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Episode description

In this episode of the Applied Blockchain Podcast, Adi Ben-Ari speaks with Geoff Kendrick (Global Head of Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered), about how stablecoins are reshaping global financial infrastructure and why their adoption is accelerating faster than many expect.

Drawing on deep macroeconomic and market expertise, Geoff explains how stablecoins have evolved from simple dollar trackers into a structural component of digital finance. He argues that stablecoins are not merely an innovation within crypto, but a new monetary “form factor” with profound implications for banks, payment networks, and cross-border settlement.

Together, Adi and Geoff explore:

• Why stablecoins are set to do for money what the internet did for information
• What makes 2025 a pivotal inflection point for mainstream adoption
• The role of trust, regulation, and transparency in driving institutional use
• How tokenized deposits and stablecoins will coexist in future financial architecture
• The real risks: fragmentation, jurisdictional competition, and the speed of transition
• Why banks must adapt to wallet-based systems, public networks, and programmable value
• The long-term vision: open monetary networks, real-time settlement, and global liquidity rails

Resources Mentioned

• Standard Chartered research on digital assets and tokenized money
• Industry discussions on stablecoin regulation and global adoption trajectories
• Insights into the convergence of banking, blockchain, and real-time settlement networks

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Transcript

Adi Ben-Ari (00:01:07):

Today, stablecoins do for money essentially what the internet has done for information over the past two or three decades. In 2025, they really started to kick on and transform digital money. Welcome to the Applied Blockchain Podcast.

Geoff Kendrick (00:02:56):

Thanks, Adi. Lovely to be here.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:02:59):

It was great meeting you at the European Blockchain Convention — your panel on digital assets was excellent. We’ve been really looking forward to this conversation. For those who don’t yet know you, could you share how you got into the space and what you’re working on at the moment?

Geoff Kendrick (00:03:14):

Absolutely. Thanks, Adi. I run digital asset research for Standard Chartered, where we explore the intersection of macro, markets, and emerging forms of digital money — including stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and blockchain infrastructure. It’s an exciting time as we watch the traditional financial system shift through the looking glass, for want of a better phrase.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:04:28):

And then… oh.

Geoff Kendrick (00:04:29):

So I suppose the simplest way to frame it is that we look at the evolution of money itself — from physical cash, to electronic balances, to what we now think of as digital bearer instruments. Stablecoins in particular allow value to move with the same openness and interoperability as information on the internet. That’s a profound shift from the account-based paradigm.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:05:05):

Yes, absolutely. And it raises so many questions for banks and regulators — not just about technology, but about how financial infrastructure operates at a fundamental level.

Geoff Kendrick (00:05:17):

Exactly. When you zoom out, you start seeing that these aren’t just new rails; they’re a new architecture for settlement. The moment institutions realise they can achieve real-time, cross-border movement of value without depending on siloed, permissioned infrastructures, the conversation starts to change very quickly.

Geoff Kendrick (00:04:29):

So I suppose the simplest way to frame it is that we look at the evolution of money itself — from physical cash, to electronic balances, to what we now think of as digital bearer instruments. Stablecoins in particular allow value to move with the same openness and interoperability as information on the internet. That’s a profound shift from the account-based paradigm.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:05:05):

Yes, absolutely. And it raises so many questions for banks and regulators — not just about technology, but about how financial infrastructure operates at a fundamental level.

Geoff Kendrick (00:05:17):

Exactly. When you zoom out, you start seeing that these aren’t just new rails; they’re a new architecture for settlement. The moment institutions realise they can achieve real-time, cross-border movement of value without depending on siloed, permissioned infrastructures, the conversation starts to change very quickly.

Geoff Kendrick (00:06:32):

It evolved gradually. Originally, I was looking at it from a macro and markets perspective — trying to understand how digital assets might interact with traditional financial systems. Over time, it became clear that stablecoins were not just another crypto asset but a fundamentally different form of money. That drew me in deeper. I started analysing supply, demand, settlement behaviour, and the broader implications for payments and liquidity across markets.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:08:35):

Yeah, that makes sense. And when we spoke before, you mentioned that your team had been researching stablecoins for quite a long time. Could you talk through how your thinking matured as the market developed?

