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Legal and Regulatory Considerations for Digital Assets (CCAF)

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) published a report that argues that most digital assets map onto existing legal concepts and that regulation should therefore hinge on underlying rights and functions rather than token form or technology stack. The authors distinguish digital assets that merely represent traditional financial or non‑financial claims from “crypto-assets,” defined as issuer‑less units native to open distributed ledger technology (DLT) systems that perform essential incentive functions and do not themselves embody rights against an issuer. This reframing pushes regulatory perimeter design toward claim‑based and function‑based taxonomies, clarifies when tokenization is simply a new representation of existing instruments, and highlights that property‑law adjustments to accommodate natively digital assets are critical for legal certainty and market development. The central open issue is whether and how different legal traditions will adapt their property and collateral frameworks to accommodate these crypto-assets on a durable basis. (CCAF)

#DigitalAssets #Legal #Regulation #Fintech #Tokenization #DFC

·papers.ssrn.com·Apr 4, 2026

Legal and Regulatory Considerations for Digital Assets (CCAF)

The eNaira Journey So Far (CBN)

[In 2023] the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) published a book on the economics of digital currencies in which there was a review of how the eNaira central bank digital currency (CBDC) was designed, launched, and managed. It argues that weak demand reflects structural and institutional frictions rather than purely technological failure. The review documents a phased rollout focused on financial inclusion, payment efficiency, and monetary control, but shows that limited interoperability, burdensome onboarding, and unclear value propositions constrained uptake. It emphasizes how institutional choices around wallet tiers, distribution architecture, and bank–fintech roles reshaped market incentives, often reinforcing banks’ dominance rather than fostering broader innovation. It highlights the need to recalibrate design toward open interfaces, clearer legal and regulatory frameworks, and better alignment between central bank objectives and private‑sector business models. [CBN]

#CBDC #Nigeria #Fintech #DFC

·cbn.gov.ng·Apr 3, 2026

The eNaira Journey So Far (CBN)

An Efficient Frontier Analysis of Stablecoin Reserve Management (VISA)

VISA published an article in which Ezechiel Copic uses an efficient frontier framework to show how new U.S. and EU stablecoin rules compress reserve returns and reorient issuer economics toward liquidity and resilience. The article models pre‑regulation reserve strategies using Tether’s historical mix to illustrate a wide opportunity set, then re‑estimates frontiers under the U.S. GENIUS Act and the EU’s Markets in Crypto‑Assets Regulation. Under GENIUS, a narrow set of high‑quality liquid assets leaves only a thin band of feasible risk‑return combinations, making reserve management resemble liquidity engineering rather than portfolio optimization. Under MiCA, lower euro‑area rates and binding bank‑deposit floors further depress and compress the frontier, especially for “significant” issuers. The analysis implies competition will shift from balance‑sheet yield to technology, distribution, and compliance, while leaving open how far reduced issuer economics may constrain market entry and long‑run innovation. [VISA]

#CryptoAssets #Regulation #Stablecoins #Europe #UnitedStates #Fintech #DFC

·corporate.visa.com·Apr 3, 2026

An Efficient Frontier Analysis of Stablecoin Reserve Management (VISA)

Tokenized Finance (IMF)

The IMF's Tobias Adrian argues that tokenization is a structural reconfiguration of financial architecture that shifts trust and risk management from institutions to programmable infrastructures. Tokenization enables atomic, real-time settlement and embedded compliance across money, banking, capital markets, and financial market infrastructures, compressing value chains but also accelerating liquidity dynamics and potential stress transmission. For emerging and developing economies, although tokenization may lower payment and market-access frictions, it heightens risks of volatile capital flows, currency substitution, and fragmented liquidity. The note emphasizes that the long-term success of tokenization depends on anchoring digital finance in public trust through clear policy frameworks and safe settlement assets, robust governance of code, legal certainty, and international coordination. Absent such anchors, tokenization risks amplifying financial instability through speed, concentration, and fragmentation, as contract-based risk management alter the nature of settlement, liquidity, and systemic risk. [IMF]

#DLT #Fintech #Settlement #Tokenization #Regulation #Programmability #DFC

·imf.org·Apr 2, 2026

Tokenized Finance (IMF)

Next steps and Considerations for Kazakhstan's Digital Tenge (IMF)

