ECB President Calls to Address Risks from Non-EU Stablecoins (Cointelegraph)

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde called for stronger regulation of non-EU stablecoins, warning that gaps in oversight could threaten European Union (EU) financial stability. The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) addresses some of these risks by requiring stablecoin issuers to allow redemption at par value and to hold substantial bank reserves. However, there are gaps, especially with multi-issuer stablecoins involving both EU and non-EU entities. In such cases in the event of a run, investors would naturally prefer to redeem in the jurisdiction with the strongest safeguards, which is likely to be the EU, where MiCAR also prohibits redemption fees. But the reserves held in the EU may not be sufficient to meet such concentrated demand. She calls for stronger, coordinated international regulatory safeguards to prevent regulatory arbitrage and ensure stability. [Source: ECB]

Börse Stuttgart Launches Pan-European Tokenized Asset Settlement Platform (Börse Stuttgart)

Börse Stuttgart has introduced Seturion, a pan-European settlement platform leveraging blockchain technology to handle tokenized assets. The platform is targeted at banks, brokers, trading venues, and tokenization platforms, enabling significantly faster and more cost-effective transactions across asset classes. Seturion supports settlements on both public and private blockchains, including cash settlement in central bank money and on-chain cash. Having demonstrated its capabilities in European Central Bank (ECB) blockchain trials and with initial use by BX Digital in Switzerland, Seturion is now available for all European trading venues. Börse Stuttgart claims up to 90% savings in settlement costs with this platform and is in the process of securing regulatory approval under the DLT Pilot Regime from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). [Source: Börse Stuttgart]–

Federal Reserve Board Payments Innovation Conference (FRB)

The U.S. Federal Reserve Board (FRB) will host a conference on payments innovation on October 21, 2025, to bring together a range of interested parties to discuss how to further innovate and improve the payments system. The conference will feature panel discussions on the convergence of traditional and decentralized finance, emerging stablecoin use cases and business models, the intersection of artificial intelligence and payments, and the tokenization of financial products and services. [Source: FRB]

Upcoming Speaking Engagements:

The CB+DC Conference (Nassau, Bahamas, September 9-11) is a premier gathering centered on CBDCs, tokenized assets, and stablecoins. It provides a forum for central bankers, commercial bankers, technology innovators, policymakers, and academics to explore the latest advancements in digital currency, engage with experts and peers, and discuss the future of digital currency. [Register here but before you do, email me at john@kiffmeister.com for a 15% discount]

Stablecoin NYC 2025 (New York City on November 14-15) will be the definitive conference for exploring the future of digital money and intelligent payments. The event brings together founders, C-level executives, investors, policymakers, and developers for two immersive days of talks, panels, and networking. This be the place to be if you’re building, backing, or regulating the next wave of programmable finance. [Register here]

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.