Digital-Currency News Digest September 24th, 2026
Tokenized Deposits and Central-Bank Settlement
Major UK banks completed the first interbank transfers using tokenized deposits, sending blockchain representations of ordinary bank deposits through existing banking rails rather than private stablecoins. The pilot showed that the Bank of England prefers bank-issued digital money because the liability remains on a bank’s balance sheet and tokenized deposits keep the same legal status as conventional deposits. The BoE sees the approach as a way to modernize payments while limiting the systemic risk it associates with privately issued stablecoins. The project will move toward a governing rulebook and tokenized-deposit-based bond issuances in 2027, positioning the UK as a test bed for public-sector and interbank tokenized-money use.
Canada’s six biggest banks — RBC, TD, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC and National Bank — announced a joint plan to build shared Canadian-dollar tokenized deposit infrastructure. The first phase focuses on transfers between the participating banks rather than consumer wallets, representing ordinary bank deposits as digital tokens on a shared ledger. The design aims to enable faster, programmable settlement while preserving existing bank-deposit safeguards and remaining separate from the Bank of Canada’s shelved digital-dollar consultation. OSFI’s clarification that tokenized deposits are not legally distinct from traditional deposits underpins the effort. The initiative follows earlier Canadian tokenization work, including the Bank of Canada’s Project Samara, and fits a wider banking trend also seen in a 21-bank U.S. dollar stablecoin effort and BMO’s use of CME Group’s tokenized cash platform.
South Korea’s Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology authorized a regulatory-sandbox pilot allowing public officials to use commercial-bank deposit tokens for eligible government operating expenses. The tokens will be settled using Bank of Korea wholesale CBDC and paid through smartphone QR codes with pre-programmed spending controls, bypassing rules that otherwise limit such payments to government cards and bank transfers. The pilot expands Project Hangang into public-sector disbursement while preserving a two-tier model in which commercial banks issue tokenized deposits and the central bank provides interbank settlement. By embedding spending controls and central-bank settlement, the program tests whether tokenized deposits can support efficient government payments without creating a separate public digital-currency layer for routine administration.
The ECB launched Pontes on 21 September 2026, connecting DLT platforms to TARGET so wholesale tokenized securities can settle in central bank money rather than only stablecoins or tokenized bank deposits. By enabling atomic delivery-versus-payment settlement through cash tokens or T2, Pontes gives euro markets a public, lower-risk cash alternative and weakens the case for dollar stablecoins as the default on-chain settlement asset. Early participants include Deutsche Bank, Santander, and Clearstream, while broader 24/7 capability, real transaction volumes, and the separate retail digital euro remain future milestones. The initiative is significant because it addresses the settlement-legality and counterparty-risk gap in tokenized markets, potentially making euro-denominated asset settlement more resilient and reducing reliance on private digital dollars.
Stablecoin Cards, Settlement and Institutional Payments
SoFi has moved its full debit and credit card program onto Mastercard’s stablecoin settlement rails using SoFiUSD, a bank-issued dollar token backed primarily by cash reserves. The production integration, operated through SoFi Bank, N.A., is expected to process more than $25 billion in annualized volume while keeping the consumer card experience unchanged. It replaces back-end settlement, treasury and cross-border payment infrastructure with stablecoin-based flows, allowing issuers, acquirers and merchants to settle faster without holding stablecoins or changing operations. SoFi said the move focuses on settlement velocity and continuous liquidity rather than consumer-facing digital dollar adoption. The companies are extending the model to merchant settlement and exploring cross-border payments and remittances across Mastercard’s network.
Thredd is partnering with stablecoin treasury and settlement platform Velocity to add stablecoin-powered money movement to its issuer processing platform. The arrangement allows clients to convert between fiat currencies and supported stablecoins and move funds on-chain or through connected fiat rails. The initial rollout will focus on B2B and B2B2B applications, including stablecoin-backed card programs, cross-border payouts, global treasury flows, and on-chain settlement. Velocity will contribute programmable wallet infrastructure, blockchain and banking rails connectivity, liquidity, conversion, and transfer and settlement orchestration. The partnership extends the stablecoin trend from consumer wallets into issuer-level treasury and payments operations, where firms need faster settlement, continuous liquidity and the ability to manage digital dollars alongside traditional bank balances.
