Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20260703)

July 3, 2026July 3, 2026 ~ kiffmeister ~ Leave a comment

Tokenization at Investment Banks Survey 2026 Final Report (SODA)

Tokenization at large investment banks is advancing but remains economically and infrastructurally immature, according to a SODA survey of sixteen of the world’s largest investment banks. Activity is clustered in tokenized money, collateral mobility and intraday repo, where links to liquidity, balance‑sheet efficiency and settlement are most concrete, with capital markets issuance, custody, funds and secondary trading treated largely as dependent layers. Most initiatives stall at proof‑of‑concept or pre‑production, reflecting private‑network architectures, unresolved legal and prudential treatment, duplicated off‑chain records, weak 24/7 operational readiness, and the absence of a convergent settlement model. Banks see plausible upside in liquidity coverage ratio and collateral velocity, but benefits are mostly unrealized, funding models are fragmented between business lines and central functions, client willingness to pay is limited, and return‑on‑investment logics remain institution‑specific rather than industry‑wide. Overall, the survey results indicate that tokenization will only become transformative if it can prove hard financial benefits, overcome legal and infrastructure barriers, and move from fragmented pilots into bank-backed, scalable production. [SODA]

BTW if you want to see a complete database of my DFC-related posts going back years, including many that didn’t make the Daily Digest cut, click here.

FYI I produce a monthly digest of digital fiat currency (DFC) developments exclusively for the official sector (e.g., central banks, ministries of finance and international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank)) plus academics and firms that are active in the DFC space (commercial banks, technology providers, consultants, etc.). (DFCs include central bank digital currency (CBDC), stablecoins and tokenized deposits.) It goes out via email on the first business day of every month, and if you’re interested in being on the mailing list, please email me at john@kiffmeister.com.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20260702)

July 2, 2026July 2, 2026 ~ kiffmeister ~ Leave a comment

A Unified Ledger in Practice: Lessons from Project Hangang (BoK)

Bank of Korea (BoK) Governor Hyun Song Shin presented a paper outlining the experiences and implications of “Project Hangang” at the ECB Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal. The paper argues that Hangang shows a unified ledger can implement tokenized reserves and deposits at scale while preserving a two‑tier monetary system and singleness of money, but only via specific architectural choices and unresolved institutional reforms. The project runs a permissioned digital currency system with wholesale central bank money natively issued on-ledger, burn‑and‑issue interbank transfers, and a strict separation of fungible currency tokens from a programmable voucher layer. Phase I demonstrated live retail and programmable public‑voucher use cases for around 80,000 users, but with crude, offline reconciliation to BOK‑Wire+ and pre‑funded liquidity. Phase II scales to ongoing operation and fiscal disbursements, while future work centers on tokenized government bonds, 24/7 intraday liquidity and cross‑border linkage via Project Agorá, contingent on clarifying the legal status of wholesale claims and the integrated liquidity framework. [ECB]

Financial Market Infrastructures Evolution in a Tokenized Economy (IMF)

The IMF published a paper by Cabedo, Mancini-Griffoli, Schar and Zhang that argues tokenization will reconfigure, rather than eliminate, financial market infrastructures by shifting deterministic lifecycle functions into smart contracts while preserving institutional responsibility for governance, legal certainty, and discretionary risk management. The paper maps issuance, clearing, settlement, and reporting onto single, common, and compatible ledger architectures, showing where atomic on‑chain execution can replace current post‑trade processes and where off‑chain or multi‑ledger coordination still dominates. It highlights new risks—smart‑contract design failures, oracle and bridge dependencies, governance concentration, and privacy trade‑offs—alongside persistent needs for central counterparties, depositories, and trade repositories to manage defaults, loss mutualization, finality, and supervisory access. The central unresolved issue is how law and regulation will define authoritative ledgers, recognize blockchain settlement, and specify accountable entities in hybrid FMI models. [IMF]

Jurisdictions Where Retail CBDC Is Being Explored

July 2, 2026July 2, 2026 ~ kiffmeister ~ Leave a comment

I’ve updated my tabulation of the central banks that have launched, piloted, experimented with and/or researched retail central bank digital currency (CBDC)(see below). The table was compiled from publicly available sources, including media and central bank websites, and not verified through official channels. If I’m missing anything, or you find mistakes in the tabulation, please let me know in the comments!

According to my count, 115 central banks have launched retail CBDC explorations based on publicly-available information. It doesn’t include the two that started issuing retail CBDC and then shut the platforms down (Ecuador and Finland). Four jurisdictions have seen full launches (Bahamas, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Nigeria), 13 pilot launches (where the central bank is/was issuing real CBDC to a limited subset of external users), 23 have seen proof-of-concept work started, and 75 started and remain in the pure research phase. These are less than the numbers published by the Atlantic Council, because they count individual countries in currency zones (e.g., Eurozone). BTW for those who want a more historical view of CBDC developments I strongly recommend the CBDCTracker.org database.

