September 16, 2025

James “Jim” Harold Cousins, president and CEO of the Indiana Bankers Association from 2000-06, passed away on March 2 in Kettering, Ohio. He was 82 years old.

Stablecoins have rapidly emerged from the periphery of cryptocurrency markets into a central topic in financial and regulatory conversations. These blockchain-based digital tokens are designed to maintain a stable value, typically pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, and enable fast, low-cost transactions 24/7. While they promise to modernize payments and expand financial access, stablecoins also pose new challenges to the banking industry and policymakers.

Robert “Bob” W. Barger passed away on July 26. He was 92 years old. Barger started working for The Fairland National Bank in 1954, working his way up to president and trust officer with what was then called Central Indiana Bank NA, including leading the institution through its acquisition of The State Bank of Waldron

Earlier this summer, President Trump signed into law the GENIUS Act, a long-awaited bill that will kickstart the development of a new regulatory framework for stablecoins in the U.S.

Innovation is one of those line items that can be hard to wrap our heads around. There’s no formula or silver bullet to determine how much to spend, so we annually face that Goldilocks conundrum of determining what’s too little, what’s too much and what’s just right.