Norwegian stablecoin exchange NBX has selected Tieto Banktech to provide card issuing and payments infrastructure for digital and physical cards that let customers spend stablecoin holdings more conveniently. Tieto Banktech will handle card administration, authorizations, PIN services, production, transaction monitoring, and fraud detection, with IDT Finance providing BIN sponsorship and access to global payment networks. The partnership supports NBX’s goal of creating an evolving multicurrency stablecoin-based card and expanding its services beyond trading. The move shows stablecoin platforms are adding familiar payment instruments to reduce friction for users, while card networks and processors position themselves for a future where digital dollars and other tokens are converted or spent through existing retail payment rails rather than only via blockchain transfers.
Adoption, Trust and Global Stablecoin Flows
Visa’s Money Travels 2026 report, based on a Morning Consult survey of 2,192 U.S. customers, found that willingness to use stablecoins for cross-border payments would rise from 36% to 56% if services offered bank-like fraud protections and deposit insurance, with similar gains in Latin America. Interest reached 45% when stablecoins were offered through an existing financial provider, suggesting institutional trust matters more than the underlying technology. It also found that 56% of Americans had never heard of stablecoins, and that provider trust, security and awareness are major barriers. Visa reported stablecoin settlement has exceeded a $20 billion annualized run rate, more than 15 times a year earlier. It stressed stablecoins are not currently FDIC-insured, while regulators move toward the GENIUS Act, which is not expected to provide explicit fraud protection.
Chainalysis said cross-border stablecoin flows rose 77.5% to $220.3 billion in the 12 months to June 2026, from $124.2 billion, even as total crypto market value fell 37% to $2.1 trillion. The company attributed the growth to consistent everyday payment uses, including supplier payments, remittances and moving savings out of volatile currencies, rather than speculative trading. Regulators in the U.S., EU and Hong Kong have formalized stablecoin oversight, while traditional remittance providers are also expanding stablecoin products. Experts said wider adoption still depends on clearer regulation, local currency redemption and interoperability with existing banking rails. The data suggest stablecoins are becoming a parallel global payment channel, especially where conventional remittance networks are slow, expensive or inaccessible.
Latin America’s crypto economy grew 9.8% to $593.8 billion in activity, with stablecoins reaching 32% of cross-border value, 22% of domestic P2P activity, and 18% of personal wallet balances by June. Brazil remained the region’s largest market at $252.5 billion in activity, while its stablecoin economy expanded 495% and its users increasingly held large stablecoin balances. Mexico and Venezuela also drove growth, with Mexico’s monthly cross-border stablecoin activity about four times its early 2024 level and Venezuela’s economy surging 107.2% after political disruption intensified demand for dollar-based crypto. The data show stablecoins are becoming a practical part of regional payments and savings, particularly where currency volatility, inflation and capital-access constraints make dollar-denominated assets attractive.
In Latin America, especially Argentina, dollar-backed stablecoins are being used by households and businesses to hedge against inflation and currency depreciation, with stablecoins making up a large share of crypto transaction activity. Their growing use can accelerate digital dollarisation by lowering barriers to holding dollar-denominated assets, potentially limiting central banks’ monetary-policy space and eroding the role of domestic currencies in savings, payments and pricing. Stablecoin reserves are often invested in U.S. Treasuries, creating financing benefits for the United States while providing less evident systemic benefit to emerging economies experiencing currency substitution. OMFIF argues that regulators should distinguish ordinary financial innovation from systemic monetary substitution and increase oversight of stablecoin issuers in proportion to their monetary significance, rather than treating all crypto use as identical.
Tron has emerged as a dominant settlement rail for stablecoins, particularly Tether’s USDT, with weekly transfer volumes recently running at roughly $150 billion to $190 billion and transaction activity near record highs. Its delegated proof-of-stake design supports fast, low-cost payments, making the network attractive for dollar-denominated stablecoin settlement, especially in emerging markets where users need inexpensive transfers, savings vehicles and merchant acceptance. The volume makes Tron a key rail for dollar-denominated stablecoin settlement, while its fee structure and finality attract high transaction counts. New U.S. stablecoin rules, including the GENIUS Act and the proposed Clarity Act, could affect which issuers operate on Tron and the long-term demand for its payment infrastructure as compliance and reserve requirements become clearer.