[June 2024 but published in January 2026] The IMF published its findings regarding the plans of the National Bank of Kazakhstan and National Bank and National Payments Corporation to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by end‑2025, emphasizing alignment of pilots with clear policy objectives and realistic technical capacity. It highlighted the need for an explicit legal basis beyond “banknotes and coins,” prioritization of use cases, tailored evaluation frameworks, and careful analysis of macro‑financial risks from broader applications such as crypto‑asset linkages and government or large‑value payments, alongside stress‑testing, minimum cyber‑resilience standards, and stronger internal and cross‑authority coordination. [IMF]

#CBDC #Kazakhstan #IMF #Fintech #DFC

·imf.org·Apr 2, 2026

Next steps and Considerations for Kazakhstan's Digital Tenge (IMF)

Fiat-Backed Stablecoins and Narrow Banking (Atlanta Fed)

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s published a paper that argues that fiat‑backed stablecoins effectively implement a modern variant of narrow, full‑reserve banking under the 2025 GENIUS Act. The note explains that Chicago‑plan narrow banks and fiat‑backed stablecoin issuers both fund only cash and Treasury bills, provide payments and safekeeping but not lending, and target 1:1 redeemability. It stresses that stablecoins embed extra operational and intermediation layers—wallets, exchanges, blockchain settlement, and dependence on fractional‑reserve banks as custodians—creating additional run, peg‑deviation, and settlement risks relative to narrow banks. For policy and regulatory design, the analysis frames GENIUS‑style stablecoin regimes as functionally similar to narrow banks but with weaker direct supervision, no deposit insurance, and higher contagion channels from the legacy banking system, leaving open how to price, regulate, and backstop these new liabilities over time. [Atlanta Fed]

#CryptoAssets #Fintech #Regulation #Stablecoins #DFC #UnitedStates

·media.licdn.com·Apr 2, 2026

Fiat-Backed Stablecoins and Narrow Banking (Atlanta Fed)

Information Structures in Stablecoin Markets (arXiv)

Columbia University's Brian Z. Zhu develops a global-game model in which stablecoin run risk depends jointly on reserve fundamentals, the behavior of a large seller, and the precision of public versus private information about reserves. The model decomposes total run probability into “collateral risk” (runs driven by weak assets) and “large sale risk” (runs triggered by sizable redemptions), and shows that a large holder unambiguously raises selling pressure and shifts risk weight toward large-sale-driven runs as its size grows. Higher-precision public information reduces runs when fundamentals are strong but can amplify runs when fundamentals are weak, while more precise private signals have the opposite comparative statics, implying that heterogeneous, noisy private beliefs can stabilize fundamentally sound but informationally opaque stablecoins. The paper maps these results to recent events and regulations, arguing that transparency mandates like the U.S. GENIUS Act strengthen the link between runs and fundamentals but may lower capital efficiency and reduce the stabilizing role of belief heterogeneity. [arXiv]

#Stablecoins #Fintech #CryptoAssets #DFC

·arxiv.org·Apr 2, 2026

Information Structures in Stablecoin Markets (arXiv)

Faster Settlement May Make For Poorer Markets (Coin Telegraph)

Cointelegraph published an article in which Axis CEO Chris Kim argues that pushing settlement from T+1 toward real-time atomic settlement can degrade market quality by eroding netting and capital efficiency. Shorter settlement horizons reduce counterparty and timing risk but require full pre-funding of each trade, constraining leverage and increasing costs for high‑turnover strategies. This dynamic reinforces the centrality of large intermediaries that can coordinate liquidity at scale, reshaping market structure around new “liquidity gatekeepers” and critical coordination infrastructure. Key open questions concern how far policy and design can recover netting benefits in an on-chain, T+0 environment without re-importing systemic risk. [Coin Telegraph]

#Settlement #Liquidity #Fintech #Tokenization #DFC

·cointelegraph.com·Mar 31, 2026

Faster Settlement May Make For Poorer Markets (Coin Telegraph)

The Eurosystem’s Comprehensive Payments Strategy (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) set out the Eurosystem’s comprehensive two pronged payments strategy, defining its vision for the evolution of European payments under rapid technological change. The first prong is upgrading core infrastructures such as T2, the real time gross settlement backbone for high value and time critical payments during business days, and TIPS, the 24/7 Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) instant retail settlement layer, while developing distributed ledger technology based wholesale settlement via Pontes and Appia. The second prong is a retail digital euro, with tokenized deposits and regulated, EU governed stablecoins in a complementary role. The strategy links tokenization choices to preserving the singleness of money, monetary sovereignty, and financial stability, reduces dependence on non European schemes, and embeds strategic autonomy and cyber resilience into core infrastructures and retail acceptance layers. It also promotes deeper integration of cross border and corporate payments through instant payments, standardization, and interlinking fast payment systems. [ECB]

