Tag: Tokenization

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20260602)

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MoneyGram Launches MGUSD Stablecoin (MoneyGram)

MoneyGram announced the launch of its MGUSD U.S. dollar stablecoin to underpin its global remittance and payments network. MGUSD is framed as an infrastructure layer integrated into a self-custodial wallet in the MoneyGram app, initially in the United States, using Bridge as regulated issuer, M0 smart contracts and Stellar for settlement, with Fireblocks providing custody. Unresolved are regulatory treatment across markets, interoperability with other stablecoins and systems, and how issuance and reserves will be supervised at scale. [MoneyGram]

Advancing Digital Payments in Bhutan (ADB)

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) published an assessment of Bhutan’s digital payment infrastructure that included an update on Bhutan’s Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) central bank digital currency (CBDC) projects, both retail and wholesale. The aim is to provide more accessible and secure financial services to a broader population, including underserved communities, and streamline cross‑border transactions, including by reducing the need for correspondent banking relationships and simplifying currency conversion processes in international trade. However, the ADB found that there are gaps in existing financial services regulations and payment systems rules will need to be addressed first. [ADB]

Call for Expressions of Interest to Participate in the Appia Contact Group (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) is inviting financial market stakeholders and public sector bodies to express their interest in participating in the Appia Contact Group Appia CG). The Appia project is aimed at enabling the settlement of distributed ledger technology (DLT) transactions using tokenized central bank money (CeBM) via a unified settlement ecosystem. It runs alongside the Pontes project, aimed at settling DLT transactions using API-based trigger and hash-link mechanisms and dedicated DLT cash wallets funded from TARGET accounts, which has its own contact group. The Appia CG will contribute to the Appia roadmap and advise on the operation and evolution of the Pontes pilot. Membership targets future users, contributors to Appia, relevant value‑chain actors, and industry associations. National central banks and selected European authorities participate as observers; the group is chaired and serviced by the European Central Bank and meets quarterly, with work outputs generally published. [ECB]

The ECB Publishes List of Digital Euro Steering Committee Members (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) published the members of the Eurosystem’s High-Level Task Force on Digital Euro, which steers the digital euro project and reports to the ECB’s Governing Council. It is made up of members from national central banks of the Eurosystem. [ECB]

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 (20260531)

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From Lottery Draws to Fiscal Spending, China Broadens Digital Yuan Footprint (Reuters)

Reuters published an article that argues China is accelerating efforts to embed the digital yuan in domestic fiscal operations and cross-border trade as part of a broader push to reduce dollar dependence. The piece details new People’s Bank of China incentives that treat digital yuan balances as deposit liabilities, sharpen bank performance metrics around e‑CNY accounts, and expand pilots into lottery payouts, prepaid cards, budgetary spending, medical insurance controls, and green electricity tracking. The article highlights structural constraints, including the small transactional base relative to UnionPay and tepid foreign demand, and notes that cross‑border ambitions via platforms such as mBridge face counterparties’ limited willingness to adopt the currency, leaving the pace of yuan internationalization uncertain. [Reuters]

Why Tokenized Finance Needs Open, Testable, Verifiable Evidence of What Actually Moves (X)

Mike Rogers posted an essay on X that argues that tokenized finance must be judged by empirically verifiable capital movement, not by issuance, branding, or architectural claims, in a context where tokenization is migrating from pilots to “infrastructure” rhetoric. It highlights a measurement gap: faster, intraday tokenized collateral and money market fund structures can move between legacy end‑of‑day reporting snapshots, making velocity and reuse harder to observe with existing regulatory frames. The author criticizes the field’s reliance on stock metrics and “permission structure” signals (legal setup, institutional papers, conferences) as proxies for realized flow, and proposes a “turnover framework” and “evidence lane” that insist on reconstructable, externally testable records of what moved, when, under what authority, and with what settlement proof. The core unresolved issue is whether major tokenization initiatives will expose sufficient, standardized, independently inspectable movement data to substantiate claims about liquidity, collateral efficiency, and settlement gains. [X]

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 (20260529)

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Reserve Bank of India Updates on its CBDC Pilot Programs (RBI)

