DFC

The BIS published a paper that examines the emerging market for tokenized government bonds, analyzing a dataset of 39 tokenized bonds (24 corporate, 15 government/supranational) worth $8 billion total against the backdrop of the $80 trillion global government debt market. The authors find that despite being in early experimental stages, tokenized bonds demonstrate modestly superior performance compared to conventional bonds from the same issuers - specifically exhibiting lower bid-ask spreads (19 vs 30 basis points), comparable issuance costs, and significantly lower minimum investment thresholds ($110,000 vs $185,000). The paper argues that tokenized government bonds could serve as a foundational element of a future tokenized financial system alongside tokenized central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits, potentially enhancing market efficiency through programmable features, faster settlement, and broader investor access. However, the authors maintain a cautious perspective, noting that widespread adoption faces substantial regulatory uncertainty, technological scalability challenges, and infrastructure development requirements, with the ultimate success dependent on addressing these implementation barriers rather than the modest technical advantages observed thus far.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) has reportedly temporarily suspended preparations for the second phase of its wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot that had been scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2025. The first phase of "Project Hanging River", which was aimed at building a programmable and interoperable CBDC network to support a tokenized financial ecosystem, ended on June 30, 2025. The decision comes as the government pushes a won-based stablecoin-focused agenda.

[April 13, 2023] The German Banking Industry Committee (GBIC) has published a comprehensive working paper on the evolution of commercial bank money. It describes the design principles for a Commercial Bank Money Token (Tokenized Commercial Bank Money, CBMT) as well as the mechanisms for its issuance and multi-currency capability.

Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey expressed doubts that there is a need for the central bank to introduce retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). Instead, he thinks that "commercial banks need to step up to the challenge of digital money provision... [because] if there are real benefits to digital technology in payments, we should want to see them in commercial bank money". He also mentioned tokenized deposits as a way to apply digital technology to the form of money that we have today, with the challenge being to apply them to both domestic and cross-border payments.

The Digital Euro Association (DEA) published a position statement that advocates for a balanced and innovative approach to digital money in Europe, focusing on stablecoins, retail and wholesale digital euros, and deposit tokens. The DEA emphasizes regulatory clarity, interoperability, user protection, and privacy, supporting the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) for stablecoins while calling for proportional implementation to foster innovation. For the wholesale digital euro, the DEA highlights efficiency gains through distributed ledger technology (DLT), global interoperability, and collaborative governance. The retail digital euro should prioritize public good, privacy, and user-centric design, ensuring accessibility and legal clarity. Deposit tokens are seen as complementary to public money, requiring regulatory clarity and consumer protection. Overall, the DEA promotes a cohesive digital financial ecosystem that strengthens Europe’s monetary sovereignty, fosters innovation, and ensures trust and inclusivity.

VISA published an interim report on Phase 2 of the e-HKD Pilot Programme, an initiative by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to explore cross-border transactions using new forms of digital money including central bank digital currency (CBDC) and tokenized deposits. The pilot, involving VISA, ANZ, Fidelity International, and ChinaAMC Hong Kong, testis how Australia-based investors can purchase tokenized fund units from Hong Kong asset managers using e-HKD or tokenized deposits. The program aims to explore the potential of blockchain technology for near real-time settlements, enhanced interoperability between public and permissioned blockchains, and the establishment of token standards, ultimately seeking to accelerate digital asset adoption and improve the efficiency of fund management and cross-border payments.

[October 4, 2023] The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a report that outlines the Bank of Korea’s forthcoming wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot, aimed at building a programmable and interoperable CBDC network to support a tokenized financial ecosystem. The pilot introduces a three-tiered structure of digital currencies—CBDC, tokenized deposits (DC-I), and CBDC-backed e-money (DC-II), with a fourth type (DC-III) used in connected systems for specific use cases. It seeks to improve payment efficiency through programmability (e.g., tokenized vouchers), promote delivery-versus-payment (DvP) for tokenized assets, and test interoperability mechanisms between platforms.

In a University of Toulouse School of Economics (TSE) working paper, Jon Frost (BIS), Jean-Charles Rochet, Huyn Song Shin (BIS), and Marianne Verdier analyzed the competition between three digital payment instruments: bank deposits, private stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Using a theoretical model grounded in two-sided market economics, the authors explore how market structure and social welfare are affected by “walled gardens” (non-interoperable payment ecosystems) versus interoperable systems such as central bank-operated fast payment systems (FPS) or CBDCs. They find that both CBDCs and FPS can increase financial inclusion, raise trade volumes, and enhance welfare—though they may reduce the market share of traditional financial intermediaries and paradoxically lead to higher merchant fees due to decreased price elasticity. The paper concludes that, in many cases, a well-designed FPS may offer similar benefits to a retail CBDC, suggesting that countries with robust FPS infrastructure may not urgently need a CBDC.

At a briefing held at the Bank of Korea on April 21, 2025, Deputy Governor Lee Jong-ryul reportedly pointed out that the "Project Hangang River" three-month pilot that started on April 1, 2025, is more about experimenting with "deposit tokens," a stablecoin issued by domestic commercial banks, than the central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued by the Bank of Korea. As of April 20, 51,766 electronic wallets capable of using deposit tokens had been opened, and a cumulative total of 29,251 transactions had occurred from April 1 to April 20.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) “Project Hangang River" wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) backed tokenized deposit pilot is reportedly preparing to launch a second phase as early as October. The current three-month (April 1 to June 30, 2025) phase involves about 100,000 participants, and is limited to person-to-business (P2B) payments (for goods and services at online and offline merchants). In the next phase, person-to-person (P2P) transfers will be added, along with expanded use cases and a full rollout of a digital voucher program for welfare payments by local governments.

