1. MACRO VIEW
#- Global Central Banks Prioritise Wholesale CBDC Development and Cross-Border Interoperability. The Atlantic Council’s May 2026 CBDC Tracker reveals 146 countries exploring CBDCs, with a distinct shift towards wholesale infrastructure and cross-border projects, exemplified by the European Central Bank’s Project Pontes, Singapore’s live wholesale CBDC issuance, and Brazil’s Drex tokenised credit pilot, underscoring a strategic move away from retail-focused initiatives in advanced economies. (atlantic_council_cbdc_tracker_2026-22)
- Tokenisation of Central Bank and Commercial Bank Money for Wholesale Payments is Advancing to Real-Value Testing. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS)-led Project Agorá has successfully prototyped multi-currency settlement using tokenised central bank reserves and tokenised commercial bank deposits, with plans to progress to real-value testing involving seven central banks and over 40 private sector financial institutions. (https://www.bis.org/press/p260527.htm, https://www.bis.org/publ/othp110.htm)
- Regulatory Focus Intensifies on Stablecoin Frameworks and Institutional Digital Asset Custody. Federal Reserve Governor Chris Waller advocates for payment stablecoins to drive competition in payments, while the European Central Bank (ECB) highlights the need for strong regulation and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) to counter stablecoin risks, indicating a global effort to define and control these instruments within existing financial systems. (https://www.ledgerinsights.com/feds-waller-makes-the-case-for-stablecoins-in-eu-lions-den/, https://www.theblock.co/post/403142/digital-euro-stablecoin-risks-ecb)
- DLT-Based Clearing and Settlement Services are Gaining Regulatory Approval, Accelerating Atomic Settlement. Paxos Securities Settlement Company has secured temporary DLT-based clearing agency registration from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), enabling bilateral Delivery versus Payment (DvP) settlement of conventional book-entry securities through tokenised assets and cash on a private permissioned ledger. (https://www.ledgerinsights.com/paxos-granted-temporary-dlt-based-clearing-agency-registration-by-sec/)
- The UK is Actively Championing Wholesale Digital Market Development and Tokenisation. Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to responsible tokenisation to enhance financial stability, with Chris Woolard appointed as the Government’s Wholesale Digital Markets Champion to convene industry efforts across the buy-side and sell-side. (https://www.bis.org/review/r260526b.htm)
- Interoperability and Standardisation are Recognised as Critical for Institutional On-Chain Finance. Fireblocks has launched the Open Transaction Layer (OTL) initiative, a collaborative effort with major institutional players, to establish open standards for institutional on-chain finance, addressing integration complexity for compliance, identity, and counterparty coordination. (https://www.ledgerinsights.com/robinhood-sofi-join-fireblocks-founded-otl-for-blockchain-standards/)
- Basel Committee Continues Review of Cryptoasset Exposures and Liquidity Risk Principles. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) is progressing a targeted review of its prudential standard for banks’ cryptoasset exposures and considering updates to its Principles for Sound Liquidity Risk Management and Supervision in light of recent market developments. (https://www.bis.org/press/p260520.htm)
2. CORE PILLAR DEVELOPMENTS
#- Banking Infrastructure & Commercial Rails: The European Central Bank (ECB) plans to extend TARGET settlement infrastructure hours, directly impacting Project Pontes, the European system for wholesale DLT settlement involving tokenised central bank money, with aims for 24/7 functionality by 2028. (https://www.ledgerinsights.com/ecb-to-extend-target-hours-enabling-pontes-24-7-dlt-settlement/) Furthermore, the BIS-led Project Aperta is prototyping cross-border open finance interconnectivity via APIs, connecting existing domestic networks to enhance SME banking and trade finance. (https://www.bis.org/publ/othp111.htm)
- Institutional Asset Management & RWAs: John Whelan, formerly of Banco Santander’s Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) digital assets division, has joined WisdomTree as Head of Digital Asset Strategy, reinforcing the firm’s commitment to tokenised money market funds (MMF) and institutional on-chain investments. (https://www.ledgerinsights.com/john-whelan-joins-wisdomtree-to-lead-digital-assets-strategy/) This move follows Santander’s earlier pioneering work in launching bonds on public blockchains and its involvement in wholesale DLT settlement platforms like Fnality.
- Sovereign Infrastructure & CBDCs: The Atlantic Council’s May 2026 update highlights a global pivot towards wholesale CBDC development, with advanced economies like Canada, Australia, and Norway deprioritising retail CBDCs, while emerging markets invest in retail CBDC development. The Project Agorá prototype successfully demonstrated atomic, multi-currency settlement of wholesale cross-border payments using tokenised central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits, leveraging smart contracts for embedded workflow and compliance. (https://www.bis.org/press/p260527.htm, https://www.bis.org/publ/othp110.htm, atlantic_council_cbdc_tracker_2026-22) The People’s Bank of China’s reclassification of e-CNY as deposit liabilities could signal a shift from its original function as digital cash, with implications for its internationalisation strategy. (atlantic_council_cbdc_tracker_2026-22)
- Regulatory & Legal Frameworks: Paxos Securities Settlement Company has received temporary SEC registration as a DLT-based clearing agency, enabling the DvP settlement of conventional book-entry securities by tokenising both securities and cash. (https://www.ledgerinsights.com/paxos-granted-temporary-dlt-based-clearing-agency-registration-by-sec/) The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) is actively conducting a targeted review of its prudential standards for banks’ cryptoasset exposures and is considering updates to its Principles for Sound Liquidity Risk Management and Supervision, reflecting evolving market dynamics. (https://www.bis.org/press/p260520.htm)
3. STRUCTURAL & OPERATIONAL PAIN POINTS
#- Interoperability Silos: The launch of the Open Transaction Layer (OTL) by Fireblocks and a consortium of institutional players underscores the ongoing challenge of “integration sprawl and parallel systems that don’t reconcile” within institutional digital asset operations, highlighting the critical need for open standards in identity, session, transport, and messaging across diverse on-chain finance platforms. (https://www.ledgerinsights.com/robinhood-sofi-join-fireblocks-founded-otl-for-blockchain-standards/)
- Balance Sheet & Liquidity Friction: The European Central Bank’s recognition of the mismatch between conventional central bank operating hours and the 24/7 nature of DLT payment systems, such as Project Pontes and Agorá, poses a significant challenge to maintaining continuous liquidity without fragmenting money pools or impacting interest income for participants. (https://www.ledgerinsights.com/ecb-to-extend-target-hours-enabling-pontes-24-7-dlt-settlement/)
- Post-Trade Plumbing Constraints: Despite advances in DLT for settlement, the need for new standards for institutional on-chain finance, as proposed by the OTL, indicates persistent bottlenecks in integrating legacy compliance, identity, and counterparty coordination requirements into decentralised systems, hindering streamlined post-trade workflows and atomic settlement across diverse platforms. (https://www.ledgerinsights.com/robinhood-sofi-join-fireblocks-founded-otl-for-blockchain-standards/)
4. NEW HIGH-SIGNAL TARGETS FOR TRACKING
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