1. MACRO VIEW#
- Dollar vs. Euro stablecoin war is now structural. The US GENIUS Act is live, cementing regulated dollar stablecoins as the default settlement asset for tokenised markets. The ECB is resisting euro stablecoin proposals while pushing for a 2029 digital euro — Bruegel warns this risks locking the euro out of tokenised capital markets entirely (“infrastructure dollarisation”).
- Wholesale CBDC is the real race. 146 countries exploring CBDCs; 77 in advanced phases. Advanced economies (Canada, Australia, Norway) have abandoned retail CBDC in favour of wholesale rails. Key live projects: NY Fed’s Project Agorá, ECB’s Project Pontes, Singapore’s live w-CBDC issuance.
- mBridge volume up 2,500× since the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Driven overwhelmingly by e-CNY. All 11 BRICS members are in CBDC pilots; India proposed linking them for cross-border trade settlement.
- RWA tokenisation is still in “digitise the old” mode. Hamilton Lane’s GPA fund gets its third tokenisation outing. UK experts publish a paper arguing the industry is squandering the opportunity — composability, not digitalisation, is the point.
- SEC stock tokenisation exemption delayed. Unresolved issues around corporate actions (dividends, voting rights) and anonymous DeFi holdings blocking progress.
2. CORE PILLAR DEVELOPMENTS#
Banking Infrastructure & Commercial Rails:
- Banca Sella has secured an Italian licence under Europe’s MiCA regulations, becoming the first bank in the country authorised to offer digital asset custody services specifically for corporate and institutional clients. The bank is also a member of the Qivalis stablecoin consortium.
- The Bank Negara Malaysia highlighted the continuing evolution of tokenised bank deposits and regulated stablecoins, noting their emergence alongside CBDCs within a converging digital payments ecosystem.
- The FDIC has published proposed rulemaking to establish Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and sanctions compliance standards for permitted payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act, cross-referencing requirements from FinCEN and OFAC.
Institutional Asset Management & RWAs:
- Hamilton Lane’s Global Private Assets (GPA) fund has achieved its third tokenisation, this time via Allfunds Blockchain and Apex Group. BBVA Asset Management is the inaugural institutional investor, securing exclusive distribution for private equity exposure.
- UK experts have published a paper advocating for a fundamental rethinking of RWA tokenisation, proposing a composable framework based on two primary token types: a token of title (ownership) and a token of entitlement (future value rights), to prevent simply replicating legacy financial complexities.
- A report indicates the SEC has postponed its long-anticipated tokenisation trading exemption for US stocks, highlighting ongoing regulatory complexities, particularly for tokens representing full ownership and corporate actions.
Sovereign Infrastructure & CBDCs:
- The Atlantic Council CBDC Tracker Update - May 2026 reveals that 146 countries are exploring CBDCs, with 77 in advanced development, pilot, or launch phases. Advanced economies, including Canada, Australia, and Norway, are increasingly deprioritising retail CBDCs in favour of wholesale infrastructure.
- Prominent wholesale CBDC initiatives, such as the New York Fed’s Project Agorá, the ECB’s Project Pontes, and Singapore’s live wholesale CBDC issuance, are intensely focused on advanced features like tokenisation and programmability to enhance institutional money movement.
- Cross-border wholesale CBDC projects have more than doubled since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with mBridge experiencing a 2,500-fold surge in transaction volume, primarily driven by the e-CNY.
- The ECB continues its plans for a digital euro, aiming for a 2029 launch, whilst resisting proposals for euro stablecoins, indicating a preference for central bank-issued digital money.
- All 11 BRICS members are exploring CBDCs, with nine already in pilot phases, actively promoting alternative payment systems to the US dollar. India has reportedly proposed linking member states’ digital currencies to facilitate cross-border trade.
- The digital yuan (e-CNY) has been reclassified as deposit liabilities, suggesting a potential shift in its functional role from digital cash.
Regulatory & Legal Frameworks:
- Banca Sella has secured a MiCA-compliant licence for institutional digital asset custody in Italy, setting a precedent for European banking engagement.
- In the US, legislative discussions include:
- The FDIC’s proposed rulemaking outlining AML/BSA/sanctions compliance for payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act.
- The postponement of the SEC’s stock tokenisation exemption underscores persistent hurdles for full ownership security tokens.
- OCC charters for digital asset firms continue to be a subject of debate in Washington.
- The Clarity Act, a key crypto bill, is facing political headwinds, making its passage this year appear unlikely.
- European policy continues to evolve, with the ECB resisting euro stablecoin proposals and Bruegel recommending adjustments to MiCA to better support euro stablecoins and interoperability with Eurosystem infrastructure.
- Globally, the Basel Committee is progressing its targeted review of the prudential standard for banks’ cryptoasset exposures and will publish a report on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) risk management, integral to operational resilience in digital finance.
- The FATF Ministerial Meeting emphasised the urgent need for “rapid and effective implementation of FATF Standards in the virtual assets sector globally” and enhanced transparency and traceability for cross-border payments.
- China’s top court is set to study judicial rules for crypto, indicating an ongoing effort to define legal frameworks for digital assets.
3. STRUCTURAL & OPERATIONAL PAIN POINTS#
Interoperability Silos:
- The Bruegel report highlights the strategic risk of “infrastructure dollarisation” within tokenised markets, should euro stablecoins fail to achieve sufficient liquidity and seamless interoperability with Eurosystem payment infrastructure, potentially ceding dominance to dollar stablecoins.
- The Bank Negara Malaysia underscored the persistent challenge of managing fragmentation across diverse digital money instruments—CBDCs, tokenised deposits, and stablecoins—to ensure they can interoperate effectively and avoid market fragmentation.
Balance Sheet & Liquidity Friction:
- The ECB has expressed concerns that a proliferation of euro stablecoins could render bank deposits more fickle, posing potential risks to bank funding and overall liquidity management.
- MiCA’s existing reserve requirements for stablecoin issuers, mandating 30-60% of reserves be held as bank deposits, were identified by Bruegel as a potential constraint on liquidity efficiency and competition.
- The Basel Committee is reviewing its Principles for Sound Liquidity Risk Management and Supervision, potentially in response to the evolving landscape of digital asset exposures and their implications for bank balance sheets.
Post-Trade Plumbing Constraints:
- The SEC’s postponement of its stock tokenisation exemption was partly attributed to unresolved concerns regarding the effective execution of corporate actions (such as dividend distributions and voting rights) for tokenised stocks, indicating ongoing friction in integrating traditional post-trade mechanisms with distributed ledger technology.
4. NEW HIGH-SIGNAL TARGETS FOR TRACKING#
- Qivalis: A stablecoin consortium with 37 banking members, highlighted by Banca Sella’s participation, indicating collaborative institutional interest in tokenised commercial bank liabilities.
- GENIUS Act: The newly enacted US legislation focused on the regulation and promotion of stablecoins, pivotal for the development of payment stablecoin frameworks.
- Project Appia: An ECB wholesale CBDC initiative, explicitly mentioned in the context of accelerating interoperability between DLT platforms and Eurosystem payment infrastructure.
- Token of Title and Token of Entitlement Framework: A proposed conceptual framework by UK experts for Real-World Asset tokenisation, advocating for a composable approach to representing ownership and future value rights, offering a novel design for security tokens.
- Atlantic Council CBDC Tracker: An ongoing global resource providing detailed insights and updates on central bank digital currency developments, particularly useful for monitoring wholesale CBDC infrastructure and cross-border initiatives.