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) published its 2025–26 Annual Report in which it provided updates on its multiple retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilots tied to direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes. These included using programmable retail CBDC to distribute food subsidies. Beneficiaries in Gujarat, Puducherry, and Chandigarh received subsidies in CBDC form that could be redeemed only for eligible goods at designated merchants, demonstrating the technology’s ability to target and restrict spending. The RBI views programmability as a key feature for public-sector use cases and plans to extend CBDC pilots to additional DBT programs and broader domestic retail applications during 2026–27. [RBI]

The RBI also reported on its wholesale CBDC pilots. During 2025–26 it developed the Unified Markets Interface (UMI), a platform designed to support tokenized financial assets while using wholesale CBDC for settlement. A pilot involving tokenized certificates of deposit was launched on the platform. The RBI also advanced cross-border wholesale CBDC work through cooperation with Singapore and the UAE and by joining BIS Innovation Hub initiatives Project Rialto and Project Mandala. Looking ahead, it plans additional tokenization pilots, broader participation in UMI-based experiments, and the operationalization of bilateral cross-border CBDC pilots with selected use cases. [RBI]

Eurosystem Moves Toward Extending T2 Operating Hours (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) is proposing a phased extension of TARGET (Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross Settlement Express Transfer) operating hours, in the context of growing instant payments, cross‑border payment reforms and forthcoming distributed ledger technology (DLT) and digital euro services. In the short term it will (i) automatically remunerate excess reserves on all TARGET current accounts, including TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) dedicated cash accounts, (ii) introduce rule‑based floor‑ and ceiling‑driven automated liquidity transfers between TIPS cash accounts and main cash accounts via Central Liquidity Management (CLM), and (iii) add a brief weekend TARGET window for liquidity transfers, without changing value‑dating. Medium‑ to long‑term options include near‑24/7 CLM, near‑24/5 real-time gross settlement, later cut‑off times and weekend opening of the Eurosystem Collateral Management System, with open questions on liquidity and run risk when markets are closed, collateral and staffing costs, cyber risk and the alignment of remuneration and value-dating. [ECB].

Research Project on the Master Plan Development for Pacific Island Countries (Fortience)

[March 22, 2026] Fortience (QUNIE) published selection results stating that, under Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry “Global South Future‑Oriented Co‑Creation” program, ABeam Consulting had been chosen for a “Research Project on the Master Plan Development for the Introduction of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for Cross-Border Payments in Pacific Island Countries.” The RFP window had run from 7 October to 1 November 2024, and the contract’s implementation period was defined as approximately one year from signing, capped at 28 February 2026, implying that most substantive work should have been completed before the March 2026 announcement. The description notes the use of Soramitsu’s blockchain and cites countries “such as Tonga, Samoa, and Cook Islands,” but no master plan, technical design, or central‑bank response linked to this project has been published. [Fortience]

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 (20260521)

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EC Seeks Feedback on the Functioning of EU Crypto-Asset Rules (EC)

The European Commission (EC) launched a consultation to evaluate whether the Markets in Crypto‑Assets Regulation (MiCA), implemented in 2024, remains fit for purpose given rapid changes in digital asset markets and global regulation. It seeks feedback on MiCA’s core building blocks, including rules for crypto‑assets, asset‑referenced tokens, e‑money tokens, their issuers and service providers. There is an open public consultation and a more technical targeted consultation for industry and public authorities. Responses are invited until August 31, 2026 and will inform future European Union (EU) policy on digital assets. [EC]

ECB Receives over 50 PSP Applications to Participate in Digital Euro Pilot (ECB)

The European Central Bank(ECB) announced that it has received over 50 applications to participate in the twelve-month digital euro pilot scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027. Applications came from both acquiring and distributing payment service providers (PSPs) and small and large banks from across the euro area. It will use a non‑legal‑tender “beta” digital euro in a controlled environment to test technical, operational and user experience (UX) aspects of P2P (online/offline) and P2B payments at physical and online points of sale. PSPs will onboard users and merchants without remuneration. The ECB will now review the applications and announce the outcome in July. [ECB via LinkedIn]

The Future of Tokenisation – A Joint Vision from the BOE and FCA for Wholesale Markets (UK FCA)

