Daily Links Archives: July, 2025
WSJ: Banks Worried About Stablecoins
The Wall Street Journal writes on "Why Banks Are on High Alert About Stablecoins." They tell us, "Stablecoins are poised to become a part of the mainstream financial system, and banks are on high alert about how the cryptocurrency could threaten their business. The House voted 308-122 Thursday to pass a bill that spells out some ground rules for stablecoins, which function as digital dollars in the wider crypto world. The Genius Act is now headed to President Trump, who has indicated he would sign it. A major issue for banks is whether stablecoin issuers will lure away customer deposits. A Treasury Department report in April estimated that stablecoins could lead to as much as $6.6 trillion in deposit outflows, depending in part on whether issuers could offer yields similar to bank accounts." The piece says, "For now, stablecoins are mainly used to trade in and out of other cryptocurrencies. But a regulatory framework could encourage broader use.... Stablecoin issuers such Circle and Tether earn revenue by investing the money people pay for tokens in cash-like assets such as Treasurys that pay yields. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has argued that token-holders should get some of the interest issuers receive on those assets. The Genius Act prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yield to holders. Some lawyers and lobbyists say that may not stop issuers and their partners from finding ways to induce customers to hold stablecoins." The Journal adds, "Another concern is that stablecoins could lead to higher amounts of uninsured deposits at banks. If a customer takes money out of a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-backed account and buys a stablecoin, the issuer of that coin might end up putting the customer's money back in a bank account -- albeit a higher-balance account that is above the $250,000 limit for deposit insurance. A shift by consumers away from holding money in traditional bank deposits could have broad economic implications as well.... Big banks, in particular, hope to cash in on stablecoins, by managing stablecoin reserves and serving as a middleman between issuers and the world of fiat currencies. Megabanks also recently started to consider whether to jointly launch their own stablecoin through a consortium, to fend off competition as big tech and retail companies eye the space. Walmart, Amazon and other multinational giants have recently explored whether to issue their own stablecoins in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal previously reported."
ICI: Money Fund Assets Inch Down
ICI's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets falling $7.3 billion to $7.065 trillion, after falling $5.9 billion the week prior and rising $55.6 billion to a record $7.078 trillion two weeks prior. MMF assets are up by $911 billion, or 14.8%, over the past 52 weeks (through 7/16/25), with Institutional MMFs up $480 billion, or 13.1% and Retail MMFs up $431 billion, or 17.3%. Year-to-date, MMF assets are up by just $215 billion, or 3.1%, with Institutional MMFs up $35 billion, or 0.8% and Retail MMFs up $180 billion, or 6.6%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $7.26 billion to $7.07 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, July 16, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $4.61 billion and prime funds decreased by $859 million. Tax-exempt money market funds decreased by $1.79 billion." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs decreasing $11.1 billion and Retail MMFs increasing $3.9 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $5.750 trillion (81.4% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.178 trillion (16.7%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $136.8 billion (1.9%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $3.88 billion to $2.92 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $3.49 billion to $1.83 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $1.59 billion to $956.88 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $1.21 billion to $123.94 billion." Retail assets account for well over a third of total assets, or 41.3%, and Government Retail assets make up 62.9% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $11.14 billion to $4.15 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $8.10 billion to $3.92 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $2.45 billion to $221.23 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $578 million to $12.81 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 58.7% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.4% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have increased by $29.6 billion in July (through 7/16/25) to $7.436 trillion; assets hit a record high of $7.463 trillion on July 1 but have since dipped. Assets increased by $6.7 billion in June and jumped by $100.9 billion in May, but fell by $24.4 billion in April. They rose $2.8 trillion in March, $94.2 billion in February and $52.8 billion in January. They jumped $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 trillion in November, $97.5 billion in October, $149.8 billion in September and $109.7 billion in August. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're over $330 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings
Crane Data published its latest Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics Wednesday, which track a shifting subset of our monthly Portfolio Holdings collection. The most recent cut (with data as of July 11) includes Holdings information from 62 money funds (down 11 from two weeks ago), or $3.685 trillion (down from $4.069 trillion) of the $7.447 trillion in total money fund assets (or 49.5%) tracked by Crane Data. (Note: Our Weekly MFPH are e-mail only and aren't available on the website. See our latest Monthly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings here and our July 11 News, "July Money Fund Portfolio Holdings: Repo Jumps to 42%, T-Bills Plunge.") Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $1.599 trillion (down from $1.691 trillion two weeks ago), or 43.4%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $1.416 trillion (down from $1.598 trillion two weeks ago), or 38.4%, and Government Agency securities totaling $330.9 billion (down from $371.6 billion), or 9.0%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $143.4 billion (down from two weeks ago at $171.8 billion), or 3.9%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $81.1 billion (down from $104.6 billion two weeks ago), or 2.2%. The Other category accounted for $79.7 billion or 2.2%, while VRDNs accounted for $36.1 billion, or 1.0%. The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $1.599 trillion (43.4% of total holdings), Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $457.8B (12.4%), the Federal Home Loan Bank with $205.7 billion (5.6%), JP Morgan with $129.8B (3.5%), BNP Paribas with $100.4B (2.7%), RBC with $89.0B (2.4%), Federal Farm Credit Bank with $81.5B (2.2%), Citi with $80.4B (2.2%), Wells Fargo with $71.7B (1.9%) and Barclays PLC with $50.0B (1.4%). The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan US Govt MM ($289.8B), JPMorgan 100% US Treas MMkt ($255.3B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($245.2B), Goldman Sachs FS Govt ($241.4B), BlackRock Lq FedFund ($178.2B), Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port ($162.0B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($160.1B), State Street Inst US Govt ($154.6B), BlackRock Lq Treas Tr ($149.4B) and Dreyfus Govt Cash Mgmt ($137.0B). (Let us know if you'd like to see our latest domestic U.S. and/or "offshore" Weekly Portfolio Holdings collection and summary.)
Reuters Says Slew of T-bills Coming
Reuters writes, "A slew of T-bills coming? Money market funds say 'bring 'em on'." The article explains, "More than $1 trillion in U.S. short-term bills are expected to flood the market over the next 1-1/2 years following the increase in the debt ceiling, as the Treasury replenishes its diminished cash balance while funding the country's huge fiscal deficit. There is, however, no shortage of buyers, with money market funds leading the way. Armed with a record $7.4 trillion in assets as of July 1, money funds, which invest in short-term, low-risk securities such as Treasury bills and repurchase agreements, or repos, are ready to take on more supply." Reuters tells us, "J.P. Morgan, Barclays, and TD Securities have estimated new issuance of Treasury bills alone over the next 18 months of between $900 billion and $1.6 trillion, higher than their initial projections before the debt ceiling resolution. 'It sounds like a large amount of issuance coming from the Treasury, but we welcome it and feel that we will have no trouble accommodating it,' said Susan Hill, senior portfolio manager and head of the government liquidity group at Federated Hermes, with assets under management of $631.1 billion." The piece adds, "Analysts ... said money market funds will likely reallocate out of regular repos into T-bills. Repos have grown to 37% of money funds' assets, J.P. Morgan said in a research note. 'The overall portion of money fund investments in the repo market is still quite large, so it becomes more of a decision of going out of that normal repo transaction into Treasury bills if the value is there,' said Hill of Federated Hermes.... Analysts also pointed to money market funds' continued appeal to investors that should further propel the growth in their assets, which means more cash for T-bills. Money market yields are 170 basis points higher than bank deposits, a historically wide spread, wrote Samuel Earl, U.S. rates strategist at Barclays. Households, which have $10 trillion in time deposits and savings accounts, are likely to continue to move deposits at banks into money funds, he added."