U.S. Regulation, Licensing and Bank Strategies
The Trump administration is weighing an initiative to promote dollar-denominated stablecoins overseas, potentially through government-private-sector joint ventures involving the Treasury Department, State Department, and DFC. The goal would be to reinforce the dollar’s reserve-currency role and increase demand for U.S. Treasuries by anchoring foreign digital payment flows to dollar-backed tokens. The plan follows the GENIUS Act framework, which requires stablecoin issuers to hold dollar and short-term Treasury reserves, and comes as China, the European Central Bank, and other jurisdictions advance alternative digital payment systems. Officials appear to view stablecoins as a way to extend the dollar’s reach without committing to a retail CBDC, while also managing geopolitical competition in payments and digital currency.
JPMorgan is reportedly exploring a stablecoin that would extend its blockchain-based Kinexys and JPM Coin platforms, enabling faster 24/7 settlement and broader institutional digital-payment use. The bank appears to have an execution advantage over peers such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo, which are still evaluating stablecoin strategies, because it already has significant blockchain infrastructure and a tokenized-deposit offering. A clearer U.S. regulatory framework for stablecoins could improve the initiative’s economics by reducing uncertainty around issuance, reserves, compliance and distribution. The effort would place JPMorgan at the center of corporate, treasury and interbank payment flows, while giving institutional clients an option between tokenized deposits and dollar stablecoins.
U.S. senators blocked a vote on the Clarity Act, proposed legislation that would have established a regulatory framework for stablecoins and other digital assets. The bill failed to reach the 60 votes required for cloture on September 15, leaving banks facing continued uncertainty about the legal status of stablecoins in payments and financial services. The setback could reduce banks’ appetite to issue, redeem, or integrate stablecoins until Congress provides clearer rules, particularly around reserve requirements, consumer protections, interchange, rewards and market structure. The GENIUS Act provides some federal stablecoin rules, but the broader digital-asset market is still awaiting a comprehensive framework. Delay reinforces reliance on state regimes, agency guidance and existing securities, banking and money-transmitter laws while institutions plan around an uncertain legislative calendar.
The OCC conditionally approved national trust bank charters for stablecoin-infrastructure firms Bastion, Agora, and Catena, with Catena planning a trust bank designed for AI agents. The approvals would enable federally regulated stablecoin custody, wallet, payment, and issuance services, giving digital-asset infrastructure a more formal role in the U.S. banking system. Bastion is required to hold at least $6 million in Tier 1 capital, while Agora and Catena each must hold at least $10 million. The move shows regulators are creating a supervised perimeter for stablecoin operations, even as the GENIUS Act and state regimes define broader market structure. Separately, opposition to the CLARITY Act’s stablecoin rewards provisions drew broader Republican support after the Senate rejected the bill, highlighting political friction over whether stablecoins can offer yields or rewards.
CFTC Chair Michael Selig said U.S. markets should prepare for broader tokenization and continuous trading, connecting on-chain finance, tokenized collateral, stablecoins, and 24/7 access to existing CFTC work on collateral rules and market hours. His remarks followed a Treasury Market Conference that included sessions on stablecoins and tokenized deposits, but his comments emphasized market infrastructure rather than a CBDC proposal. The CFTC already has guidance for continuous operations, digital collateral, and certain payment stablecoins accepted as margin under existing frameworks. Selig’s remarks suggest regulators are moving toward treating tokenized assets as tradable financial instruments, potentially giving exchanges and clearing participants a more direct role in digital-asset markets while keeping oversight anchored in established market-structure rules.
AI Agents and Stablecoin Infrastructure
BlackRock’s Digital Assets Research team argued that autonomous AI agents will need stablecoin-based payment infrastructure to settle machine-to-machine transactions because traditional banking rails are ill-suited for software acting without human oversight. The firm said stablecoin transaction volume exceeded $11 trillion in 2025 and has grown about 80% annually since 2020, framing stablecoins as core to a “machine-native economy.” It identified Ethereum and Circle’s Arc network as potential settlement venues, while noting current AI-agent payment activity remains minimal, with much x402 protocol traffic resembling ordinary scripts or partly self-dealing flows. Stablecoin market capitalization above $300 billion, Europe’s rulebook for public stablecoins in machine micropayments plus central-bank money for larger settlement, and tokenized compute claims that could later be traded or used as collateral make the thesis a long-term catalyst.