The table below also indicates in green which 29 projects are truly “live” where “live” is defined as those that are currently in active launch (3), pilot (5) or proof-of-concept (8) phases, plus others that have published research updates during the last 12 months (13).

Notes: The difference between a “pilot” and “proof of concept” (POC) is that a pilot involves actual users, whereas a POC does not, even though some POCs may involve central bank staff. Also, because the tabulation is based only on publicly-available information, it is likely that there is some POC activity in the “research” category, but no announcements have been made. Finally, entries that are crossed through indicate that the projects have been shut down, or put on hold (“watchful waiting”).

BTW I produce a monthly digest of digital fiat currency (DFC) developments exclusively for the official sector (e.g., central banks, ministries of finance and international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank)) plus academics and firms that are active in the DFC space (commercial banks, technology providers, consultants, etc.). (DFCs include central bank digital currency (CBDC), stablecoins and tokenized deposits.) It goes out via email on the first business day of every month, and if you’re interested in being on the mailing list, please email me at john@kiffmeister.com.

Jurisdictions Where Retail CBDC Is Being Explored Download

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20260701)

July 1, 2026July 1, 2026 ~ kiffmeister ~ Leave a comment

Project Agila: Results, Technical Findings and Policy Implications (BSP)

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) published a paper that concludes a wholesale central bank digital currency (WCBDC) on Hyperledger Fabric is technically feasible for 24/7 interbank settlement and could serve as a conditional back-up to PhilPaSS Plus, subject to major design, risk, and legal work. The two-phase Project Agila sandbox showed Oracle’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform can support full WCBDC lifecycle operations, programmable payments and high volumes, but with clear constraints around transaction finality, access controls, cybersecurity, and scalability at larger loads. The report frames WCBDC as reserves-on-ledger and potential high-quality liquid asset, analyzes implications under the National Payment Systems Act and BSP Charter, and identifies systemically important payment system treatment, access, holding limits, and charter changes as key policy questions. It recommends focusing next on tokenized securities settlement and institutional cross-border use cases while hardening governance, IT risk, and integration with existing financial market infrastructures (FMIs). [BSP]

Stablecoins and Anonymous Money (BIS)

Gita Gopinath argues that global stablecoin usage is structurally evolving toward maximum pseudonymity, in tension with decades of policy that pushed traditional money toward transparency. Empirically, most United States dollar‑pegged stablecoins (Tether and USD Coin) are held in self‑custody wallets and increasingly transferred wallet‑to‑wallet, with regulated exchanges and issuers involved in a shrinking share of flows, even on the most identifiable chains. This pattern undermines tax collection, financial‑crime controls, capital controls, and sanctions that depend on residence and identity information, while exploiting lighter compliance burdens relative to banks. Existing United States and European frameworks focus on issuers and centralized exchanges, leaving self‑custody and offshore activity largely outside ex ante monitoring, raising unresolved questions on how far regulation should extend into wallet‑level and cross‑border infrastructure. [BIS]

BTW if you want to see a complete database of my DFC-related posts going back years, including many that didn’t make the Daily Digest cut, click here.

Protected: Kiffmeister’s Digital Currency Monitor, June 2026

July 1, 2026July 1, 2026 ~ kiffmeister

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20260630)

June 30, 2026June 30, 2026 ~ kiffmeister ~ Leave a comment

U.K. BoE and FCA Approach to Joint Regulation of Systemic Stablecoin Issuers (BoE)

The Bank of England (BoE) published a paper that outlines how it and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will jointly regulate “systemic” stablecoin issuers within the new U.K. stablecoin regime created by recent legislative changes. The paper allocates supervisory remits across the two authorities and the Payment Systems Regulator, explains how issuers move from solo Financial Conduct Authority oversight to joint regulation once HM Treasury recognizes them as systemic, and details transitional tools such as staged onboarding and the BoE’s power of direction. It hard‑codes a more prudentially oriented regime for systemic issuers (backing assets in central bank deposits and short‑term gilts, capital and reserve requirements, issuance guardrails) while leaving conduct, disclosure, and competition issues primarily with the Financial Conduct Authority. Unresolved points include final calibration of failure arrangements, guardrail withdrawal, and rule disapplication mechanics. [BoE]

BTW if you want to see a complete database of my DFC-related posts going back years, including many that didn’t make the Daily Digest cut, click here.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20260629)

June 29, 2026June 29, 2026 ~ kiffmeister ~ Leave a comment

The Macroeconomics of Stablecoins (BIS)

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a paper by Hofmann, Kaldorf and Rottner that argues widespread stablecoin adoption modestly reduces long‑run U.S. output by tightening bank funding and credit, with offsetting fiscal effects from cheaper government debt issuance. The authors embed stablecoins in a macro‑finance and banking model with distortionary fiscal policy, where issuers hold short‑term government bonds, wholesale bank deposits, or central bank reserves under varying regulatory regimes. Stablecoins operate through a bank lending channel that raises deposit rates and funding costs and a fiscal space channel that expands room for tax cuts or spending by lowering Treasury bill yields. In baseline calibration the lending channel slightly dominates, but short‑run transition effects are expansionary and design choices, public debt levels, and foreign demand materially alter the long‑run macro impact and monetary transmission. [BIS]