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Bank of England issue a call for input on a joint roadmap to scale tokenisation across U.K. wholesale markets, with responses due 3 July 2026. They seek views on: where tokenisation delivers the highest marginal benefit; whether their proposed regulatory principles and priority areas are appropriate; how far existing rules impede tokenised issuance, trading, and settlement; and where interoperability (domestic and cross‑border) standards matter most for firms. The paper also requests detailed feedback on safeguarding frameworks for specified investment cryptoassets, including how to structure client‑asset protection, legal title, and fungibility when tokenised and non‑tokenised forms coexist. Finally, they ask industry to comment on the proposed sequencing and content of initiatives (Digital Securities Sandbox, prudential alignment, central bank money settlement, DIGIT pilot), and to flag concrete product pipelines or experiments where early supervisory engagement would unlock investment. [UK FCA]

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 (20260518)

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RBA and DFCRC Release Findings From Project Acacia (RBA)

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) published a report detailing the findings of Project Acacia, which examined how innovations in digital money and settlement infrastructure could support the development of wholesale tokenized asset markets in Australia. They tested 20 wholesale tokenized asset use cases across fixed income, repos, and managed funds. Atomic settlement, programmability, and composability benefits were demonstrated across asset classes, estimating A$24 billion in annual economic gains. Pilot wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) proved feasible on third-party distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms but raised governance, finality, and liquidity fragmentation challenges. Real-time gross settlement (RTGS) synchronization mechanisms delivered comparable benefits at lower complexity. Deposit tokens are assessed as more suitable than stablecoins for wholesale settlement given prudential backing, though interbank transferability and deposit insurance scheme coverage require legislative clarification. They identified legal and regulatory uncertainty, coordination gaps, and interoperability as scaling barriers, motivating a post-Acacia program including a digital financial market infrastructure sandbox, expanded deposit token work, and RBA settlement infrastructure consultations. [RBA]

The University of Toronto Press published a book by lawyer and law professor Benjamin Geva on the evolution of money from barter to coins, banknotes, scriptural money, electronic money, and digital currencies. Of course, this has all been covered elsewhere, but what makes this book unique, is the deep, yet very readable, focus on legal aspects, particularly from the perspective of the Canadian monetary regime. The latter includes a thorough history going back to New France’s use of agricultural commodities and playing cards as money, to Bank of Canada explorations of both retail and wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The book also extensively covers the legal aspects of virtual currencies, particularly stablecoins, and digital bearer instruments (DBIs). Interestingly, Geva makes a case for DBIs as the optimal Canadian retail CBDC as a path of least resistance through the Bank of Canada and Currency Acts, plus several architectural, economic, and privacy advantages over account-based platforms. He also singles out synthetic CBDCs as an optimal solution for achieving uniformity of money in a framework allowing competition. The book ends by addressing the challenges faced by the current monetary system as the digital age continues to evolve and become more decentralized. [To order the book, click here]

I am honored to have been given the opportunity to contribute a chapter to the soon-to-be released book, Tokenisation of Money: From Fiat Currencies to Stablecoins, published by Springer! Expertly edited by Prof. Selim Yazıcı, Prof. C. Coşkun Küçüközmen, and Dr. Michael Salmony, it serves as a critical handbook for navigating the profound transformation of the global financial services industry. At a time when there is substantial confusion regarding new digital instruments, this book distinguishes reality from hype across the dimensions of CBDCs, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits. In my contribution, I provide an overview and reality check on global retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments. The book will be available via digital platforms by the end of May and you can pre-order the hard cover version here: https://link.springer.com/book/9783032229458!

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 (20260505)

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Legal Tender -A Barbarous Relic in the Digital Currency Era (SSRN)

In a paper posted on SSRN, Christian Pfister argues that granting legal tender status to retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) in advanced economies is a conceptually weak and potentially distortionary extension of a historically contingent, often obsolete institution. The paper critiques recent IMF legal analyses for presuming a “digital cash” equivalence and for conflating the unit of account, the issuer, and specific payment instruments when defining legal tender. Pfister shows that modern payment efficiency, financial inclusion, and safety can be achieved through regulation and public infrastructure without legal tender, and that combining legal tender status with regulated aggressive pricing of public rails could crowd out deposits, weaken bank intermediation, and recreate public “walled gardens.” This raises a core design question: whether any residual role for legal tender should attach to the unit of account, central bank liabilities, or particular instruments, and how to do so without impairing monetary transmission, competition, or innovation. [SSRN]

