The collapse of speculative crypto exchanges such as FTX did not end the conversation on digital assets. Instead, it clarified the distinction between unregulated markets and the development of regulated instruments such as stablecoins, tokenised deposits and tokenised securities. René Michau, group head of digital assets at Standard Chartered, compared the implosion of FTX to the failure of Enron in the energy sector. “It was a corporate failure, not a failure of the underlying infrastructure,” he said. For Michau, public blockchains represent a new “operating system for financial services” that can coexist with, rather than replace, traditional rails. Executives across global transaction banking agree that the debate has shifted decisively from speculation to utility. Dhiraj Bajaj, global head of transaction banking financial institution sales at Standard Chartered, put it plainly: “Stablecoins and tokenisation are no longer niche experiments. They are part of the mainstream expectations of clients who want faster, cheaper and more predictable ways of moving money and managing liquidity.” This reorientation is driving divergent strategies among banks, market infrastructures and technology providers. Some institutions are moving aggressively to integrate stablecoins and tokenised assets into their offerings, while others are cautiously building the foundations. A few are deliberately holding back. The common thread is that digital assets are now part of mainstream financial planning, whether embraced, measured or deferred. Stablecoins emerge as the linchpin of digital adoption Stablecoins have become the practical entry point for corporates and financial institutions into digital finance. Jack McDonald, senior vice president for stablecoins at Ripple, explained that the firm’s launch of RLUSD, issued under a New York trust charter with reserves custodied at BNY, is designed to be institutional grade. “We are expanding into Japan through our partnership with SBI under the new stablecoin framework, into Singapore through MetaComp, and into Korea with BDACS,” he said. For McDonald, stablecoins are moving from the fringes of crypto into the heart of corporate treasuries and liquidity management. He emphasised that RLUSD has been built on compliance and transparency to attract institutions rather than retail traders. For Stripe, stablecoins are valuable precisely because they are invisible. Mai Leduc, head of product at Bridge, which was acquired by Stripe, argued: “The end-user should not need to know they are transacting in stablecoins. It should just work in the background as an efficient settlement layer.” This principle of invisibility has guided Stripe’s approach to making stablecoins part of everyday commerce without drawing attention to the underlying asset. Stripe has already rolled out Stablecoin Financial Accounts across more than 100 countries, in partnership with Visa for seamless conversion at the point of sale. Paul Harapin, chief revenue officer for Asia Pacific and Japan at Stripe, added that “we have processed more stablecoin transactions in a single week than we did for all bitcoin payments in 2015 and 2016 combined”. This, he argued, demonstrates how quickly corporates and merchants have shifted from experimenting with volatile cryptocurrencies to using stablecoins for cross-border transactions. Harapin also emphasised that Stripe’s model is built on embedding anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) checks into the accounts from day one, ensuring regulators and corporates see them as safe. Michau confirmed that corporates are demanding stablecoin solutions to resolve long-standing pain points in cross-border payments and foreign exchange. “Tokenised deposits are less portable and attract less demand, but they remain complementary,” he said. “Stablecoins are the linchpin of tokenisation because they solve real problems.” His forecast is that issuance could quadruple to $2 trillion within three years, particularly if stablecoins become yield bearing. Bajaj added that clients now expect stablecoin-enabled payments to form part of standard banking services, describing stablecoins as “an essential part of the digital transaction toolkit”. Deutsche Bank executives share the view that stablecoins are advancing into mainstream treasury and settlement. Sebastien Avot, head of institutional cash and trade finance for Asia Pacific, said, “Stablecoins are no longer peripheral. They are entering core banking flows.” His colleague Chan Boon Hiong, applied industry innovation lead and head of securities market and technology advocacy for Asia Pacific, argued that full global harmonisation is unlikely. “What we are going to see are club markets,” he said. “These are regional or bilateral arrangements where a minimum set of standards are adopted to enable scale, without requiring universal rules.” Their argument reflects the fragmented reality of financial regulation and the need for pragmatic compromises to unlock value. At JP Morgan, the Kinexys platform highlights how stablecoins and tokenised deposits can be deployed institutionally. Akshika Gupta, global head of client solutions for Kinexys Digital Payments, drew a clear distinction: “Tokenised deposits are digital representations of bank deposits on blockchain rails, governed by stringent regulatory requirements. They are suited to institutional business-to-business payments, liquidity management and settlement. Stablecoins are more widely used in retail trading, remittances and merchant payments, while central bank digital currencies remain policy-driven.” She reported that Kinexys is already handling more than $3 billion in daily