Provisional Digital Euro Legislative Roadmap (LinkedIn)

Fernando Navarrete, the rapporteur responsible for shepherding the digital euro legislation through the European Parliament, posted the likely milestones. The report proposal is scheduled for publication during the last week of October 2025, and presented to the Committee on Economy and Monetary Affairs (ECON) on November 5/6. December 12 will be the deadline for submitting amendments that ECON will debate on January 28/29, 2026. That will be followed by negotiation meetings between political groups from January to April 2026, and then (provisionally) an ECON vote in May 2026. That will be followed by negotiations between the European Parliament, Council (of European Union finance ministers), and Commission to converge on a final, unified legislative framework for the digital euro. [Source: LinkedIn]

The New U.K. Stablecoin Regime (FT)

In an op-ed in the Financial Times (FT), Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, explained the evolving regulatory approach toward stablecoins in the United Kingdom. He identifies key requirements: backing stablecoins with risk-free assets, establishing insurance and insolvency protection for holders, and ensuring transparent, consistent exchange terms with other forms of money. Bailey noted the potential for stablecoins to separate money creation from credit provision, with banks and stablecoins coexisting and non-banks carrying out more of the credit provision role. By the end of 2025, the Bank of England plans to publish a consultation on a regime for systemic stablecoins, aiming to retain trust in money while fostering innovation by allowing widely used U.K. stablecoins access to central bank accounts. [Source: FT]

ESRB and ECB Push Multi-Issuance Stablecoin Ban (Bloomberg)

The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), backed by the European Central Bank (ECB), has reportedly recommended a ban on multi-issuance stablecoins—those issued jointly in the European Union (EU) and other jurisdictions—citing concerns about financial stability. While not legally binding, the ESRB’s guidance increases pressure on regional authorities to either adopt such restrictions or demonstrate how stability will be maintained without them. The move targets major stablecoin issuers like Circle and Paxos, operating mainly in the US, but the impact on companies already licensed in the EU remains unclear. ECB President Lagarde had previously spoken out about the dangers of a situation where foreign holders of a stablecoin had a claim on EU-based issuers, warning that it posed “significant legal, operational, liquidity and financial stability risks at EU level.” [Source: Bloomberg]

Visa Direct Taps Stablecoins to Unlock Faster Funding for Businesses (VISA)

VISA is launching a stablecoin prefunding pilot through Visa Direct, aimed at upgrading cross-border business payments. By allowing banks, remittance companies, and financial institutions to pre-fund payouts using stablecoins instead of traditional fiat, VISA intends to streamline and accelerate global money movement. This approach helps businesses unlock liquidity (no longer requiring large fiat pre-funding), provides modern treasury flexibility with near-instant settlement, and offers predictability by minimizing currency volatility. The pilot, active with select partners, will expand in 2026. [Source: VISA]

Chainlink Advances Tokenized Fund Workflows With SWIFT Messaging (Chainlink)

Chainlink, in collaboration with SWIFT and UBS, has introduced a new technical solution that allows financial institutions to seamlessly manage tokenized fund subscription and redemption workflows directly from their existing systems using SWIFT messages and the Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE). This integration means banks can interact with blockchain-based digital asset processes without overhauling their infrastructure or adding new identity management systems. The first use case, involving UBS Tokenize, successfully used ISO 20022 messages sent via SWIFT to trigger smart contract-based fund subscriptions and redemptions. This advancement could significantly streamline the $100 trillion fund industry by reducing operational barriers, automating compliance, and allowing institutions to tap blockchain benefits such as efficiency, transparency, and programmability using familiar, existing messaging standards. [Source: Chainlink]

Deutsche Börse Group and Circle Announce Stablecoin Collaboration (Circle)

Deutsche Börse Group and Circle have announced a collaboration to integrate Circle’s EURC and USDC stablecoins into Deutsche Börse’s market infrastructure, beginning with listing and trading on Deutsche Börse’s digital exchange (360T/3DX) and institutional crypto services, and leveraging their post-trade infrastructure for custody solutions. This initiative aims to reduce settlement risk, lower costs, and streamline trading, settlement, and custody for banks and asset managers. Both organizations see this as a step toward transforming European financial markets with efficient, secure, regulated digital asset and stablecoin ecosystems, bridging traditional and digital finance for broader market access and efficiency. [Source: Circle]

Stripe’s “Open Issuance” Tool to Streamline Stablecoin Management (Stripe)

Stripe announced new products to help businesses take advantage of AI and stablecoins. One was a platform, Open Issuance, that enables businesses to launch and manage their own stablecoins with just a few lines of code, thanks to Stripe’s acquisition of Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure company. By offering direct minting and burning of coins and the ability to customize reserve compositions between cash and treasuries (managed by partners like BlackRock and Fidelity, with liquidity via Lead Bank), Open Issuance removes the operational and regulatory hurdles of launching a proprietary stablecoin. Coins created through the platform are fully interoperable, with low-cost conversion tools, allowing businesses to capture rewards from stablecoin origination and use these to incentivize customers. The first stablecoins on the platform include CASH (by Phantom), mUSD (for Metamask), and USDH (by Hyperliquid). [Source: Stripe]

Cloudflare Introduces NET Dollar to Support AI-Driven Internet (Cloudflare)

Cloudflare launched NET Dollar, a USD-backed stablecoin designed to facilitate instant, secure, and global payments, enabling pay-per-use, microtransactions, and fractional payments. The initiative aims to modernize online financial rails to support autonomous agents, developers, and creators, fostering an open and sustainable Internet economy that benefits from automated, programmatic transactions and fairly compensates content sources. Cloudflare is also contributing to open standards in agent payments, enhancing trust and interoperability across the evolving digital landscape. [Source: Cloudflare]

ECB and SNB Explore Link Between Instant Payments Systems (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) and Swiss National Bank (SNB) are exploring interlinking the Eurosystem’s Transeuropean Automated Real-time Gross-settlement Express Transfer (TARGET) Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) and the Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) Instant Payment (IP) services. The aim is to assess the feasibility and economic viability of such an interlinking. This exploration phase will continue throughout 2026. Interlinking would allow for cross-currency instant payments. This initiative supports the general goal of making cross-border payments faster, cheaper, more transparent and more accessible. [Source ECB]

Upcoming Speaking Engagements:

Stablecoin C-Suite Summit (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.