On 25 October 2027, the “crypto-asset” regime for the United Kingdom comes into effect, and Stablecoins will be regulated in detail for the first time. They will take their place in a money and payments “eco-system” in which traditional bank deposits, Tokenised Deposits, Stablecoins and, possibly, a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) interact seamlessly without imperilling the “singleness” of money.

Interoperability between payments networks and adoption by established distribution networks are the keys to scale in digital money but their effectiveness depends on consumer confidence. Interoperability requires infrastructure but the right combination of public initiative and private incentive has yet to be found, though it likely lies in not-for-profit utility models. Programmable money can catalyse adoption of digital monies by enabling agentic AI payments and creating a

The perception that Stablecoins are breaking out of their original cryptocurrency niche and impacting both domestic and cross-border payments is overstated. The cost, speed and accessibility advantages of Stablecoins have yet to disrupt existing domestic and cross-border payments services or money market practices. The number of digital wallets capable of accepting Stablecoins is a better measure of the ultimate scalability of Stablecoins than the number of Stablecoin issuers

The main obstacle to tokenised deposits scaling is lack of interoperability between the tokenised deposits of individual banks. Banks are also coming to appreciate the costs and complexities of building the internal systems and procedures to support tokenised deposits. In the long run, tokenised deposits will outperform Stablelecoins in terms of both stocks and flows. Tokenised deposits are also better placed than Stablecoins to deliver the most valuable promise of tokenised

A majority of the audience at the Future of Finance Carbon Credits event picked a shift to compliance markets as the biggest driver of growth in carbon pricing. Securitisation is a potential alternative to the present packaging and distribution of carbon emissions, and can draw on an established modus operandi. An absence of market infrastructure remains a weakness of carbon pricing markets, but there is no confidence that tokenisation offers a plausible way forward. Other te

An audience poll found most still unconvinced carbon is primarily a financial risk, even as European regulators fine banks for carbon shortcomings. Measurement of Scope 3 emissions remains too imprecise for chief financial officers to price with confidence, so capital is shifting toward business-specific projects instead. Data quality remains an issue in carbon pricing tout court, but this should not be treated by companies as an excuse for inaction. A chief financial office

The voluntary carbon credit market has contracted, but the residue that survived is more disciplined than before. Europe's CBAM and Methane Regulation are functioning as de facto tariffs, with costs expected to fall on consumers. Verified emissions data, not climate intent, is becoming the currency that determines which exporters gain or lose market access. Bilateral offtake structures are absorbing activity that public carbon credit markets can no longer reliably price. A ma

Regulatory frameworks are converging conceptually but diverging on where issuers and reserves must sit legally. Institutional buyers already treat Stablecoins, tokenised deposits and CBDCs as distinct tools, not interchangeable substitutes for each other. The dominant Stablecoin issuer remains largely outside the new regulatory perimeter, exposing a gap between rulemaking and market reality. Corporate and treasury adoption, not financial markets infrastructure, is emerging as

Stablecoins are not booming and CBDCs are not dead, especially in Europe where the ECB is pressing ahead with plans for a digital euro in 2028. Different uses-cases will rely on different forms of tokenised money and the private sector is building the necessary infrastructure. Corporates are drivers of change in payments and cash management and may be pioneering the disintermediation of the banks.

Holders of cryptocurrencies are no longer satisfied by capital appreciation alone but increasingly seek income from staking and lending. Holders whose investment mandate, liquidity needs, operational capabilities and risk profile permit staking and lending should nevertheless proceed cautiously. While the risk of “slashing” is exaggerated, research into counterparty, custody and cyber-attack risks will earn rewards for institutional investors

The growing interest of institutional investors in cryptocurrencies is allied to rising demand for yield on cryptocurrency investments. This necessitates active management, which creates challenges. Neither Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) nor conventional mutual funds issued under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (’40 Act funds) can accommodate actively traded cryptocurrency funds.

At the turn of the century a disruptive alternative trading platform called Chi-X competed successfully with the established stock exchanges for order flow by cutting transaction costs dramatically. Blockchain technology has promised a similar revolution for more than a decade but failed conspicuously to deliver. The founders of BPX Digital Securities Marketplace, the digital securities marketplace licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in June 2025, believe they

Institutional asset and wealth managers and end-investors are increasingly active in the cryptocurrency markets. This is putting the banks that provide them with trade and post-trade services in the traditional markets under pressure to make it easy for buy-side institutions to access cryptocurrency markets, trade cryptocurrencies, settle cryptocurrency transactions and safekeep and service cryptocurrency assets in custody.

Investec is connecting its client trading platform Zebra-X to the BPX digital assets exchange The link will enable users of Zebra-X to trade digital asserts in the same way that they trade conventional debt and equity securities BPX aims to offer customers a full set of digital asset management, trading, settlement, custody and depository services BPX, the London-based digital assets exchange that has already secured trading, asset management and custody licences from the Fi

Deepening inter-operability between Euronext and Clearstream can be read as a solution to the fragmentation of European post-trade infrastructure Börse Stuttgart has positioned its Seturion tokenised settlement platform as an alternative to the reconfiguration of the existing post-trade infrastructure Clearstream has hedged its exposure to a tokenised future by simultaneously placing a series of bets on the growth of digital asset markets When Börse Stuttgart launched Seturio

The Fed, the FDIC and the OCC have confirmed that the capital treatment of tokenised securities and derivatives is the same as non-tokenised equivalents Tokenised securities posted as collateral will also be recognised as a credit risk mitigant on the same terms as the non-tokenised equivalents The capital treatment of a tokenised security is the same, irrespective of whether it is issued on a permissioned or permissionless blockchain. The three Federal banking industry regul

Asset manager Fidelity has issued a US dollar-denominated Stablecoin called Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD) onto the Ethereum blockchain The issuance follows the granting to Fidelity of a conditional trust bank licence by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) FIDD circumvents GENIUS Act restrictions on paying interest to Stablecoin holders by integrating FIDD with a tokenised money market fund Fidelity Investments has launched a US dollar-denominated Stablecoin,

Cross-border payments platform Payoneer has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank charter A federal banking licence will enable Payoneer customers to pay and get paid in Stablecoins and hold Stablecoin balances in digital wallets Payoneer plans to issue its own US dollar-denominated Stablecoin that its clients can use to settle cross-border payments and hold in digital wallets Payoneer , the cross-border payments technology p

Anchorage Digital has launched a US dollar Stablecoin payments service aimed at foreign banks currently using correspondent banks The new service enables banks to buy and sell and hold in custody a variety of US dollar-denominated Stablecoins authorised under the GENIUS Act The regulated status of Anchorage Digital Bank is expected to appeal to foreign banks willing to use blockchain infrastructure that eliminates regulatory risk Anchorage Digital , the regulated provider of

Société Générale subsidiary SG-FORGE is making its EUR CoinVertible euro-denominated Stablecoin available on the Ripe-owned blockchain XPRL Société Générale hopes XPRL will increase use of the EUR CoinVertible, already available on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, in trading activity Euro Stablecoins remain modest by comparison with US dollar equivalents but S&P predicts a €1.1 trillion markets by 2030 as Stablecoins are used in payments French universal bank Société Géné