#ECB #Eurozone #Payments #Settlement #Regulation #PaymentSystems #CrossBorder #Fintech #FastPayments #DFC

·ecb.europa.eu·Mar 31, 2026

The Eurosystem’s Comprehensive Payments Strategy (ECB)

SWIFT’s Blockchain-Based Shared Ledger Progresses to MVP (SWIFT)

SWIFT announced that its member banks are moving a blockchain-based shared ledger to a minimum viable product (MVP) phase for live cross-border use in 2026. The initiative will use tokenized commercial bank deposits on an Ethereum virtual machine-compatible ledger, operated by Swift as a coordination and validation layer while banks retain control over keys, assets, and settlement through existing real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems and correspondent channels. This design attempts to add a 24/7 digital orchestration layer atop current messaging and standards rather than create a competing rail, aiming to improve liquidity visibility, reconciliation, and interoperability across 11,500 institutions in 200+ jurisdictions. Open questions include regulatory treatment, access rules, and how this model will coexist with central bank digital currency and domestic instant payment schemes. [SWIFT]

#Blockchain #Payments #Tokenization #Fintech #SWIFT #DFC #DepositTokens

·swift.com·Mar 31, 2026

SWIFT’s Blockchain-Based Shared Ledger Progresses to MVP (SWIFT)

Don’t Kill Cash (OMFIF)

OMFIF published an article in which Biagio Bossone argues that physical cash should be treated as critical national payment infrastructure rather than a legacy instrument to be phased out. He notes that in an era of overlapping climate, cyber, and geopolitical shocks, digital payment systems and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) share dependencies on power, networks, and cloud infrastructures that fail precisely under stress, whereas cash uniquely preserves transactional capacity and economic agency during systemic outages. This matters for payment-system oversight, as current frameworks focus on digital financial market infrastructures and largely ignore strategic governance of cash, leaving gaps in crisis planning, access monitoring, and retailer acceptance. A strategic cash policy would embed cash into national resilience planning, guarantee minimum access infrastructure, and formalize its role in disaster response, but the extent to which central banks will internalize these resilience externalities and act before cash usage erodes further remains uncertain. [OMFIF]

#Cash #Offline #Payments #OMFIF #Fintech #DFC

·omfif.org·Mar 31, 2026

Don’t Kill Cash (OMFIF)

Tokenized Deposits, WCBDC and the Central Bank’s Liquidity Management (Norges Bank)

Norges Bank published a paper that analyzes how tokenized bank deposits and wholesale central bank digital currency (WCBDC) interact with central bank liquidity management under different reserve regimes and settlement designs. They model four configurations combining scarce versus ample reserves with settlement either in traditional reserves via the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system or in WCBDC on a ledger, showing that liquidity frictions arise mainly when reserves are scarce and tokenized payments can alter banks’ reserve or WCBDC positions close to RTGS cut-off. This matters because late-in-the-day tokenized flows can force abrupt recourse to standing facilities, complicate overnight redistribution, and impair short-term rate control and monetary policy implementation, particularly in corridor or quota systems. Policy responses include deferred settlement for tokenized deposits settled in reserves and time windows or design tweaks for WCBDC activity, but the optimal mix of reserve regime, platform architecture, and operating rules remains unresolved. [Norges Bank]

#wCBDC #CBDC #Tokenization #DepositTokens #DFC #Fintech

·norges-bank.no·Mar 29, 2026

Tokenized Deposits, WCBDC and the Central Bank’s Liquidity Management (Norges Bank)

Are Stablecoins and Bank Deposits Substitutes? (SSRN)

