The Rollup Ex-Fed Researcher: Why Stablecoins Will Replace Banks by 2030
Oct 10, 2025
Thomas Cowan, a former Federal Reserve researcher and now Head of Tokenization at Galaxy Digital, discusses the transformative power of stablecoins. He highlights how stablecoins outperform banks by enabling cheaper, faster transactions and closing the on-chain/off-chain gap. Cowan contrasts stablecoins with CBDCs, emphasizing regulatory clarity and the private sector's speed in developing solutions. He shares insights on Europe’s AllUnity launch, the potential for capital efficiency akin to AI's impact, and how stablecoins can facilitate new economic integration and innovative use cases.
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From Fed Research To Stablecoin Builder
- Thomas describes his path from the Federal Reserve to Ripple, Paxos, and Galaxy, tracing five to six years in crypto.
- He frames the current cycle as one with regulatory clarity, mature tech, and institutional adoption driving momentum.
Hamilton Showed Limits For Retail CBDCs
- Project Hamilton found blockchains struggle with retail CBDC scale and retail throughput demands.
- Thomas concluded private stablecoins could solve many practical dollar-on-chain problems faster than a CBDC rollout.
CBDCs And Stablecoins Are Different Liabilities
- A CBDC is a direct central bank liability while a stablecoin is a private issuer liability with different risk profiles.
- Regulating dollar-on-chain requires balancing efficiency with containment, KYC, and AML for large transfers.