Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino on August 30 rejected Bank for International Settlements General Manager Pablo Hernández de Cos’s critique that stablecoins lack a credible foundation for large-scale payments and that tokenized bank deposits are superior. Ardoino said stablecoins are fully reserved one-for-one with liquid assets such as Treasuries, whereas tokenized bank deposits rest on bank liabilities that, in his telling, are backed mainly by verbal commitments, typically hold only about 10% liquid reserves, and may lack deposit-insurance protection. He argued the BIS’s real concern is that stablecoins “expose the emperor’s new clothes,” asking why savers would keep funds in fractional-reserve products rather than full-reserve stablecoins and what would follow if the public shifted savings accordingly. The exchange follows de Cos’s August 28 Jackson Hole remarks, where he said stablecoins “do not yet uphold the foundational properties of money,” flagged shortfalls on par redeemability, elasticity, interoperability and financial integrity, raised digital-dollarization and monetary-sovereignty concerns, and urged central banks to prioritize tokenized deposits. Global stablecoin supply has climbed to $308 billion, up more than 14% year over year, with Tether’s USDT accounting for roughly 60%, even after pulling back from a May peak. De Cos’s speech landed as Bitcoin slipped below $80,000 after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh reaffirmed a hawkish inflation stance at the same symposium, pushed short-term Treasury yields higher, and suggested steering stablecoin activity toward U.S. Treasuries could help lower government borrowing costs.