BTW if you want to see a complete database of my DFC-related posts going back years, including many that didn’t make the Daily Digest cut, click here.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20260624)

June 24, 2026June 24, 2026 ~ kiffmeister ~ Leave a comment

Digital Euro: MEPs Want to Ensure Sovereignty, Privacy and Financial Stability (European Parliament)

The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee adopted its negotiating position on the digital euro by 43 votes to 14, part of a three-file single currency package. The digital euro would be account-based online and local-storage offline, with privacy-by-design using zero-knowledge proofs and no European Central Bank (ECB) access to personal identification data; basic services and offline payments would be fee-free; most merchants required to accept it. European Commission-set individual holding limits, calibrated on ECB recommendations and reviewed biennially, protect financial stability; businesses may accumulate incoming digital euro payments for up to 24 hours only; no interest accrues. The ECB must complete a rulebook, infrastructure, and pilots before a minimum 24-month rollout. A companion file allows non-euro EU member state payment service providers to distribute the digital euro under the same rules; a third file reinforces cash as legal tender and prohibits merchants from refusing it. Council negotiations on all three files are the next legislative step. [European Parliament]

Digital Pound Lab: Phase 2 Update (BoE)

The Bank of England (BoE) published a Phase 2 interim update for its Digital Pound Lab, developed with Accenture, ahead of the phase’s July 2026 conclusion. BoE-developed use cases demonstrated include one-time aliases for privacy-preserving payments, confirmation of payee, group “kitty” payments using conditional locks, external service interface provider connections enabling third-party app integration, allowances extended to e-commerce, and usage-based streaming micropayments. Twelve private sector participants are testing additional use cases; two featured to date are Crunchfish, demonstrating deferred offline payments with a reserve-pay-settle lifecycle and double-spend controls, and TECHT Labs, demonstrating conditional business-to-business payments via smart contracts. The BoE explicitly disclaimed policy endorsement of any participant designs. A full Phase 2 report and webinar are expected in July 2026. [BoE]

BTW if you want to see a complete database of my DFC-related posts going back years, including many that didn’t make the Daily Digest cut, click here.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20260623)

June 23, 2026 ~ kiffmeister ~ Leave a comment

US Senate Passes Housing Bill With Four-Year Fed CBDC Ban (Decrypt)

The U.S. Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act in an 85-5 vote, a bipartisan package meant to boost housing supply and stop large investors from snapping up single-family homes. The bill would also bar the Federal Reserve from issuing or creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC), or any substantially similar distributed ledger technology (DLT) based digital asset, until the end of 2030, including via intermediaries. The text includes a carve‑out for private “dollar‑denominated currency that is open, permissionless, and private, and fully preserves the privacy protections of United States coins and physical currency”. The bill now goes back to the House of Representatives, where quick approval is expected. [Decrypt]

BTW if you want to see a complete database of my DFC-related posts going back years, including many that didn’t make the Daily Digest cut, click here.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20260622)

June 22, 2026June 22, 2026 ~ kiffmeister ~ Leave a comment

Bank of England Policy Statement and Draft Rules on Regulating Systemic Stablecoins (BoE)

The Bank of England (BoE) published a policy statement and draft code of practice for systemic stablecoin issuers, reflecting extensive engagement with industry and stakeholders that resulted in targeted revisions to the proposals consulted on in 2025. The maximum share held in short-term U.K. government debt has been increased from 60% to 70%, with the remainder in central bank deposits. Also, a temporary issuance guardrail will apply to each systemic stablecoin, initially set at £40 billion, dropping the holding limits (£20,000 on individuals and £10 million on corporations) proposed in the 2025 draft. However, the BoE will ban issuers (directly or indirectly) from paying interest or dividends directly to users for simply holding stablecoins, but will permit activity-based rewards, similarly to the U.S. CLARITY Act currently winding its way through Congress. The BoE is also considering offering a backstop lending facility for eligible, solvent, and viable systemic stablecoin issuers, which would allow them to borrow against short-term sterling-denominated UK government debt securities in a limited set of circumstances. [BoE]

Bank of Korea Digital Currency to Connect with Bank Account Networks (Electronic Times)

Korea’s Electronic Times reports that, as part of Project Han River Phase 2, participating banks are integrating deposit-token infrastructure with their core banking ledgers inside the Bank of Korea (BOK) Naver Cloud test environment. Under the architecture, the BOK issues wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) to banks as the interbank settlement asset, while banks issue deposit tokens that users spend via bank-app wallets. The new work links deposit tokens to core deposit, transfer, and accounting systems, including interest accrual and payment, and builds treasury-voucher systems for programmable government subsidy disbursement. Sources frame this as a pre-institutionalization step, moving from “can it settle payments” to “can it run inside production banking systems.” [Electronic Times]

BTW if you want to see a complete database of my DFC-related posts going back years, including many that didn’t make the Daily Digest cut, click here.