Rashad Ahmed (Anderson Institute for Finance and Economics) and Iñaki Aldasoro (BIS) posted a paper that analyzes U.S. weekly data from 2019–2025 to test whether deposit rates and reserve‑backed stablecoin holdings are substitutes. They find that higher demand deposit rates significantly slow stablecoin market capitalization growth, exploiting a nonlinear deposit‑rate pass‑through “kink” above a 3% federal funds rate, yielding effects about three times larger. This suggests bank funding conditions and monetary policy transmission now extend into stablecoin markets, with stronger substitution for USDC than USDT, aligning with USDC’s tighter links to U.S. users, and no comparable effect for bitcoin. The findings suggest that deposit‑rate regulation, the design of stablecoin regimes, and the stance of monetary policy can reallocate liquidity between banks and USD stablecoins, although identification relies on a single high‑rate episode and aggregate data that leave user‑level motives and heterogeneity across institutions unresolved. [SSRN]

#Stablecoins #UnitedStates #DepositTokens #Fintech #DFC

·papers.ssrn.com·Mar 29, 2026

Are Stablecoins and Bank Deposits Substitutes? (SSRN)

Potential Consequences for Norway of the Introduction of a Digital Euro (Norges Bank)

Norges Bank publishes an assessment arguing that a potential digital euro would have limited structural impact on Norway’s monetary and financial system while marginally increasing competition in niche payment segments. The paper finds that, given Norway’s macro stability, strong institutional credibility, and existing foreign-currency options, a capped, non‑interest‑bearing digital euro is unlikely to trigger material currency substitution away from NOK or meaningfully affect monetary policy transmission, liquidity management, or bank funding profiles. It emphasizes that use would concentrate in tourism-related and cross‑border transactions, where lower fees and pan‑EEA reach could modestly strengthen merchant competition and payment contingency but remain geographically and quantitatively constrained. Legally, enabling use in Norway would require EEA transposition and an ECB–Norges Bank agreement that could constrain domestic discretion on parameters such as holding limits, raising governance questions about central bank independence and rule‑setting. [Norges Bank]

#CBDC #Norway #Eurozone #Fintech #DFC #CrossBorder

·norges-bank.no·Mar 28, 2026

Potential Consequences for Norway of the Introduction of a Digital Euro (Norges Bank)

Norges Bank's Exploration of Central Bank Digital Currency (Norges Bank)

Norges Bank published four reports from its central bank digital currency (CBDC) exploratory work, which last year concluded that introducing a CBDC is currently not warranted. The need for such a currency may, however, change in the future. The four reports published today describe the exploration work and the assessments underpinning the conclusion. Norges Bank will continue to explore tokenization and different forms of CBDC in order to introduce a CBDC should it be necessary The Bank will explore the possibilities and consequences of tokenization through activities such as experimental technology testing, also in collaboration with other payment system participants. One of the papers documents sandbox tests of a two-tier, blockchain-based retail CBDC that central bank exclusively mints and redeems, while banks and other payment service providers manage all customer relationships and data. Tests show that role-based smart contracts can technically enforce this division of responsibilities and give the central bank only aggregate, real-time circulation data, but they also highlight structural privacy risks from linkable pseudonymous addresses and operational rigidity from immutable smart contracts. [Norges Bank]

#CBDC #Norway #Fintech #DFC

·norges-bank.no·Mar 28, 2026

Norges Bank's Exploration of Central Bank Digital Currency (Norges Bank)

Final Report of the Consultation on CBDC for Uganda (BOU)

[June 2025] The Bank of Uganda (BOU) published the final report on its central bank digital currency (CBDC) consultation. It argues that a CBDC merits further, phased exploration as a tool for modernizing payments, inclusion, and regional integration. The survey of 151 largely domestic, policy‑adjacent stakeholders found high reported trust in a CBDC, strong expectations of reduced cash‑handling costs and improved payment efficiency, and majority support for a retail, potentially programmable instrument that coexists with current systems. For policy and institutional design, the report frames CBDC as building on Uganda’s extensive mobile money and real-time gross settlement (RTGS) infrastructure, potentially enhancing transparency, cross‑border trade in the East African Community, and monetary policy implementation, while emphasizing preconditions around legal frameworks, cybersecurity, and stakeholder engagement. [BOU]

#CBDC #Uganda #Fintech #DFC

·bou.or.ug·Mar 28, 2026

Final Report of the Consultation on CBDC for Uganda (BOU)

Bank of Uganda Looking for Consultants for CBDC Feasibility Study (BOU)

