SET Training - Banking and Fintech

By Stanley Epstein -  Introduction: The Promise of Stability The financial world is buzzing with talk of stablecoins. It’s no longer a niche topic; major players like Citi, Visa, Stripe, and a growing number of large US banks are actively building platforms and exploring issuing their own. This isn't just experimental—the scale of the ambition is immense. Citi's CEO, Jane Fraser, recently forecasted that stablecoin issuance could surge to an astonishing $3.7 trillion by the end of the decade. At its core, the promise of a stablecoin is simple: to create a cryptocurrency with a stable price by pegging it to a real-world asset, most commonly the US dollar. This is meant to offer the benefits of digital currency—speed, accessibility, and transparency—without the wild price swings associated with assets like bitcoin. But beneath this straightforward promise lies a far more complex and surprising reality with profound consequences for the global financial system. The rapid growth of...

By Stanley Epstein – We tap a card, wave a phone, or click a button, and money moves. This process has become so seamless, so integrated into our daily lives, that it's easy to overlook the colossal system working behind the scenes. But this seamless experience masks a tectonic shift. The very architecture of global finance is fracturing and re-forming, and the 2025 McKinsey Global Payments Report reveals a series of surprising shifts that will affect not just banks and tech companies, but everyone with a digital wallet. Here are the four most impactful truths from the report that are shaping the future of money. 1. The Hype is Over: Global Payments Growth is Hitting a Wall After a period of supercharged expansion, the global payments industry is experiencing a significant slowdown. While revenue surged by an impressive 12% in 2023, growth fell sharply to just 4% in 2024. According to the report, this deceleration is caused by four distinct factors: peaking interest rates, a more ...

After his TerraUSD cryptocurrency imploded, Do Kwon became one of the most wanted men in crypto. Last week, after a global manhunt, he was arrested at an airport in Montenegro. WSJ’s Alexander Osipovich tells the story of how Kwon went from being a major crypto player to facing fraud charges in several countries. Listen to this story from WSJ HERE .