Digital Money and the Architecture of Trust (Banca d’Italia)

Chiara Scotti, Deputy Governor of Banca d’Italia, argues that debates on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins and tokenized deposits must shift from instruments to system architecture, with trust and “singleness of money” anchored in central bank money and regulatory design. She proposes a seven‑dimensional framework (efficiency, trust/convertibility, stability, market functioning, intermediation, transmission, regulation) focused on bearer versus non‑bearer design, settlement inside or outside the central bank core, and reserve structures. This framing highlights unresolved questions about how tokenized private monies reshape monetary policy transmission, safe‑asset demand and bank funding, and whether European tokenization should extend existing infrastructures such as the Single Euro Payments Area rather than rely on new private rails. [Banca d’Italia]

Progressing Fund Tokenisation (UK FCA)

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (UK FCA)sets out final rules and guidance to accelerate tokenisation of authorised funds and introduce an optional “direct to fund” dealing model using issues-and-cancellations accounts instead of manager box dealing. The statement clarifies that on-chain ledgers can be primary books and records, public distributed ledgers and smart contracts are permitted subject to outcome‑based controls, and tokenised units may sit across multiple blockchains within a class. It tightens ring‑fencing around umbrella cash by constraining omnibus issue-and-cancellation accounts under protected cell legislation, while dropping a proposed mandatory client‑money fallback and instead imposing enhanced reconciliation and unattributed‑cash rules. The package signals openness to stablecoins and tokenised gilts for settlement and operations under an interim waiver‑based regime, while deferring full alignment with the new crypto-asset framework and future composable “tokenised portfolio management” models. [UK FCA]

The BCEAO Invites Submissions for Research on Financial Inclusion (BCEAO)

The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) is inviting submissions for the 2026 Abdoulaye FADIGA Prize, which rewards high‑quality economic research on West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) economies. It explicitly invites research on financial inclusion and digital innovation, including work on how cryptocurrencies, mobile money, central bank digital currencies, and fintech can expand access to financial services in WAEMU, while rigorously assessing associated risks, regulatory and supervisory implications, and their interaction with payment systems, financial stability, and monetary policy transmission in the Union. [BCEAO]

I am honored to have been given the opportunity to contribute a chapter to the soon-to-be released book, Tokenisation of Money: From Fiat Currencies to Stablecoins, published by Springer! Expertly edited by Prof. Selim Yazıcı, Prof. C. Coşkun Küçüközmen, and Dr. Michael Salmony, it serves as a critical handbook for navigating the profound transformation of the global financial services industry. At a time when there is substantial confusion regarding new digital instruments, this book distinguishes reality from hype across the dimensions of CBDCs, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits. In my contribution, I provide an overview and reality check on global retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments. The book will be available via digital platforms by the end of May and you can pre-order the hard cover version here: https://link.springer.com/book/9783032229458!

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 (20260504)

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I am honored to announce that I have contributed a chapter to the soon-to-be released book, Tokenisation of Money: From Fiat Currencies to Stablecoins, published by Springer! Expertly edited by Prof. Selim Yazıcı, Prof. C. Coşkun Küçüközmen, and Dr. Michael Salmony, it serves as a critical handbook for navigating the profound transformation of the global financial services industry. At a time when there is substantial confusion regarding new digital instruments, this book distinguishes reality from hype across the dimensions of CBDCs, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits. In my contribution, I provide an overview and reality check on global retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments. The book will be available via digital platforms by the end of May and you can pre-order the hard cover version here: https://link.springer.com/book/9783032229458!