notional value, with clients such as Siemens, BlackRock and the London Stock Exchange Group. Katja Lehr, EMEA payments, industry and advocacy lead at JP Morgan, reinforced the point by describing interoperability as “crucial to unleashing the full potential of cross-border payments and tokenised settlements”. Tokenised assets move from concept to first use cases Tokenisation of assets is advancing more slowly than stablecoins but represents a structural transformation. At Standard Chartered, Tan Ying Ying, global head of product management for financing and securities services, described the bank’s progress: “We have already tokenised a retail fund in collaboration with China AMC, and our custody services for digital assets are live in the United Arab Emirates, Luxembourg and Hong Kong. We are also enabling tokenised funds to be used as collateral, in partnership with Franklin Templeton and OKX.” These initiatives show how tokenisation can be embedded into mainstream asset management processes. Michau pointed to money market funds as the first class of tokenised assets to achieve traction. “Tokenisation eliminates redemption delays and allows funds to be used as collateral on a 24/7 basis,” he said. “That is something traditional systems do not allow. Once between 10% and 20% of an asset class is tokenised, I expect a tipping point where liquidity and client adoption accelerate.” He argued that this marks the point at which tokenised assets will move beyond experiments and become the default in certain markets. Market infrastructures are moving in tandem. Vincent Clause, global head of fund strategy and product development at Euroclear, argued that “tokenisation is essential to create efficiencies in settlement and distribution”. Rehan Ahmed, CEO of Marketnode, added, “Our role is to ensure that tokenised platforms integrate seamlessly with existing systems, so that digital and traditional rails converge rather than compete.” Their joint initiative is targeted at modernising fund infrastructure at scale, and both executives stressed that client trust and regulatory compliance are central to success. BNY is approaching tokenisation as an enabler. Carl Slabicki, executive platform owner for treasury services at BNY, explained, “We are building a modular interoperability layer with token adapters, application programming interfaces and messaging gateways to connect both permissioned and public blockchains to existing securities infrastructures. ISO 20022 and the Regulated Liability Network will be critical in creating interoperability within regulated markets.” Slabicki highlighted that the future of tokenised assets lies not only in creating new products but in ensuring they are consistent with existing infrastructures. These perspectives demonstrate that tokenisation is no longer only a theoretical promise. From custody of tokenised funds to the use of tokenised assets as collateral, practical use cases are emerging. Adoption may be gradual, but it is increasingly clear that tokenisation will reshape the mechanics of asset management. While stablecoins are accelerating quickly, tokenised assets are laying the structural foundations of a new market architecture. Interoperability and infrastructure as critical enablers Beyond issuance, interoperability is emerging as the decisive factor. Lehr at JP Morgan argued, “Interoperability is crucial to unleashing the full potential of cross-border payments and tokenised settlements. ISO 20022 gives us a common language, but we need to go further. The real efficiency will come from linking domestic systems with blockchain infrastructures.” She positioned Kinexys as an extension of existing rails rather than a replacement, highlighting that its value lies in addressing mismatches in liquidity and time zones across borders. Slabicki at BNY warned that fragmentation could increase costs and inefficiencies. “We need modular solutions that allow public and permissioned blockchains to interact with existing payments and securities systems without wholesale replacement,” he said. This, he argued, is the only way to build trust and ensure scale in regulated markets. By focusing on interoperability rather than isolated innovation, BNY seeks to enable the industry to progress without destabilising existing infrastructure. Chan at Deutsche Bank took a pragmatic view. “A single global standard is unlikely,” he said. “Instead, we will see multiple regional or bilateral solutions converge on minimum viable standards.” His argument reflects the reality that different jurisdictions are unlikely to agree on one set of rules. Instead, regional standards will form the basis for interlinked markets. Michau at Standard Chartered emphasised the role of public blockchains. “They have outpaced permissioned alternatives because they operate like the internet, open and scalable,” he said. He pointed to the Bank for International Settlements’ unified ledger concept, SWIFT’s Project Agora and initiatives such as Partior, Fnality and Kinexys as examples of how interoperability is shaping the market. These examples show how different players are building connective tissue across both digital and traditional finance. The consensus is clear: the challenge is not creating digital assets but connecting them. Without interoperability, the efficiencies promised by tokenisation and stablecoins risk being lost in fragmented systems. With it, they can become embedded into global markets. The long-term value therefore lies not only in issuance but in integration across platforms. Risk, regulation and compliance in the digital asset era For advocates, risk management is not peripheral but central. Michau