Colombia's Banco de la República (BanRep) is exploring the use of a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a tokenized financial market based on distributed ledger technology (DLT). As part of this agenda, BanRep, in collaboration with the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, Ripple and Peersyst, is conducting an experiment to issue wholesale CBDC and tokenized securities. This involves building a scalable blockchain prototype in a test environment with simulated participants. The experiment evaluates efficiencies in delivery versus s payment (DVP) for primary issuance and in the clearing and settlement of transactions in the secondary market, as well as direct CBDC transfers between the wallets of financial entities on the blockchain.

Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) published a report on the main developments in the first phase of its Drex wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) proof-of-concept (POC) work, which took place between July 2023 and October 2024. (None of the Drex tests involved real clients or assets, but rather fictitious ones.) The report highlighted the trilemma of finding a solution that balances decentralization, programmability, and privacy issues at the same time, while being compliant to the Brazilian legal framework. I'm still digesting a Google Translate version (it's only available in Portuguese) of the 73-page report, and may come back with more detail later.

Digital fiat currency (DFC) is a tokenized, digital representation of a sovereign currency issued by an authorized public or private entity. When issued and distributed by a central bank or other monetary authority, it is a central bank digital currency (CBDC). If it is issued by a private entity, it may be e-money or another form of digital commercial bank money/private digital tokens/stablecoins, even if backed by central bank money.

Most closed loop systems can offer fast and seamless transactions. The real challenge in payments arises in open loops. They require clearing arrangements by which financial institutions accept monies from other institutions. To allow stablecoins to be used to conduct payments more generally, there needs to be clearing arrangements between stablecoins and banks. The viability of stablecoins will depend on its efficient operation in open loop applications. Whether they become a core payment instrument or remain niche will be an outcome in large part of their ability to bridge the gap between crypto ecosystems and the banking system. (Ousmène Jacques Mandeng)

The Bank of Korea will reportedly launch a three-month central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot involving 100,000 consumers, as early as this month (March 2025). It will involve seven major commercial banks that will issue deposit tokens backed by CBDC, which consumers can use to make purchases at various participating merchants. The tokens, valued up to 1 million won per person, will be distributed through electronic wallets, allowing users to make payments by displaying QR codes.

The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) is inviting supervised entities to participate in its Regulatory Sandbox’s tokenized deposits project, the goal of which is to create a regulatory framework with the involvement of stakeholders. The country's financial ecosystem does not currently regulate the use and offering of distributed ledger technology (DLT) based deposits and certificates of deposit (CDs). This project will potentially contribute to the creation of new financial products, the diversity of the financial ecosystem, the development of a CD secondary market, greater flexibility and diversification of deposit products, and optimization of product-related costs.

"Like bank deposits that make up over 90% of the money in use today, tokenized deposits can support a variety of use cases including domestic and cross-border payments, trading and settlement, and provision of cash collateral. In a token form, commercial bank money becomes a programmable instrument that operates 24/7 and can be transferred instantly, without relying on intermediaries. These technical features allow “deposit tokens” to express sophisticated payment operations and to act as collateral that travels within minutes."

"The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) has published a white paper on a digital Swiss franc, in which it outlines various designs of “tokenised” deposits on the blockchain. If issued by regulated banks, a deposit token could make an important contribution to Switzerland’s future competitiveness and innovative power, as well as bolster its sovereignty."

State Street is reportedly exploring creating its own stablecoin and deposit token. The bank is already an investor in Fnality, the interbank distributed ledger technology (DLT) synthetic wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) payment solution backed by 20 institutions.

The European Central Bank (ECB) published a paper that explores the relationship between banks, and stablecoins and their issuers, focusing on the mechanical effects on banks’ capital and liquidity ratios when issuing stablecoins or collecting deposits from stablecoin issuers. The analysis reveals that converting retail deposits into stablecoin issuers’ deposits weakens a bank’s liquidity coverage ratio (LCR), turning a retail deposit into a wholesale deposit, even when these funds are reinvested in high-quality liquid assets (HQLA). If a credit institution issues its own stablecoins, the impact on its LCR depends on whether it can identify the stablecoin holders; unknown holders weaken the LCR which could incentivize banks to issue stablecoins where they can continually identify the holders to benefit from more favorable liquidity treatment. The study also finds that when retail customers of bank A buy a stablecoin issued by a non-bank that keeps reserves at bank B, both banks could see an unexpected decline in their liquidity ratios, as bank A loses stable retail deposits and bank B gains volatile wholesale deposits.

The Bank of Canada (BOC) published a paper that uses a general equilibrium monetary model to explore the impact of introducing "tokenized money" (central bank digital currency (CBDC) or tokenized deposits) on stablecoins. It finds that when tokenized monies pay a high interest rate and guarantee a high degree of anonymity, they crowd out stablecoins. Conversely, with low anonymity and low interest rates, tokenized monies become collateral, promoting stablecoin development. CBDCs dominate tokenized deposits because a central bank can better economize on scarce collateral assets, and banks face incentive problems and do not internalize the societal cost of their activities, generating negative externalities.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) unveiled three initiatives to ensure the safe and innovative use of digital money in Singapore. First there is the Orchid Blueprint that sets out the technology and infrastructure building blocks that would be required to facilitate digital money transactions in the future. Second there are four new Project Orchid digital money trials, including testing the broad applicability of purpose bound money, which enables money to be directed towards a specific purpose, without requiring money itself to be programmed. Third “live” wholesale CBDC will be tested, with the first pilot focusing on settling retail payments between commercial banks, and future pilots possibly focusing on settling cross-border securities trades. The Orchid Blueprint will support single-currency stablecoins that will be regulated for their value stability under MAS’ proposed regulatory framework for stablecoin activities. The Blueprint will also support tokenized bank deposits issued by MAS-regulated banks.