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 (20260421)

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Bank of Korea’s New Governor Vows to Push CBDC and Deposit Tokens (The Block)

Bank of Korea’s new Governor and ex-BIS Chief Economist, Hyun Song Shin, used his inauguration speech to pledge support for expanding central bank digital currency (CBDC) and bank-issued deposit tokens through the second phase of Project Hangang and cooperation with global initiatives like BIS’s Project Agora to strengthen the won’s role in digital payments, while emphasizing price stability amid external shocks. He conspicuously omitted any reference to won-pegged stablecoins even as lawmakers, backed by President Lee Jae-myung, work on a Digital Asset Basic Act to legally frame local stablecoins, and major financial firms prepare related products, with the bill’s progress delayed until after June regional elections. [The Block]

Launch of POC for digital collateral management using JGBs (JSCC)

Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC) will run a proof of concept (POC) with Mizuho, Nomura and Digital Asset to use Japanese government bonds (JGBs) as onchain collateral on the Canton Network, testing whether JGBs can be transferred and managed digitally while retaining their legal status and enabling 24/7, potentially cross-border, real-time collateral transactions under existing Japanese law. The trial, backed by Japan’s Financial Services Agency under its Payment Innovation Project, aims to inform how one of the world’s largest sovereign bond markets could support digital collateral processes without changing current legal and supervisory frameworks, and follows earlier Canton pilots with tokenized US Treasuries and parallel UK experiments with digital gilts in the Bank of England’s Digital Securities Sandbox. [JSCC]

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 (20260420)

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19th ERPB Technical Session on the Digital Euro (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) posted the presentations discussed at the 19th Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB) technical session on the digital euro held virtually on April 9. Main topics included a refresher on the fundamentals of the offline digital euro solution and its main components, and an overview of the 12-month pilot slated to start in H2 2027 to be conducted with a limited number of payment service providers, merchants and Eurosystem staff. [ECB]

Canada’s Stablecoin Framework (Government of Canada)

The Government of Canada published a federal framework in which non‑bank issuers of fiat‑backed stablecoins must register with the Bank of Canada, maintain fully backed high‑quality liquid reserves, and offer at‑par redemption in the reference currency. The framework centralizes prudential oversight at the Bank of Canada while leaving trading, payments, and anti‑money‑laundering oversight to existing securities and payments regimes, aiming to enable innovation and competition in digital payments while tightening consumer protection and financial stability safeguards. It is explicitly designed to align with European Union and United States approaches and with Financial Stability Board recommendations, positioning Canadian‑issued coins for prospective cross‑border interoperability. Key open questions concern how detailed reserve, redemption, and governance standards will be calibrated in regulation over 2026–27 and how authorities will exercise expansive national‑security and public‑interest powers to deny or revoke market access. [Government of Canada]

Changes Made for KfW’s Third Blockchain Bond (KfW)

KfW announces that its third blockchain-based crypto security will migrate both registrar and distributed ledger infrastructure mid‑term to stress‑test Germany’s Electronic Securities Act framework under real market conditions. The bond will shift registrar functions from Cashlink to DekaBank and move from the Polygon blockchain to SWIAT/Regulated Layer One, while also switching wholesale payment processing from the Deutsche Bundesbank’s trigger solution at issuance to the Eurosystem’s forthcoming Pontes platform for coupons and redemption. This staged migration aims to generate evidence for scalable, standardized digital capital-market infrastructure in Europe, but leaves open whether secondary-market liquidity and operational risks will prove manageable at scale. [KfW]

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 (20260404)

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Worldpay 2026 Global Payments Report (Worldpay)

Worldpay published the 2026 edition of its Global Payments Report in which it argues that global consumer payments are rapidly shifting toward digital wallets and app‑based rails, with cards adapting and crypto evolving rather than disrupting. The report documents rising wallet dominance in e‑commerce and at point of sale, regional variation in account‑to‑account systems, and the continued but declining direct share of cards as usage migrates into wallets. These developments sharpen questions about governance of national fast‑payment infrastructures, merchant routing and fee regulation, cross‑border interoperability, and the competitive position of bank‑issued cards versus platform wallets and “superapps.” They also highlight how buy-now-pay-later and card‑backed installments blur prudential and consumer‑protection boundaries, and how stablecoin‑based payment rails may need bespoke oversight alongside traditional systems. [Worldpay]

An Efficient Frontier Analysis of Stablecoin Reserve Management (VISA)