Crane 100 Index Inches Down to 4.11%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) decreased 2 bps to 4.11% on average during the week ended Friday, July 11 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after rising 1 bp the week prior. Fund yields should stay relatively flat until (or if) the Fed moves rates again later this year. They've declined by 95 bps since the Fed first cut its Fed funds target rate by 50 bps on Sept. 18, 2024, and they've declined by 52 bps since the Fed last cut rates by 1/4 point on 11/7/24. Yields were 4.13% on 6/30, 4.10% on 5/31, 4.13% on 4/30/25, 4.14% on 3/31/25 and 4.28% on average on 12/31/24. MMFs averaged 4.75% on 9/30/24, 5.10% on 6/28/24, 5.14% on 3/31/24 and 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 677), shows a 7-day yield of 4.01%, down 1 bp in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were down 2 bps at 4.24% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 3 bps at 4.11%. Treasury Inst MFs were unchanged at 4.06%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.82%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.82%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 4.01%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 27 bps to 1.61%. Assets of money market funds rose by $25.4 billion last week to $7.447 trillion, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. MMF assets hit a record high of $7.463 trillion (on July 1) after their previous high of $7.407 trillion set on June 30. For the month of July (MTD), MMF assets have increased $40.0 billion after increasing by $6.7 billion in June, $100.9 billion in May, decreasing $24.4 billion in April, increasing by $2.8 billion in March, $94.2 billion in February, $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 billion in November, $97.5 billion in October and $149.8 billion in September. Weighted average maturities were at 39 days for the Crane MFA and 39 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (7/11), 116 money funds (out of 789 total) yield under 3.0% with $142.9 billion in assets, or 1.9%; 248 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($1.313 trillion, or 17.6%), 425 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($5.991 trillion, or 80.5%) and following the recent rate cut there continue to be zero funds yielding 5.0% or more. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.40%, after falling 1 bp eight weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of July 11, shows no changes over the past week. Three of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI still offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
IFT Now Franklin Inst UG Govt MMF
A Prospectus Supplement filing for the Institutional Fiduciary Trust, or the $5.7 billion Franklin IFT Money Market A (INFXX) tells us, "At a meeting held on July 8, 2025, the Board of Trustees of the Trust approved certain changes to the Fund. These changes include a new name, the adoption of an 80% investment policy and amendments to certain eligibility criteria as described below. In connection with the changes to the Fund, the Fund's Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI, as applicable, are hereby amended and revised to reflect, and any contradictory information therein to the contrary is hereby superseded by, the following, in each case effective on or about September 23, 2025." The changes include: I. Name Change. The Fund will be renamed Franklin Institutional U.S. Government Money Market Fund. II. The following is added as the second paragraph of the section of the Fund's Summary Prospectus and Prospectus titled 'Fund Summary - Principal Investment Strategies': Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests, through the Master Portfolio, at least 80% of its net assets in Government securities and repurchase agreements collateralized fully by Government securities. III. The following replaces the section of the Fund's Summary Prospectus and Prospectus titled 'Fund Summary - Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares': You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on any business day by mail (Franklin Templeton Institutional Services, One Franklin Parkway, San Mateo, CA 94403-1906), or by telephone at (800) 321‑8563. The minimum initial purchase for most accounts is $1,000,000. There is no minimum investment for subsequent purchases. IV. The following is added as the second paragraph of the section of the Fund's Prospectus titled 'Fund Details - Principal Investment Policies and Practices': Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests, through the Master Portfolio, at least 80% of its net assets in Government securities and repurchase agreements collateralized fully by Government securities. V. The following replaces the first paragraph and 'Minimum Investments' table of the section of the Fund's Prospectus titled 'Your Account - Buying Shares': The following investors or investments qualify to buy shares of the Fund: Institutional investors, such as corporations, banks, insurance companies, endowments, plans, and foundations, with a minimum initial investment of $1,000,000. Assets held in funds or accounts managed by a subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc.: (1) under an advisory agreement (including a sub‑advisory agreement); and/or (2) as trustee of an inter vivos or testamentary trust. Plans with aggregate plan assets of $1 million or more invested directly with Franklin Templeton funds. Any trust or plan established as part of a qualified tuition program under Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code. Unaffiliated U.S. registered mutual funds, including those that operate as 'fund of funds.'"