Geoff Kendrick (00:08:49):

Sure. In the early days, the market was small and fragmented, so the focus was mainly on understanding mechanics — issuance, redemption, peg stability. But as adoption grew, we began to see stablecoins used as real settlement instruments, not just trading chips. That changed everything. Once institutions started holding and transferring stablecoins for operational reasons rather than speculation, it opened up a whole new set of questions around regulation, liquidity, and how these assets fit into the broader financial landscape.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:10:03):

Yeah, yeah. Amazing. And Geoff, in the conversation we had at EBC, you mentioned the growth projections you’ve been working on. Would you mind sharing that with us and talking through what’s behind those numbers?

Geoff Kendrick (00:16:38):

Absolutely. So for stablecoins today, the total market cap is around $160 billion, and most of that is still dominated by USDT. But when you look at the rate at which institutional interest is growing — and the sheer number of real-world use cases emerging — you start to see a very different future. We think there’s a meaningful chance the market grows to several trillion dollars within a few years. It’s similar to the early days of the internet: once adoption tips from curiosity into genuine utility, the scaling curve can rise very quickly. It’s the same here.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:18:34):

I’m sitting in Canary Wharf, so I was surrounded by those tower blocks — all the buildings with adverts for different investment opportunities. It does feel like the money is flowing differently now.

Geoff Kendrick (00:18:38):

Exactly. And that flow is increasingly happening on-chain. The money that once moved through traditional intermediaries is now moving directly via stablecoins because it’s faster, cheaper, and in many cases more transparent. We think a substantial portion of global liquidity could migrate to blockchain rails over the next few years.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:22:39):

So that’s it — because presumably those payments, when they land on-chain, start to change behaviours in FX markets as well. As more flows move onto these rails, does that create pressure for more currencies to be represented as stablecoins too, or at least demand for that?

Geoff Kendrick (00:22:57):

Absolutely. Today there isn’t much of that — it’s still early. But once you have real commercial flows on-chain, firms will want to match currency exposure in stablecoin form. They’ll want predictability, hedging, and the ability to know exactly where their money is and when it’s going to arrive. So yes, I think we go there, and that’s when FX markets start to move meaningfully onto blockchain as well.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:23:46):

And do you mean by that — sorry — when you talk about FX markets shifting, are you imagining fully on-chain trading venues emerging? Decentralised exchanges? Automated swaps through smart contracts? What does that look like?

Geoff Kendrick (00:24:00):

I think we’ll get a combination. You’ll have spot markets developing on-chain, perhaps with hybrid models at first. Then you get derivatives — swaps, forwards — increasingly automated via smart contracts. Once liquidity pools reach a certain depth, that infrastructure becomes very efficient. That’s why we think the market could reach several trillion in total stablecoins outstanding by the end of 2028.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:25:00):

Okay. And do you see it going beyond that? I mean, a couple of trillion is huge, but when you think about global payment flows, settlement, remittances, trade finance — does this eventually become the majority of how value moves? Or do you think it plateaus? What’s your view?

Geoff Kendrick (00:25:16):

Great question. I think it grows well beyond the initial few trillion. When you consider the total size of global financial markets — from wholesale settlements to retail payments — the potential addressable market is enormous. Stablecoins won’t replace every system, but they’ll become a major settlement layer, simply because they’re faster, cheaper, and programmable. Over time, more institutions will adopt them not because they’re “crypto,” but because they solve real operational problems.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:26:41):

Yes, exactly. And from the real-world side, we’re seeing the same on our end. When companies start actually using these systems — especially once they see the reliability and the clarity of settlement — behaviour shifts very quickly.

Geoff Kendrick (00:26:48):

Right. That’s the tipping point. When the technology stops being the focus and the benefit becomes the focus, adoption accelerates. And we’re starting to see that now across several industries.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:26:09):

Yes, exactly. And from what we’re seeing on the enterprise side, once organisations begin using these systems for real commercial flows — rather than experiments — the operational benefits become obvious very quickly. That’s when adoption moves from “interesting” to “inevitable.”