VISA published an article in which Ezechiel Copic uses an efficient frontier framework to show how new U.S. and EU stablecoin rules compress reserve returns and reorient issuer economics toward liquidity and resilience. The article models pre‑regulation reserve strategies using Tether’s historical mix to illustrate a wide opportunity set, then re‑estimates frontiers under the U.S. GENIUS Act and the EU’s Markets in Crypto‑Assets Regulation. Under GENIUS, a narrow set of high‑quality liquid assets leaves only a thin band of feasible risk‑return combinations, making reserve management resemble liquidity engineering rather than portfolio optimization. Under MiCA, lower euro‑area rates and binding bank‑deposit floors further depress and compress the frontier, especially for “significant” issuers. The analysis implies competition will shift from balance‑sheet yield to technology, distribution, and compliance, while leaving open how far reduced issuer economics may constrain market entry and long‑run innovation. [VISA]

Tokenized Finance (IMF)

The IMF’s Tobias Adrian argues that tokenization is a structural reconfiguration of financial architecture that shifts trust and risk management from institutions to programmable infrastructures. Tokenization enables atomic, real-time settlement and embedded compliance across money, banking, capital markets, and financial market infrastructures, compressing value chains but also accelerating liquidity dynamics and potential stress transmission. For emerging and developing economies, although tokenization may lower payment and market-access frictions, it heightens risks of volatile capital flows, currency substitution, and fragmented liquidity. The note emphasizes that the long-term success of tokenization depends on anchoring digital finance in public trust through clear policy frameworks and safe settlement assets, robust governance of code, legal certainty, and international coordination. Absent such anchors, tokenization risks amplifying financial instability through speed, concentration, and fragmentation, as contract-based risk management alter the nature of settlement, liquidity, and systemic risk. [IMF]

Results of the SNB 2025 Payment Methods Survey of Private Individuals (SNB)

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) reported its 2025 survey results on payment behavior among private individuals in Switzerland. The SNB finds that use of payment methods at physical points of sale is largely unchanged from 2024, with debit cards leading, followed by cash and mobile payment apps, based on diary and questionnaire responses from roughly 2,000 residents. For policy and cash-infrastructure design, satisfaction with cash access has dropped from 88% to 81%, likely reflecting the continued reduction of automated teller machines and similar access points, which may pressure authorities to reconsider minimum cash-access standards or incentives for basic cash services. At the same time, only 2% of respondents support abolishing cash, underscoring that cash still fulfills a demanded role in retail payments and resilience planning. [SNB]

And now for more backfilling, more of which is to come…

Do We Really Need the Digital Euro: A Solution to What Problem Exactly? (IEA)

[April 30, 2025] The Instituto Espanol de Analysts (IEA) published a book that included a chapter by European Parliament rapporteur Fernando Navarette, that argues that a digital euro is a mis-specified response to Europe’s payments challenges and should be downgraded to a contingency “Plan B.” He contends that the core problems—trust in money post‑crisis, overreliance on non‑EU payment schemes, and stablecoin‑driven currency substitution—are better addressed through institutional and regulatory reforms, wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), and pan‑European instant‑payment solutions based on commercial bank money. Navarrete stresses that retail CBDC is inherently destabilizing for bank funding, raises unresolved privacy and governance risks, and risks crowding out private innovation, especially if coupled with legal tender and complex “waterfall” mechanics. He instead proposes a three‑pillar architecture: private‑led interoperable instant payments, a narrowly scoped offline digital euro, and wholesale CBDC—leaving a full retail CBDC only as a last‑resort backup if private efforts fail. [IEA]

The eNaira Journey So Far (in 2023) (CBN)

[In 2023] the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) published a book on the economics of digital currencies in which there was a review of how the eNaira central bank digital currency (CBDC) was designed, launched, and managed. It argues that weak demand reflects structural and institutional frictions rather than purely technological failure. The review documents a phased rollout focused on financial inclusion, payment efficiency, and monetary control, but shows that limited interoperability, burdensome onboarding, and unclear value propositions constrained uptake. It emphasizes how institutional choices around wallet tiers, distribution architecture, and bank–fintech roles reshaped market incentives, often reinforcing banks’ dominance rather than fostering broader innovation. It highlights the need to recalibrate design toward open interfaces, clearer legal and regulatory frameworks, and better alignment between central bank objectives and private‑sector business models. [CBN]

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.