What the Financial Stability Board reported
The Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body of regulators and central banks that coordinates financial rules for the G20 economies, published a report on October 12, 2026 on cross-border risks from global arrangements. A stablecoin is a crypto token designed to hold a steady value, usually by being backed by reserve assets. [1]
The report puts the market at “around $300 billion” as of mid-2026, “essentially unchanged from a year earlier,” with 99 percent by value pegged to the U.S. dollar. CoinDesk, citing the report, says market capitalization began 2025 at about $206 billion and had reached $306 billion. [1][2]
The report builds on the FSB’s 2023 high-level recommendations for oversight and its 2025 thematic peer review of how members have applied them. It says global stablecoins and national regulatory frameworks “remain untested in severe stress and insolvency.” [1]
Where the cross-border weak points are
On reserves, the report says the assets backing a may remain anchored in particular jurisdictions. Holding less liquid or lower-quality reserves in places that have not applied the FSB recommendations could amplify and operational problems, and moving reserves across borders in a stress could meet frictions. [1]
On redemption, the report says an issuer “may not know who holds its liabilities,” or where they are located or where redemption demand will arise. In arrangements with several issuers, demand could concentrate on one entity, and it could be unclear how claims are attributed in a stress or insolvency. [1]
The report also flags emerging market and developing economies, where it lists risks of currency substitution, bank disintermediation, and difficulty managing capital flows. It says “could become systemic at a lower threshold of use” there. [1]
Round-the-clock trading is a further factor. The report says it may increase the speed and size of sell-offs and could pressure the peg if redemptions cannot keep pace, while deep, liquid secondary markets could help arbitrage pull prices back. A run could spill into traditional finance through reserve fire sales, bank deposit withdrawals and foreign exchange markets. [1]
Three areas the FSB wants to pursue
The report points to three areas for continued consideration: enhanced monitoring of cross-border vulnerabilities, support for implementing the 2023 recommendations through cross-border cooperation and information-sharing, and gathering information on emerging approaches to planning for the distress or failure of global arrangements, with a focus on cross-border issues. [1]
For monitoring, the proposed indicators include the depth, and structure of secondary markets and the geographic distribution of holdings, redemptions and reserve assets, especially in multi-issuer arrangements. The FSB says next steps include developing financial stability metrics, identifying data gaps and exploring industry practices for collecting on-chain and off-chain data. [1]
CoinDesk reports that FSB Chair Andrew Bailey, who is also Bank of England governor, wrote in an accompanying letter that “Global arrangements are inherently cross-border, yet national regulations are taking shape at different speeds.” It says the report comes days before the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meet on October 15. [2]
What remains uncertain
The FSB says its work does not give rise to legal obligations; members decide how to apply it nationally. The report describes vulnerabilities and options for further study rather than events that have occurred, and have not been tested in a severe global stress. Figures differ slightly by source and date, and the report’s indicators are proposals.