The Bank of Uganda (BOU) is inviting qualified consultants or consulting firms to submit expressions of interest to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study on issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Uganda, covering technical infrastructure, legal and regulatory aspects, economic and social impacts, operational viability, and a detailed cost-benefit analysis using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The selected firm will assess national digital and payments infrastructure, propose and apply a robust methodology, and deliver specified reports demonstrating understanding, relevant experience, and a workplan. Participation is open under Bank of Uganda procurement rules, with detailed eligibility, experience, and team composition criteria (multi-disciplinary CBDC, payments, economic, legal, cybersecurity, and change-management experts) and a minimum technical score of 70 points for shortlisting. The deadline for submissions is on April 16, 2026. [BOU]

#CBDC #Uganda #DFC #Fintech

·web.archive.org·Mar 28, 2026

Bank of Uganda Looking for Consultants for CBDC Feasibility Study (BOU)

Western Union has Big Plans for Stablecoins (American Banker)

Western Union is making a strategic pivot toward stablecoins as part of the 175-year-old company’s efforts to transform into a digital-first organization. The company’s own stablecoin — the U.S. Dollar Payment Token (USDPT), issued on the Solana blockchain and managed by U.S. Bank — will convert “negative float” (capital costs from pre-funding partners) into interest-bearing revenue. Beyond revenue generation, USDPT gives Western Union programmable compliance controls across its operations in 200 countries and territories, allowing transaction terms to be customized at the partner level. The stablecoin is also expected to help customers in inflation-prone economies hold dollar-denominated assets. [American Banker]

#CrossBorder #Fintech #Payments #Stablecoins #DFC

·finance.yahoo.com·Mar 27, 2026

Western Union has Big Plans for Stablecoins (American Banker)

Tether Appoints KPMG to Complete First Full Audit (Tether)

Tether has appointed KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting firms, to perform a proper audit of its USDT stablecoin. Additionally, according to the Financial Times, Tether has also enlisted PwC, another of the Big four, to help prepare its internal systems for this auditing process. This initiative coincides with Tether's plans to register USDT under the U.S. GENIUS Act, signaling a significant step in its expansion efforts within the U.S. market. [Tether]

#Tether #Auditing #Stablecoins #Accounting #Fintech #CryptoAssets #Regulation #DFC

·tether.io·Mar 27, 2026

Tether Appoints KPMG to Complete First Full Audit (Tether)

European Council Presses Co-Legislators on Digital Euro Legislation (European Council)

At its meeting on March 19, 2026, the European Council, the body comprising the heads of state or government of all European Union (EU) Member States, called on the EU’s two co-legislators, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (comprising Member State ministers), to conclude negotiations on the digital euro legislative proposal by end-2026. Although the European Council sets political direction and cannot itself pass legislation, its conclusions carry considerable authority. The deadline is consequential: the ECB has indicated that, assuming the regulation is adopted in 2026, pilot transactions could commence by mid-2027 and a first issuance could occur by 2029, with estimated development costs of approximately €1.3 billion. The ECB’s final decision on whether to issue a digital euro remains contingent on adoption of the enabling legislation. [European Council]

#ECB #CBDC #Fintech #DFC #Eurozone

·consilium.europa.eu·Mar 24, 2026

European Council Presses Co-Legislators on Digital Euro Legislation (European Council)

Public Discourse on Retail Payments and the Case of CBDC (Ulrich Bindseil)

Ulrich Bindseil posted a white paper that analyzes retail payments as a network industry shaped by strong incentives to influence public opinion and regulation. Due to network effects, high fixed costs, and path dependence, multiple architectures can deliver similar outcomes while redistributing value across stakeholders. The paper maps how banks, card schemes, Bigtechs, merchants, consumers, crypto actors, and public authorities promote strategic narratives, creating a noisy and biased policy debate. It evaluates central bank digital currency (CBDC) as a central policy choice, alongside alternatives such as regulation or public instant-payment systems. One of the paper’s key insights is that retail payment outcomes are not determined purely by efficiency, but by strategic communication, political economy, and institutional design under uncertainty. In addition, effective policy requires independent analysis, transparency, and preserving a balance between public and private money. [SSRN]

#CBDC #Payments #Fintech #DFC #FastPayments

·papers.ssrn.com·Mar 21, 2026

Public Discourse on Retail Payments and the Case of CBDC (Ulrich Bindseil)

Offline Payments at Scale as Digital Money (Crunchfish)