ICI: Money Fund Assets Lower
ICI's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets falling $5.9 billion to $7.072 trillion, after rising $55.6 billion to a record $7.078 trillion the week prior. MMF assets are up by $928 billion, or 15.1%, over the past 52 weeks (through 7/9/25), with Institutional MMFs up $494 billion, or 13.5% and Retail MMFs up $434 billion, or 17.5%. Year-to-date, MMF assets are up by just $222 billion, or 3.2%, with Institutional MMFs up $46 billion, or 1.1% and Retail MMFs up $176 billion, or 6.4%. ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $5.88 billion to $7.07 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, July 9, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $14.46 billion and prime funds increased by $9.02 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds decreased by $441 million." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs decreasing $8.8 billion and Retail MMFs increasing $2.9 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $5.755 trillion (81.4% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.179 trillion (16.6%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $138.5 billion (2.0%). It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $2.88 billion to $2.91 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $354 million to $1.83 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $4.26 billion to $955.28 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $1.03 billion to $125.15 billion." Retail assets account for well over a third of total assets, or 41.2%, and Government Retail assets make up 62.9% of all Retail MMFs. They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $8.76 billion to $4.16 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $14.10 billion to $3.92 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $4.75 billion to $223.68 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $585 million to $13.39 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 58.8% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.3% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have increased by $33.0 billion in July (through 7/9/25) to $7.440 trillion; assets hit a record high of $7.463 trillion on July 1 but have since dipped. Assets increased by $6.7 billion in June and jumped by $100.9 billion in May, but fell by $24.4 billion in April. They rose $2.8 trillion in March, $94.2 billion in February and $52.8 billion in January. They jumped $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 trillion in November, $97.5 billion in October, $149.8 billion in September and $109.7 billion in August. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're over $330 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
JPMorgan Files for Money Market ETF
An article from "The Daily Upside," titled, "JPMorgan Files to Launch Money Market ETF," tells us, "The bank applied last month for SEC approval of the actively managed JPMorgan 100% US Treasury Securities Money Market ETF, which would invest exclusively in Treasury bills, bonds and notes, according to the filing. The move, along with recent money market ETF launches by Schwab and BlackRock, shows how issuers are capitalizing on investors' appetite for lower-risk options amid geopolitical uncertainty and ETF hype. Still, inflows have yet to match the rapidity of recent money market ETF launches, according to Matthew Bartolini, State Street's head of Americas ETF research. 'They're really new,' Bartolini said. 'With any new thing, you want to see how it does, how its performance is, and if the use case is valuable enough to rotate from what you're doing right now.'" The Form N1-A Registration Statement for JPMorgan 100% U.S. Treasury Securities Money Market ETF says, "Although the Fund will seek to qualify as a 'government money market fund' (described below), it will not seek to maintain a stable net asset value (NAV) per Share using the amortized cost method of valuation. Instead, the Fund will calculate its NAV per Share based on the market value of its investments. In addition, unlike a traditional money market fund, the Fund operates as an exchange-traded fund (ETF). As an ETF, Shares of the Fund will be traded on the Exchange (as defined below) and will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on the Exchange. You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Because the Share price and NAV of the Fund will fluctuate, when Shares are sold on the Exchange (or redeemed, in the case of an authorized participant), they may be worth more or less than what was originally paid for them." The filing adds on "ETF Shares Trading Risk," "Shares are listed for trading on [the NYSE] and are bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market prices of Shares are expected to fluctuate, in some cases materially, in response to changes in the Fund's NAV, the intraday value of the Fund's holdings and supply and demand for Shares. The adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of significant market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for the Shares (including through a trading halt), as well as other factors, may result in the Shares trading significantly above (at a premium) or below (at a discount) to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund's holdings. During such periods, you may incur significant losses if you sell your Shares." For more, see these Crane Data News articles, "Schwab Files for Govt Money Mkt ETF" (3/17/25), "BlackRock Money Market ETFs Go Live; Ondo Finance on Tokenized MMFs" (2/6/25), "VettaFi Discusses Money Market ETFs" (12/11/24), "Dec. MFI: Assets Break $7.0 Tril; Top 10 of 2024; BlackRock MM ETFs" (12/6/24), "BlackRock Debuts First Euro MM ETF" (12/5/24), "FT on BlackRock Money Market ETFs" (11/18/24), "November BFI: Bond Funds Hit by Election; ETF Trends MM Substitutes" (11/15/24), "BlackRock Files for Money Market ETFs" (11/12/24) and "Texas Capital Launches Govt MM ETF" (9/26/24).
