Speech by Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the 2026 Bank of Korea International Conference on Central Banks and the Future of Money

Seoul, 1 June 2026

The nature of money has never been static. Over the centuries, financial innovation has reshaped how money is created, transferred and stored, often enhancing efficiency, broadening access and boosting economic welfare.

When such innovations reach scale, they alter the structure of the financial system, with consequences for financial stability, monetary policy and the international monetary order.

One recent innovation has been stablecoins. These are privately issued digital tokens pegged to fiat currencies and typically backed by portfolios of traditional assets. Their rapid rise has raised questions about their benefits and challenges.

To understand the unfolding changes, it is worth looking at how earlier innovations transformed financial markets.

Hyun Song Shin and his co-authors were among the first…