Geoff Kendrick (00:26:10):

Precisely. When that shift happens, behaviours change across the value chain — treasurers, operations teams, compliance, FX desks, everyone. You move from pilot projects into production-grade systems. And the more reliable the on-chain experience becomes, the faster confidence grows. That’s why we believe the next wave of adoption won’t just be driven by speculation, but by genuine utility, efficiency, and the programmability that blockchain rails allow.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:32:03):

And when you think about the infrastructure that has to sit underneath all of this — custody, compliance tooling, risk frameworks, connectivity — do you see that maturing fast enough to support the level of adoption you’re describing? Or is that still a bottleneck?

Geoff Kendrick (00:32:27):

It’s maturing rapidly. A few years ago, the tooling simply wasn’t there. Now you’ve got institutional custodians, regulated intermediaries, and robust compliance layers that make on-chain activity much more accessible. It’s not perfect, but it’s evolving at the pace you’d expect for a technology that’s transitioning from early adopters to mainstream financial institutions.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:32:41):

Right, and as that infrastructure solidifies, it becomes much easier for organisations to plug in without needing deep crypto expertise.

Geoff Kendrick (00:32:45):

Exactly. And that’s a big part of the story. Once the infrastructure becomes intuitive and institutional-grade, adoption no longer requires ideological alignment — it becomes a practical decision. Firms will use the rails that are cheaper, faster, and more transparent. That’s what drives sustainable growth rather than hype cycles.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:33:25):

And do you think that as this matures, banks begin viewing blockchain infrastructure less as a threat and more as an inevitability they have to integrate with?

Geoff Kendrick (00:33:51):

Yes, I do. We’re already seeing that shift. Initially, many institutions treated digital assets as something happening “over there.” But as the efficiency gains become undeniable, the mindset changes from avoidance to engagement. It becomes a question of competitiveness rather than ideology.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:33:52):

Right — and once competitiveness comes into the picture, the conversation moves very quickly.

Geoff Kendrick (00:34:04):

Exactly. You start to see strategy teams mapping out where blockchain-based settlement can reduce costs, improve liquidity management, or provide better transparency. And as soon as one major institution demonstrates a clear advantage, the rest have to follow. That’s how transformation happens in financial markets.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:35:49):

It’s fascinating watching it shift from the theoretical into day-to-day operations. That’s when you know something is really changing.

Geoff Kendrick (00:36:36):

Absolutely. And once institutions experience real efficiency gains — not just promised ones — they start allocating more resources, more teams, more budget. That’s when adoption accelerates. We saw it with electronic trading, we saw it with cloud computing, and we’re going to see it here.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:38:10):

And what about the regulatory landscape? Because a lot of institutions we speak to are ready to move, but they want clarity — not necessarily perfect clarity, just enough stability to act. How do you see regulation evolving alongside all of this?

Geoff Kendrick (00:38:44):

I think the US approach is particularly important here. The administration has decided to pursue a regulated stablecoin framework rather than trying to restrict the market outright. That gives the industry direction, even if the details will take years to settle. Europe and Asia are also moving, each with their own models. It won’t be perfectly harmonised, but the general trajectory is toward regulated, transparent, well-capitalised issuers operating on public blockchains. It won’t be quick — but it will be successful.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:40:36):

Yeah. Okay. So we’ll get back here in a few years and see how it all evolved. Before we wrap up, I always like to ask guests for a recommendation — a book, an article, a podcast — anything that influenced your thinking. And it doesn’t have to be related to this topic.

Geoff Kendrick (00:41:03):

For me, it was about diving in. When I first started learning about digital assets, the best advice I received was simply to engage with the technology directly — experiment, try things, see how it works in practice. That hands-on experience changes your perspective. So that’s what I’d encourage people to do: get involved, even with something small.

Adi Ben-Ari (00:42:48):

Okay, amazing. Geoff, on that note, I want to thank you very much for joining us and sharing your time, insights, and learnings. It’s been a really fascinating conversation.

Geoff Kendrick (00:42:59):

Thanks, Adi. Really enjoyed it.

End of Transcript