Aviva Changes Euro MMF to LVNAV
Aviva Investors, the 13th largest manager of European or "offshore" money market funds with $41.8 billion (when translated back into USD), announced a series of changes to their Ireland-based funds. The update, titled, "You asked -- we listened," says, "We've listened carefully and are pleased to share the changes we're making in response to your input. Based on your recent feedback, we've made a series of enhancements to improve operational efficiency, increase flexibility, and better align with your accounting and payment needs. These changes are designed to support your day-to-day liquidity management -- whether that's through more stable pricing, earlier redemption payments, or extended dealing deadlines." Aviva's brief explains, "What you said: The Euro Liquidity Fund needs to be LVNAV to support stable pricing for accounting purposes; EUR redemption payments are released too late in the day; GBP payments for the Sterling Government Fund are also released too late; Could the Euro Liquidity Fund cut-off be extended?" It continues, "What we've changed: From 7th July 2025, the Euro Liquidity Fund will be LVNAV, with distributing share classes priced at 1.000; From 7th July 2025, both the Sterling Government Liquidity Fund and the Euro Liquidity Fund will adopt historic pricing for distributing share classes -- enabling redemption payments as early as 9:30am Irish time, in line with our other Liquidity Funds; From 7th July 2025, the cut-off for the Euro Liquidity Fund will be extended to 1:00pm Irish time." Aviva adds, "We hope these enhancements make a meaningful difference to your operations. If you have any questions or further suggestions, we'd love to hear from you. We're committed to making our Liquidity Funds work better for you." (Note: For more information on European MMFs, ask us to see our latest MFI International publication or MFII Portfolio Holdings, or join us for our European Money Fund Symposium, which is Sept. 22-23 in Dublin, Ireland.)
Crane 100 Index Up to 4.13%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) increased 1 bp to 4.13% on average during the week ended Thursday, July 3 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after rising 2 bps the week prior. Fund yields should stay relatively flat until the Fed moves rates again later this year. They've declined by 93 bps since the Fed first cut its Fed funds target rate by 50 bps on Sept. 18, 2024, and they've declined by 50 bps since the Fed last cut rates by 1/4 point on 11/7/24. Yields were 4.10% on 5/31, 4.13% on 4/30/25, 4.14% on 3/31/25, 4.16% on 2/28/25, 4.19% on 1/31/25, 4.28% on average on 12/31/24, 4.45% on 11/30/24, 4.65% on 10/31, 4.75% on 9/30, 5.10% on 8/31, 5.13% on 7/31 and 6/28, 5.14% on 3/31 and 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 674), shows a 7-day yield of 4.02%, up 1 bp in the week through Thursday. Prime Inst money fund yields were unchanged at 4.26% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were up 2 bps at 4.14%. Treasury Inst MFs were unchanged at 4.06%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.82%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.84%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 4.03%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 50 bps to 1.88%. Assets of money market funds rose by $17.4 billion last week to $7.421 trillion, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. MMF assets hit a record high of $7.463 trillion (on July 1) after their previous high of $7.407 trillion set on June 30. For the month of July (MTD), MMF assets have increased $14.5 billion after increasing by $6.7 billion in June, $100.9 billion in May, decreasing $24.4 billion in April, increasing by $2.8 billion in March, $94.2 billion in February, $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 billion in November, $97.5 billion in October and $149.8 billion in September. Weighted average maturities were at 39 days for the Crane MFA and 39 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Thursday (7/3), 116 money funds (out of 786 total) yield under 3.0% with $144.2 billion in assets, or 1.9%; 239 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($871.8 billion, or 11.7%), 431 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($6.405 trillion, or 86.3%) and following the recent rate cut there continue to be zero funds yielding 5.0% or more. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.40%, after falling 1 bp seven weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of July 3, shows no changes over the past week. Three of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI still offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
Reuters: JPM Cuts Stablecoin Growth
Reuters says, "J.P.Morgan wary of stablecoin's trillion-dollar growth bets, cuts them by half." The article tells us, "J.P.Morgan on Thursday forecast stablecoin growth will only reach $500 billion by 2028, calling trillion-dollar projections 'far too optimistic', as there was little evidence of mainstream adoption of the dollar-pegged cryptocurrency token. Stablecoins have moved beyond their crypto trading roots to attract interest from fintechs and banks aiming to speed up payments and settlements, drawing attention from U.S. lawmakers, who last month passed the GENIUS Act in the Senate -- a step analysts said could bring long-awaited regulatory clarity." It explains, "Before the Senate passed the stablecoin bill, Standard Chartered projected the market could reach $2 trillion by 2028, while Bernstein forecast in a June 30 note that supply would grow to about $4 trillion over the next decade. But J.P.Morgan said payments adoption of stablecoins remains minimal, accounting for just 6% of demand, or about $15 billion. It estimated the stablecoin market at $250 billion, with most usage concentrated in crypto trading, decentralized finance and collateral. 'The idea that stablecoins will replace traditional money for everyday use is still far from reality,' the brokerage said." Reuters adds, "In June, the head of China's central bank pledged to expand the international use of the digital yuan or e-CNY. Ant Group, an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba, said it plans to apply for a license to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong through its overseas arm Ant International, which operates mobile payment app Alipay. 'Neither the rapid expansion of e-CNY nor the success of Alipay and WeChat Pay represent templates for stablecoin expansion in the future,' J.P.Morgan said."