Crunchfish published an executive white paper that reframes offline payments from a resilience add-on to ledger-based payments platforms to core payments infrastructure. In a fully digital economy, the absence of offline capability becomes a systemic vulnerability, but the architecture matters. The paper provides an analytical framework for evaluating offline models as a lens for institutional alignment. It distinguishes between immediate offline (which shifts value and risk to devices), deferred offline (preserves ledger money but introduces credit and reconciliation risk) and governed offline (reservation-based in which funds remain reserved at source, enabling offline execution with deterministic settlement). The governed offline model aligns with card pre-authorization and smart contract settlement. In the case of central bank digital currency (CBDC) it maintains central bank control offline, preserves singleness of digital money and avoids fragmentation. [Crunchfish]

#Crunchfish #CBDC #Fintech #Payments #DFC #Offline

·crunchfish.com·Mar 21, 2026

Offline Payments at Scale as Digital Money (Crunchfish)

Stablecoins and the Future of Payments: Evidence from Financial Markets (IMF)

The IMF published a working paper that argues that recent U.S. stablecoin legislation is interpreted by markets as a major pro‑competitive shock to the payments industry. Using high‑frequency stock‑price data around key votes on the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, they estimate that passage reduced incumbent U.S. payment firms’ aggregate market capitalization by about 18% (roughly $300 billion) once anticipation is accounted for, with larger losses for cross‑border specialists and smaller or no losses for firms protected by strong network effects or already offering crypto services. The authors infer that investors expect regulated, fully backed “payment stablecoins” to materially intensify competition—especially in cross‑border payments—while leaving open how far network incumbency and early crypto engagement will mitigate disruption over time. [IMF]

#Stablecoins #Payments #UnitedStates #IMF #Fintech

·imf.org·Mar 21, 2026

Stablecoins and the Future of Payments: Evidence from Financial Markets (IMF)

Bermuda's Premier Lays Ground for Digitally Native Dollar (Royal Gazette)

Bermuda’s Premier David Burt signalled a shift from the Government’s earlier strategy of relying solely on privately issued stablecoins toward exploring a digitally native Bermuda dollar, saying pilots and growing experience with stablecoin-based payments have prompted reconsideration of a public-sector role in issuance. He framed the prospective digital Bermuda dollar as a complementary, local instrument aimed at reducing friction in P2G transactions and strengthening monetary identity in a dollarized economy, noting that the Bermuda Monetary Authority and Ministry of Finance are now aligned on a legislative roadmap and beginning to evaluate infrastructure partners. While current stablecoin pilots continue and officials are examining whether such tokens could be accepted as legal tender, Burt emphasized that a future digital Bermuda dollar “may not be privately issued stable coins,” underscoring concerns that have been raised about consumer protection, dependence on private issuers, and the resilience of an “onchain” economy. [Royal Gazette]

#CBDC #Stablecoins #Fintech #Bermuda #DFC

·royalgazette.com·Mar 20, 2026

Bermuda's Premier Lays Ground for Digitally Native Dollar (Royal Gazette)

Crypto-linked Card Activity Rebounds, Expands Globally (Visa)

Visa reports that crypto-linked card use on its network has rebounded since the 2022 “crypto winter,” with payment volumes recovering toward prior highs and becoming more geographically diverse, now led by Asia Pacific rather than being concentrated in Europe and North America. These cards let consumers spend cryptocurrencies or stablecoins anywhere Visa is accepted, with instant conversion to local fiat at the point of sale so merchants receive standard Visa payments and need not change their acceptance or settlement arrangements. Volumes surged roughly elevenfold between January 2021 and April 2022 alongside a sharp rise in Bitcoin’s price and a fivefold increase in stablecoin supply, then flattened after the Terra Luna collapse before resuming steady growth from 2024 in line with expanding stablecoin issuance. [Visa]

#CryptoAssets #Fintech #Payments #Stablecoins #DFC #VISA

·corporate.visa.com·Mar 20, 2026

Crypto-linked Card Activity Rebounds, Expands Globally (Visa)

Consultation on the Eurosystem's Appia Project (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) published an update to its Appia project aimed at enabling the settlement of distributed ledger technology (DLT) transactions using central bank money (CeBM). Appia is the longer-term initiative to provide tokenized CeBM for DLT-based wholesale markets via a unified settlement ecosystem. The update concerns the launching a formal consultation inviting market and public authorities to comment on Appia’s proposed DLT‑based wholesale ecosystem design and six‑block workplan via a structured questionnaire due 22 April 2026. Feedback will shape standards, governance choices, cross‑border linkages, and prioritization of analytical and practical work toward a 2028 blueprint. [ECB]

