Understanding Stablecoin Stability Assessments: Insights from Chuck Mounts of S&P Global

S&P Global has partnered with Chain Link to bring its stablecoin risk ratings on chain.

Using Chain Link's datalink service DI protocols, as well as smart contracts can access real-time stablecoin stability assessments from S&P Global ratings without building new infrastructure.

The assessments ranks stablecoins based on factors such as asset liquidity, quality, as well as governance, helping institutions, as well as investors.

Data directly into automated decision making systems.

Well, joining me to weigh in and tell us a little bit about what happened at SmartCon is Chuck Mounts, Chief DeFI officer at S&P Global Ratings.

Good morning, Chuck.

Thank you so much for joining me.

So first and foremost for the stablecoin stability assessments, also known as SSA, it is available on chain changing the way that DI protocols as well as investors make decisions.

So walk us through this.

Yeah, so we launched our stablecoin stability assessment maybe a year and a half ago or 2 years ago, recognizing a need of a gap in the market for stakeholders to be able to understand what are the risks inherent between different types of stablecoins and their ability to maintain a 1 to 1 peg.

Uh, so this is the first risk assessment product we've launched in the space, um, and it is not a credit rating evaluating credit fundamental risk.

It's really focused purely on depegging risk.

And so the announcement with Chain Link to bring these assessments on chain, what's the next step, uh, for us to increase the effectiveness and reach and, and use cases, uh, for this new type of assessment in the market.

So Chuck, tell us why the on chain SSA launch was on Ethereum layer 2 base and for the layperson out there, can you explain to us what factors will also help in guiding expansion to other networks?

Yeah, so I mean, we are blockchain agnostic in the sense that we want to provide the tools and services that enable decision making, enhance market liquidity, um, and advanced price discovery.

So we felt this was a logical place to start, given the size and scope and scale of the Ethereum network, but we're certainly kind of have an eye toward integrating our products and tools and into the market broadly, and I would say this for us was just a logical starting point to start to bring for the first time our benchmarks, data and analytics on chain.

Yeah, S&P Global is also launching a new on chain index of crypto and crypto-related stocks, so how does this move fit into the broader strategy when it comes to digital assets?

Yeah, so thanks for asking that.

We're really excited about all the developments that are underway here.

As I said, we are striving to provide the data analytics and benchmarks to help drive markets and really leverage our historical expertise and data analytics and benchmarks in traditional markets and bringing those capabilities on chain.

So you've seen that in the risk assessment side with the launch of our SSAs, uh, going back a year and a half or so ago.

We've also done several ratings in the space, for instance, like with the Sky protocol, but in the index side we've also been making great advancement, with the index announcement of the index you just.

Described as well as efforts to tokenize uh the S&P 500 done in connection with Centrifuge and Animoy.

So we have a lot of activities underway bringing those data analytics and benchmarks into the marketplace to achieve the, the goals that we are striving for.

Well, uh, Chuck, while I have you here, we just had Sergei Nazaroff on set here, but we are coming off SmartCon 2025 here in New York City.

So what is your take on the latest gathering as well as growing institutional adoption?

Yeah, so I think that is, that is the, the main take is that the institutions are here and they're, they're, uh, coming on chain is accelerating.

We actually see that in our business mix where when we launched products in the last year, a year and a half, there is a really heavy, uh, focus on new.

Clients to the firm and what's been happening over the last 12 months is more and more of our traditional clients are coming to the mix asking for and inquiring about the products and services that that we could provide to help them in their migration from purely off chain to a blend of on-chain and off chain capabilities.

And finally, before I let you go, we are heading into your end and the new year of 2026.

So I know you're watching emerging trends.

What are your thoughts on crypto clarity in the nation's capital?

Yeah, I think policy formation is the number one non-technology driver in the space.

It's going to remain so.

We were actually pretty optimistic on the Clarity Act coming into the latter half of the year.

Obviously with the government shutdown that throws some question marks into that, but we feel pretty confident in that in the coming quarters we will get the Clarity Act or some version of the current clarity.

Act passed and that will be a key catalyst for establishing the frameworks and capabilities in the ecosystem and not just in the US, but will also catalyze a more holistic approach to regulation and policy in a global context.

So this is a really important development coming up in the next few quarters.

OK, Chuck, well, thank you so much for joining us this morning and thank you so much for sharing all of your insights as well as your perspective.

Pleasure.

Thank you for having me.