The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority’s Director General Johan Almenberg delivered a briefing to Sweden’s Finance Committee on financial stability and developments in crypto markets, with a focus on stablecoins. He assessed Sweden’s financial system as stable, while warning that an uncertain external environment and high risk appetite in financial markets call for preparedness and vigilance. FI currently considers stability risks linked to stablecoins in Sweden to be low, but noted these could change as usage broadens, arguing that regulation and supervision need to keep pace to safeguard stability, counter the criminal economy and protect consumers. Stablecoins, described as cryptoassets whose value is linked to currencies such as the US dollar or euro, are used mainly for payments within the crypto ecosystem but are growing rapidly, with Swedish banks starting to show interest. The cross-border nature of stablecoins was highlighted as a supervisory challenge, including the ease with which consumers can turn to unregulated providers outside the EU, as well as the speed of transfers and limited traceability that can make them attractive for criminal use; international cooperation was presented as central. Almenberg pointed to the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which began applying in 2024, and noted that new rules are also being developed in the United States, with differences between regimes. To respond to these developments, FI has established a new business area, Payments, over the past two years to consolidate work on cryptoassets, anti-money laundering and new payment forms, and it is active in several international forums, including the European supervisory authorities.

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