UK Finance Announces Live Tokenized Sterling Deposit Pilot (UK Finance)

UK Finance is launching a collaborative industry pilot to deliver live transactions using tokenized sterling deposits (GBTD). Building on lessons from the U.K. Regulated Liability Network (RLN) project, the pilot will test three use cases—person-to-person (P2P) online marketplace payments, remortgaging, and digital asset settlement—running until mid-2026. Major banks including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Nationwide, and Santander are participating with support from Quant, EY, and Linklaters. The initiative aims to improve payment efficiency, fraud reduction, and settlement transparency, positioning the United Kingdom as a leader in programmable digital money and supporting broader government innovation goals such as the National Payments Vision. The platform will be interoperable across digital payment systems, and UK Finance will keep stakeholders updated through events and webinars. [Source: UK Finance]

Canton Network and Chainlink Enter Into Strategic Partnership (Canton)

Canton Network and Chainlink have announced a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating institutional adoption of blockchain technology. The Canton Network, is a public, permissionless blockchain purpose-built for institutional finance, and Chainlink is an oracle platform that connects blockchains with real-world data, providing secure and reliable data feeds and interoperability to power decentralized finance and institutional blockchain use cases. Through this collaboration, Canton Network joins the Chainlink Scale program to integrate Chainlink’s data streams, smart data (such as Proof of Reserve and NAVLink), and cross-chain interoperability protocol, strengthening Canton’s infrastructure for institutional finance. Chainlink Labs will participate as a Super Validator in the Canton Network, enhancing its governance and operational resilience. Canton expects this partnership to increase cost-efficiency, transparency, and connectivity for financial institutions, supporting innovation in tokenization, stablecoins, payments, and digital identity. [Source: Canton]

SWIFT Reportedly Chooses Linea for Blockchain Testing (The Big Whale)

SWIFT has reportedly launched a blockchain payments trial using the Ethereum Layer 2 platform Linea, partnering with several major banks (including BNP Paribas and BNY). The Linea platform, developed by ConsenSys, is designed to enhance Ethereum’s scalability and privacy. This pilot aims to move SWIFT’s traditional messaging and settlement system fully on-chain, combining payment instructions and settlement in one transaction to boost transparency and reduce costs. The trial, while still early, signals SWIFT’s intent to modernize global payments and integrate blockchain into traditional finance, while securely and efficiently working with existing banking systems. [Source: The Big Whale]

Upcoming Speaking Engagements:

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]

The Digital Euro Conference 2026 (Frankfurt, March 26) will explore the future of money with a focus on CBDCs, stablecoins, and commercial bank tokens. This hybrid event offers the perfect platform to understand the future of digital money! When you register, get 20% off the regular ticket price by using the Kiffmeister20 code! [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.