Stablecoin settlement volume surpassed the U.S. ACH network in early 2026, reflecting rapid adoption of on-chain payment rails. The GENIUS Act’s legal safe harbor encouraged institutional investment and infrastructure partnerships, including Visa, SoFi Bank, Binance, and Coinbase/Stablecore. However, the law’s prohibition on direct stablecoin yield is pushing market participants to pair non-yielding settlement tokens with separate regulated tokenized-deposit or yield-bearing wrappers. This architecture matters because it determines who earns returns on reserves, how banks compete for institutional balance sheets, and whether stablecoins become a settlement layer or remain a limited payment instrument. It also highlights a split between regulatory permissiveness for infrastructure and unresolved questions about monetary policy, consumer protection and competitive effects in a 24/7 digital-currency market.
European and International Stablecoin Policy
The ECB and the 27 EU national central banks have urged Brussels to replace MiCA’s fixed requirement that major stablecoins hold 60% of reserves in bank deposits with liquidity-based rules. They argue that large deposit-linked reserves could transmit stablecoin stress into banks, especially during a run. The proposal would introduce minimum reserve shares maturing within one and five working days, along with diversification, while keeping par-value redemption and the ban on paying interest to holders. Issuers would gain more flexibility to hold short-term government debt, potentially making stablecoin reserve portfolios less dependent on bank liquidity. Any MiCA amendment would likely take effect no sooner than 2027, meaning current stablecoin structures will need to navigate a transition period with both national supervision and revised EU requirements.
Santander, BBVA, Trade Republic and Western Union will use MERGE Madrid 2026 to outline how stablecoins are moving from crypto niche to mainstream financial infrastructure. Their discussions will cover Qivalis’s euro-backed stablecoin effort, Santander’s project with major global banks for G7-linked digital money, Trade Republic’s retail adoption angle, and Western Union’s USDPT Solana stablecoin integrated into its remittance network. The event will analyze regulation, reserve protection, interoperability, and how stablecoins may complement deposits, payments, and asset settlement. The lineup signals that large European banks and cross-border payment providers are treating stablecoins as a serious product category, even as euro-area policy still weighs public-sector alternatives and the limits of bank-backed digital money.
Binance withdrew its application to the Bank of Greece for an e-money institution licence to issue stablecoins after the central bank indicated the bid did not satisfy applicable legal and supervisory requirements. The company also withdrew a separate application to operate as a crypto-asset service provider in Greece in mid-June, amid heightened regulatory scrutiny following its U.S. anti-money-laundering guilty plea and record fine. The Bank of Greece said it simply applied the rules and denied external pressure, while concerns about stablecoin compliance and monetary sovereignty have increased in Europe. The episode illustrates how national supervisors may block stablecoin entrants even as the EU develops broader MiCA-style regimes, and it adds to Binance’s pressure from U.S. sanctions and data-disclosure probes.
Binance invested $100 million in Circle and renewed a five-year agreement to expand promotion of the USDC stablecoin on its platform, particularly in emerging markets, while acquiring nearly 1.24 million Circle Class A shares. The deal intensifies competition with Tether’s USDT by giving Binance deeper access to Circle’s dollar token and distribution channels. It coincides with renewed U.S. probes into alleged Iranian sanctions violations, scrutiny over customer-data disclosures to Russian authorities, and the rejection of Binance’s Greek MiCA license bid amid reports that ECB President Christine Lagarde opposed a Binance foothold in the EU. The investment ties one of the largest crypto exchanges to a major regulated stablecoin issuer, while also raising questions about governance, compliance and the concentration of stablecoin distribution in a few global platforms.
Stablecoins and CBDCs are shaping an uneven regional landscape. Brazil will prohibit regulated foreign-exchange providers from using stablecoins to settle payments with foreign counterparties from October 1, while individuals can still transact in digital assets under existing rules. Saudi Arabia said its exit from the multi-CBDC mBridge project followed the completion of a proof-of-concept phase, though it may continue in a lower-profile role. Hong Kong plans to launch 24/7 CBDC settlement and tokenized-deposit use under its EnsembleTX pilot by around the end of 2026, strengthening its push to become a global digital asset hub. These moves show that policymakers are balancing innovation with controls over capital flows, settlement risk and the relationship between private stablecoins and official currency systems.
Outlook
Tokenized deposits and central-bank settlement are moving from pilots toward supervised market infrastructure, while stablecoins are being tested in cards, B2B payments, cross-border remittances and AI-agent commerce. The near-term constraint is trust and legal clarity: bank-like protections, reserve rules, national licensing and interoperability will determine whether stablecoins become a mainstream payments layer or remain niche rails.