S&P Says NY CLASS 'AAAm' Affirmed
S&P Global Ratings published, "NY CLASS 'AAAm' Principal Stability Fund Rating Affirmed; New York Liquid Asset Fund – Max Portfolio Rating Withdrawn." It states, "S&P Global Ratings today affirmed its 'AAAm' principal stability fund rating (PSFR) on the New York Cooperative Liquid Assets Securities System (NY CLASS) and subsequently withdrew the 'AAAm' PSFR on New York Liquid Asset Fund – Max Portfolio. Our affirmation follows the announcement that NY CLASS, a fund managed by Public Trust Advisors LLC, will acquire the assets of New York Liquid Asset Fund – Max Portfolio, a fund managed by PMA Cos. There are no changes to the investment strategy, and NY CLASS will maintain its existing operating framework. The 'AAAm' rating is the highest PSFR we assign and indicates an extremely strong capacity to maintain principal stability and to limit exposure to principal losses caused by credit risk." They write, "In our view, the fund achieves this through conservative investment practices and strict internal controls. NY CLASS is a short-term, highly liquid investment fund, designed specifically for the public sector. NY CLASS provides the opportunity to invest funds on a cooperative basis in short-term investments that strive to prioritize safety, liquidity, and yield. NY CLASS invests cooperative funds only in securities that are legal for public funds investments in New York. The fund seeks to maintain a stable value of $1.00 per share." S&P adds, "Denver-based Public Trust Advisors LLC is the investment adviser and administrator for the fund. In November 2024, S&P Global Ratings affirmed the rating on NY CLASS and 28 other local government investment pools managed by PMA and Public Trust. This affirmation followed the announcement that PMA and Public Trust were combining to create a new financial services company backed by Flexpoint Ford and TA Associates. The combined company, PTMA Financial Solutions, works with clients across 26 states to provide customized financial solutions to over 12,000 local governments and public entities." S&P also posted, "Nebraska Public Agency Investment Trust Portfolio 'AAAm' Principal Stability Fund Rating Affirmed," which says, "S&P Global Ratings today affirmed its 'AAAm' principal stability fund rating (PSFR) on the Nebraska Public Agency Investment Trust (NPAIT). Our affirmation follows the announcement that PMA Cos. managed fund, NPAIT, will acquire the assets of Public Trust Advisors LLC managed fund, Nebraska Cooperative Liquid Assets Securities System.... NPAIT is a local government investment pool established by Nebraska public entities seeking to invest funds jointly through a safe, efficient investment program. Designed and governed by public entities, NPAIT is managed with guiding principles focused on public entities and the communities they serve." For more news on LGIPs, see these Crane Data News stories: "S&P Global Ratings on Domestic and European MM Funds, LGIPs, in Q1'25" (5/16/25), "PFII Discusses LGIPs in Texas" (4/17/25), "ICI: Assets Fall to $6.914 Trillion; JPMorgan on Holdings; Fitch on LGIPs" (2/21/25), and "S&P Global Ratings on U.S., European Money Fund Trends in Q4'24; LGIPs" (2/5/25).
Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings
Crane Data published its latest Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics Tuesday, which track a shifting subset of our monthly Portfolio Holdings collection. The most recent cut (with data as of June 27) includes Holdings information from 73 money funds (up 12 from two weeks ago), or $4.069 trillion (up from $3.535 trillion) of the $7.405 trillion in total money fund assets (or 54.9%) tracked by Crane Data. (Note: Our Weekly MFPH are e-mail only and aren't available on the website. See our latest Monthly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings here and our June 11 News, "June Money Fund Portfolio Holdings: Repo Jumps to 40%, T-Bills Flat.") Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $1.691 trillion (up from $1.491 trillion two weeks ago), or 41.6%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $1.598 trillion (up from $1.368 trillion two weeks ago), or 39.3%, and Government Agency securities totaling $371.6 billion (up from $331.9 billion), or 9.1%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $171.8 billion (up from two weeks ago at $143.4 billion), or 4.2%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $104.6 billion (up from $79.5 billion two weeks ago), or 2.6%. The Other category accounted for $79.1 billion or 1.9%, while VRDNs accounted for $53.3 billion, or 1.3%. The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $1.691 trillion (41.6% of total holdings), Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $540.3B (13.3%), the Federal Home Loan Bank with $233.8 billion (5.7%), JP Morgan with $128.5B (3.2%), RBC with $109.4B (2.7%), BNP Paribas with $93.8B (2.3%), Federal Farm Credit Bank with $93.8B (2.3%), Citi with $92.5B (2.3%), Wells Fargo with $73.7B (1.8%) and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with $65.5B (1.6%). The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan US Govt MM ($286.0B), JPMorgan 100% US Treas MMkt ($248.9B), Goldman Sachs FS Govt ($245.3B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($244.5B), BlackRock Lq FedFund ($177.9B), Federated Hermes Govt ObI ($168.1B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($159.0B), Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port ($156.4B), State Street Inst US Govt ($155.9B) and BlackRock Lq Treas Tr ($155.6B). (Let us know if you'd like to see our latest domestic U.S. and/or "offshore" Weekly Portfolio Holdings collection and summary.)
Crane 100 Index Up to 4.12%
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) increased 2 bps to 4.12% on average during the week ended Friday, June 27 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after remaining unchanged the previous two weeks. Fund yields should stay relatively flat until the Fed moves rates again later this year. They've declined by 94 bps since the Fed first cut its Fed funds target rate by 50 bps on Sept. 18, 2024, and they've declined by 51 bps since the Fed last cut rates by 1/4 point on 11/7/24. Yields were 4.10% on 5/31, 4.13% on 4/30/25, 4.14% on 3/31/25, 4.16% on 2/28/25, 4.19% on 1/31/25, 4.28% on average on 12/31/24, 4.45% on 11/30/24, 4.65% on 10/31, 4.75% on 9/30, 5.10% on 8/31, 5.13% on 7/31 and 6/28, 5.14% on 3/31 and 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 674), shows a 7-day yield of 4.01%, up 1 bp in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were up 1 bp at 4.26% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were up 2 bps at 4.12%. Treasury Inst MFs were up 1 bp at 4.06%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.82%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.83%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 4.02%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 41 bps to 2.29%. As-sets of money market funds rose by $38.0 billion last week to $7.405 trillion, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Four weeks prior MMF assets hit a record high of $7.406 tril-lion (on June 3) after their previous high of $7.400 trillion set on May 30. For the month of June (MTD), MMF assets have increased $4.9 billion after increasing by $100.9 billion in May, decreasing $24.4 billion in April, increasing by $2.8 billion in March, $94.2 billion in February, $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 billion in November, $97.5 billion in October and $149.8 billion in September. Weighted average maturities were at 38 days for the Crane MFA and 38 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (6/27), 116 money funds (out of 786 total) yield under 3.0% with $144.9 billion in assets, or 2.0%; 247 funds yield be-tween 3.00% and 3.99% ($1.292 trillion, or 17.5%), 423 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($5.968 tril-lion, or 80.6%) and following the recent rate cut there continue to be zero funds yielding 5.0% or more. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.40%, after falling 1 bp six weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of June 27, shows no changes over the past week. Three of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI still offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These in-clude: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
