Mega Financial Chairman: No one can profit from the three major pitfalls of stablecoins? Clearly states "Banks can't find advantages in issuing them"

On the eve of Taiwan’s fastest-moving stablecoin legislation, which is set to go into effect as early as June this year, Mega Financial Holdings Chairman Dong Rui-bin publicly shared many thoughts that reflect the mindset of top banking executives: “Banks issuing stablecoins, I still can’t see what advantage that would have.”
(Background: The Financial Supervisory Commission Peng Jinlong stated that Taiwan’s stablecoins will be issued first by “financial institutions,” with the earliest implementation in June 2026.)
(Additional context: Are stablecoins just “digital EasyCards”? A cognitive war that could kill Taiwan’s crypto future.)

Table of Contents

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• Mega Bank Chairman: Three Deadly Flaws in Issuing Stablecoins in Taiwan
• Challenges Faced by Global Banks
• Controversy Over Mega Bank’s Testing Standards
• Just Because Banks Don’t Want to Do It Doesn’t Mean It’s Not Useful

Currently, Mega Bank is testing cross-border remittances using USDT at 25 overseas branches. The result: 14 branches couldn’t execute due to local regulations, with a success rate below 60%. This figure was directly shared by Dong Rui-bin at the Yushan Technology Association forum. His conclusion was:

“If innovation is just for the sake of innovation and no one ends up using it, it’s like NFTs — a lesson learned.”

Although the FinTech industry generally views Taiwan’s financial sector as relatively conservative, Dong Rui-bin argues that his doubts are based on concrete financial logic. He questions: in which part of the process can banks profit from issuing stablecoins?

Mega Bank Chairman: Three Deadly Flaws in Issuing Stablecoins in Taiwan

Dong Rui-bin pointed out that the first dead end for stablecoins is that there’s no real need for them in Taiwan’s domestic payment scene. Domestic remittances in Taiwan already achieve transfers within about two minutes with fees ranging from 0 to 15 NT dollars. VISA and Mastercard have long monopolized retail payments, and even credit card businesses are “struggling.” There’s no rigid demand or fee margin for stablecoins to penetrate this market.

The second dead end is cross-border remittances, which are often touted as the main advantage of stablecoins — about 20 minutes for transfer, with fees lower than bank wire transfers costing 420 to 1,100 NT dollars.

But Dong Rui-bin raises a question: “Would anyone use Mega’s issued US dollar stablecoin?” He bluntly states that Mega’s recognition in the US and Japan is insufficient to promote stablecoins denominated in USD or JPY. The core of stablecoin credibility lies in the issuing institution’s trustworthiness. In this dimension, Tether’s USDT accounts for 61% of the global stablecoin market cap, creating a winner-takes-all landscape.

The third dead end is regulatory requirements, which completely undermine the profit model for banks issuing stablecoins.

Major economies worldwide, including the US, EU, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE, and Japan, have set a 100% fiat reserve requirement for bank-issued stablecoins. This means if a customer deposits 1 USD, the bank must freeze 1 USD, preventing it from being used for lending. The traditional interest margin from deposits and loans is wiped out in stablecoin business.

Dong Rui-bin’s words: “The 100% fiat reserve requirement means I can’t pay any interest.” Without even an incentive to attract customers, how can this business operate?

Challenges Faced by Global Banks

This dilemma isn’t unique to Mega Bank but is a structural contradiction faced by the global banking industry.

According to The Payments Association, if 10% of cross-border payments shift to stablecoins worldwide, banks could lose hundreds of billions of dollars in annual fees. Banks are not unaware of the risks but are forced to choose between “cost testing” and “watching customers move to Tether.”

Tether itself is not without controversy. About 20% of its reserves are non-cash assets, including collateralized loans, Bitcoin, and precious metals, which still fall short of the “100% fiat reserve” standard. Regulated banks issuing stablecoins would face even stricter transparency and auditing costs, effectively competing with less regulated counterparts at higher costs.

Mega Bank’s Testing Standards Spark Community Debate

Mega Bank states that “stablecoins will be charged based on remittance ratios.” While most banks have a fee cap, stablecoins do have an advantage in small cross-border remittances, but for amounts over $7,000 USD (roughly NT$200,000), banks are more competitive.

Their test data shows that bank cross-border remittances are generally credited within 2 hours, with domestic fees ranging from 420 to 1,100 NT dollars, including a 300 NT dollar postal fee plus a 0.05% exchange fee (up to 800 NT dollars).
In contrast, stablecoin cross-border remittances are credited within about 20 minutes, with a fee of 2 USDT plus 0.2% transaction fee.

These figures and long-standing on-chain remittance user experiences are inconsistent, sparking debate in the crypto community: “Which chain needs 20 minutes for confirmation?” “Is a 0.2% transaction fee comparable to fiat stablecoin fees?”

For example, sending tokens via BNB, Tron, or most ETH Layer 2 solutions, with confirmation times under 1 minute and native transfer fees below $0.10.

Just Because Banks Don’t Want to Do It Doesn’t Mean It’s Not Useful

Once user remittance needs are compared, stablecoins could become a very strong competitor to banks. The Mega Bank chairman honestly shared the reasons why banks in Taiwan are reluctant to issue stablecoins; however, stablecoin remittances don’t necessarily “lose to bank wire transfers.” I’m being cautious here.

The Financial Supervisory Commission has announced that the legislation could go into effect as early as June 2026, with the main issuers being financial institutions. The regulatory framework is rapidly taking shape, but the most direct voice from banks echoes what the Mega Bank chairman expressed at the forum: Is there anyone willing to use stablecoins? Is there money to be made? Currently, both answers remain uncertain in Taiwan.