovski, Lev, 2009. "Bank liquidity regulation and the lender of last resort," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 541-558, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fip:a00068:102974. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Robert Sarwark (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbatus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.