#ECB #Eurozone #Tokenization #DLT #CBDC #SettlementSystems #wCBDC #DFC

·ecb.europa.eu·Mar 19, 2026

Consultation on the Eurosystem's Appia Project (ECB)

ECB Workshop on Pontes Platform Decentralized Programmability (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) published an updates to its Pontes aimed at enabling the settlement of distributed ledger technology (DLT) transactions using central bank money (CeBM). Pontes is the near-term DLT-based interoperability solution linking DLT platforms with TARGET Services so DLT transactions settle in CeBM, using API-based trigger and hash-link mechanisms and dedicated DLT cash wallets funded from TARGET accounts. The update focused on market-developed smart contracts deployed by national central banks on the Eurosystem DLT ("decentralized programmability") that would enable cash-locking for delivery-versus-payment, programmable payments, microtransactions, DLT interoperability, and automated corporate actions. [ECB]

#Fintech #CBDC #ECB #Eurozone #Tokenization #DLT #SettlementSystems #wCBDC #DFC

·media.licdn.com·Mar 19, 2026

ECB Workshop on Pontes Platform Decentralized Programmability (ECB)

ECB Calls for Experts to Participate in Digital Euro Rulebook Development (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) launched a call for experts to join two workstreams under the digital euro Rulebook Development Group (RDG) to support further development of the digital euro scheme rulebook, which will set common rules, standards and procedures for using the digital euro across the euro area. One workstream (G5) will focus on implementation specifications for ATMs and payment terminals, including communication technologies, integration of offline digital euro functionality and leveraging existing standards, requiring expertise in ATM and terminal interfacing or provision. The other (B1) will design a certification and approval framework for testing and certifying payment and acceptance solutions and infrastructure used by payment service providers in the digital euro ecosystem, requiring expertise in payments and acceptance devices. The ECB notes that the flexible draft rulebook will be updated to reflect the outcome of the EU legislative process, with any decision to issue a digital euro to follow only after legislation is adopted. [ECB]

#Eurozone #ECB #Fintech #DFC #CBDC

·ecb.europa.eu·Mar 19, 2026

ECB Calls for Experts to Participate in Digital Euro Rulebook Development (ECB)

SEC Approves Nasdaq’s Securities Tokenization Plan (SEC)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a Nasdaq rule change allowing certain listed securities to clear and settle in tokenized form via a Depository Trust Company (DTC) tokenization pilot. The order authorizes trading tokenized versions of large-cap equities and major index exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the same order book, with identical CUSIP, symbol, rights, and execution priority as traditional shares, with tokenization preferences expressed through an order flag and implemented post‑trade by DTC. This embeds distributed-ledger-based entitlements within existing exchange, clearing, and surveillance infrastructures, preserves T+1 settlement, and treats tokenized and traditional shares identically for fees, market data, and audit trail. The SEC frames the decision as technology‑neutral, while leaving broader questions about alternative tokenization models, issuer choice, and future non‑fungible tokenized instruments to subsequent rulemakings. [SEC]

#Regulation #Fintech #DFC #Tokenization #UnitedStates

·sec.gov·Mar 19, 2026

SEC Approves Nasdaq’s Securities Tokenization Plan (SEC)

Zero Knowledge Proof Authentication for Offline CBDC Payments (arXiv)

Santanu Mondal and T. Chithralekha propose a hybrid offline central bank digital currency (CBDC) architecture that uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) and secure hardware to enable cash-like payments on resource-constrained internet of things (IoT) devices while preserving regulatory oversight. The system combines a two-tier CBDC model with hierarchical “main wallet / IoT sub‑wallets,” secure elements and trusted execution environments for tamper-resistant key storage and counters, and NFC/BLE device-to-device transfers backed by lightweight ZKPs. This operationalizes intermittently offline CBDC designs, translating privacy-preserving anti–money laundering and counter–terrorist financing rules into on-device limits and ZKP circuits rather than continuous online monitoring, thereby shifting supervisory leverage into protocol and hardware design choices. Unresolved are empirical tradeoffs among proof complexity, device diversity, and real-world performance under regulatory stress scenarios. [arXiv]

#CBDC #ZKP #ZeroKnowledgeProofs #DFC #Fintech #Offline #IoT

·arxiv.org·Mar 19, 2026

Zero Knowledge Proof Authentication for Offline CBDC Payments (arXiv)