Sei Labs Research Argues Stablecoins Turn Fed Into Global Retail Bank

Peter Zhang
Jan 20, 2026 20:57

New Sei Labs paper models how dollar-pegged stablecoins export U.S. monetary policy worldwide, creating an ‘impossible quartet’ for central banks.

A research paper published by Sei Labs on January 20, 2026 presents a formal framework arguing that widespread stablecoin adoption effectively transforms the Federal Reserve into the world’s retail bank—whether countries like it or not.

The paper, authored by Ben Marsh, arrives as the stablecoin market exceeds $230 billion in total capitalization, with dollar-pegged tokens comprising nearly 99% of that value. Just hours before publication, Circle’s USDC Treasury minted an additional 250 million tokens, underscoring the continued expansion of dollar-denominated digital money.

Three Channels of Dollar Transmission

Marsh identifies three mechanisms through which stablecoins export U.S. monetary conditions globally. First, a goods pricing channel: as more consumption gets invoiced in dollars, local consumer price indices mechanically track Fed policy rather than domestic central bank decisions. The paper models this using a CES aggregator where the USD-priced share of a country’s consumption basket rises with stablecoin adoption.

Second, a “digital UIP” emerges linking domestic short rates directly to the U.S. front end. When households can seamlessly swap between local currency and USDC, any meaningful rate differential triggers arbitrage flows. The friction wedges that historically insulated emerging markets—capital controls, conversion costs, regulatory barriers—shrink toward zero as stablecoin infrastructure matures.

Third, even on-chain transaction costs behave like dollar-indexed instruments. The paper models blockspace as an M/M/1 queue where fees effectively quote in basis points of notional value. When U.S. short rates rise, the opportunity cost of waiting increases, pushing up bids for inclusion. “The same front end rate that prices Treasury bills now prices access to digital settlement capacity,” Marsh writes.

The Impossible Quartet

Classical economics describes an “impossible trinity”—countries can’t simultaneously maintain fixed exchange rates, free capital movement, and independent monetary policy. Marsh argues stablecoins create a fourth constraint: banking sector stability.

As households shift deposits into yield-bearing stablecoins, banks lose cheap funding. The paper models how this drain widens credit spreads even without demand shocks, creating cost-push inflation through the Phillips curve. “The digital dollar doesn’t have to ‘invade’ lending to change the credit channel—the drain on deposits is enough.”

The math is stark. With low adoption, a central bank targeting 1% exchange rate volatility might sustain 4% policy independence. As stablecoin wedges narrow from 3% to 1%, that independence shrinks to 2%. Countries either accept imported Fed policy or rebuild frictions through capital controls, taxation asymmetries, or CBDC corridors.

What This Means for Markets

For traders, the framework suggests stablecoin adoption metrics deserve attention alongside traditional macro indicators. Countries with rapidly growing USDC/USDT volumes may show increasing correlation to Fed policy shifts, creating both hedging opportunities and contagion risks.

The paper also implies that Fed rate decisions now carry direct implications for on-chain activity costs globally—a consideration for protocols and DeFi applications denominating fees in dollar terms.

Marsh’s conclusion pulls no punches: “In a world of frictionless dollar rails, using stables means using the Fed’s balance sheet as your own.” Whether that’s a feature or a bug depends on which side of the policy window you’re sitting.

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