at Standard Chartered cautioned that “banks cannot connect indiscriminately across blockchains or platforms. We must balance scalability with security and ensure anti-money laundering and KYC requirements are met.” He also flagged cybersecurity, fraud prevention and smart contract legal frameworks as essential. His warning was that without adequate frameworks, the risks could outweigh the benefits. Deutsche Bank executives highlighted new categories of risk. They pointed to vulnerabilities in private key management, smart contracts and cyber defences, as well as questions of settlement finality. Their view is that new risk frameworks are required before adoption can be scaled responsibly. Chan argued that regulation must evolve to cover these specific risks rather than simply apply old frameworks to new instruments. McDonald at Ripple urged against excessive regulation. “Over-regulation or fragmented rules will prevent liquidity from consolidating,” he said. “That would undermine the very efficiency gains stablecoins and tokenised assets are meant to deliver.” His point was that regulation must enable rather than stifle adoption, and that regulators should work with institutions to design workable standards. Stripe has sought to present compliance as a differentiator. Harapin said, “Our stablecoin accounts embed anti-money laundering and KYC checks from the outset. Compliance is not an afterthought but a core part of making stablecoins usable for global commerce.” For Stripe, this approach is not only about safety but also about building trust with regulators and corporates. These perspectives underline that regulation and risk management are not optional extras. Without them, adoption will stall. With them, stablecoins and tokenised assets can become embedded in mainstream banking. The question is not whether these frameworks will be built, but how quickly and consistently they will be applied across jurisdictions. Some banks remain cautious or on the sidelines Not every bank is moving forward. At Bank of America, Greg Kavanaugh made the institution’s position clear, “It is very easy to get distracted by what is coming five years from now. We focus first on solving the frictions clients face today rather than chasing new rails that are not yet mature.” His remarks illustrate a deliberate choice to hold back from stablecoins or tokenised assets until they are more established. Kavanaugh’s point was that resilience, fraud protection and predictability remain the priorities for clients, and that innovation should be guided by those needs rather than hype. By focusing on the most immediate frictions, Bank of America has opted to delay large-scale commitments to digital assets. This does not mean the bank is ignoring developments but that it is choosing not to lead in this space until regulatory and commercial clarity emerges. BNY is more engaged but equally measured. Slabicki’s comments show a strategy of enabling interoperability and safe custody, without rushing to issue stablecoins or tokenised securities itself. This reflects BNY’s role as custodian to the financial system, prioritising security and regulation above rapid experimentation. His emphasis on modular interoperability and international standards positions BNY as a cautious but important actor in building the necessary infrastructure. These counterpoints matter. They show that enthusiasm for stablecoins and tokenisation is not universal, and that leading banks are taking very different strategic paths depending on their client bases, regulatory contexts and risk appetites. Some see immediate value and client demand, while others prefer to wait until adoption and regulation are further advanced. The diversity of approaches reflects the complexity of digital assets. There is no single path, but rather a spectrum of strategies ranging from full adoption to measured preparation and cautious observation. This spectrum will shape how quickly and consistently stablecoins and tokenised assets enter mainstream markets. Convergence not replacement The trajectory of stablecoins and tokenised assets is becoming clearer. Stablecoins are moving quickly, driven by client demand and practical utility in payments and liquidity. Tokenised assets are advancing more slowly, but represent a structural shift in custody, funds and collateral. Both are reshaping the infrastructure of finance. Institutions are diverging in strategy. Champions such as Standard Chartered, JP Morgan, Ripple, Stripe, Euroclear and Marketnode are pushing ahead with live cases. Measured adopters such as Deutsche Bank and BNY are building frameworks and infrastructure but moving cautiously. Holdouts such as Bank of America are prioritising resilience and predictability. These categories are not fixed, and institutions may shift as markets evolve. What unites all of them is that digital assets are now unavoidable in planning for the future of banking. None dismiss them as irrelevant. Whether embraced, managed or deferred, stablecoins and tokenised assets are part of strategic thinking across the industry. They are no longer experiments at the margins but a central theme in financial innovation. The likely destination is not a replacement of the financial system, but a convergence where digital and traditional platforms integrate. By embedding stablecoins and tokenised assets into existing infrastructures, banks and market providers can extend the reach and efficiency of mainstream finance. The challenge is to ensure that innovation enhances trust, security and resilience. If that balance is achieved, the next decade will see digital and traditional finance merge into a unified ecosystem.
