Settlement cycles stretch across hours, sometimes days. Systems reconcile data after the fact. Liquidity gets locked in transit. And behind it all, multiple ledgers attempt to reflect the same transaction, often requiring layers of verification to confirm what should already be known.

For decades, this worked. It was reliable, regulated, and predictable. But now, that model is being quietly challenged, not by disruption at the edges, but by a structural rethink of how money itself should move.

Financial institutions are beginning to explore something that, until recently, sat firmly in the realm of experimentation: tokenised cash and programmable money. What started as a blockchain curiosity is now evolving into a serious attempt to redesign the underlying rails of finance.

And unlike past waves of innovation, this one is not being driven solely by startups or crypto-native firms. It’s being built from within the system itself.

Why now? A system under pressure

The timing is not accidental. Across the financial ecosystem, pressure has been building. Transaction volumes are increasing. Markets are becoming more interconnected. And expectations around speed driven by digital platforms in every other industry are starting to reshape what institutions consider acceptable.

Anil Thapa, a fintech expert and data analyst based in Manchester, sees this shift emerging from a fundamental mismatch between infrastructure and demand.

“A lot of the current infrastructure is still built around older assumptions. Separate ledgers, delayed updates, and manual reconciliation between parties. That works, but it creates inefficiencies that become more obvious as transaction volumes increase and as markets demand faster execution,” he told International Finance.

At its core, the issue is not just speed: it’s duplication.

Financial institutions often end up keeping their own versions of the same data, only matching things up after the transaction is done. It’s built that way for trust, but it does slow things down.

Tokenised cash offers a different approach. Instead of each participant maintaining its own record, transactions can exist on a shared ledger, visible and verifiable in real time.

“Instead of each participant maintaining its own ledger and then reconciling later, everyone is effectively looking at the same state in real time. From a data perspective, that’s a big shift; it improves transparency, reduces duplication, and makes audit trails much cleaner,” Thapa explains.

That shift from fragmented records to a shared source of truth is one of the key forces driving institutional interest.

From concept to implementation

What makes this moment different from earlier blockchain experiments is that the conversation has moved beyond theory.

Emma Landriault, Executive Director working on JPM Coin at JPMorgan, describes a growing demand from institutional clients, not for abstract innovation, but for practical, integrated solutions.

“We see growing interest from large institutional players who want more native on-chain cash solutions from pre-eminent and reputed financial institutions. These institutions typically participate actively in both crypto and real-world asset digital transactions, which is why native on-chain deposit-based cash solutions fit well with their needs,” she told International Finance.

In other words, the infrastructure around digital assets is expanding, but without a corresponding form of digital cash, the system remains incomplete. Tokenised deposits aim to fill that gap.

Unlike stablecoins, which are typically issued by non-banks and backed by separate reserves, deposit tokens are tied directly to regular bank deposits. They operate within the same regulatory and liquidity rules as regular banking, which makes them familiar and easier for institutions to use as part of their everyday financial operations.

“A deposit token is a digital representation of a bank deposit that operates on blockchain networks, designed for institutional use cases. Institutional clients can treat deposit tokens in the same way they would treat a traditional bank deposit on their balance sheet,” Landriault explains.

That distinction matters. It means tokenised cash is not positioned as a replacement for existing systems, but as an extension, one that integrates with treasury management, accounting, and liquidity frameworks already in place.

Who is already using tokenised cash?

Several large financial institutions have already started testing, and in some cases using, tokenised cash in real-world settings.

So far, the push has mostly come from big global banks, especially on the institutional side. Use cases are showing up in areas such as cross-border payments, treasury operations, and digital asset transactions.

For instance, platforms such as JPM Coin are being used by institutional clients to move money between corporate accounts more efficiently, cutting down the time it takes to settle transactions.

This hasn’t happened overnight. The groundwork has been there for a while, but it’s really only in the last few years that things have started to pick up pace. What used to be small pilot projects are gradually turning into something more real, as the tech improves and institutions get more comfortable using tokenised cash.

The response has been fairly steady. On the inside, teams working with these systems are already noticing improvements – less time spent on reconciliation, better visibility into transactions.

For clients, particularly large ones, the appeal is straightforward: faster settlement, more control over liquidity, and the ability to plug into existing systems without having to overhaul everything.

That said, adoption is still cautious. Most institutions aren’t replacing their current systems just yet. They’re running these alongside what they already have.

Efficiency beyond speed

Much of the conversation around tokenised money focuses on speed, faster payments, instant settlement, and real-time transfers. But the more meaningful impact may lie elsewhere in how capital is used.

“In traditional systems, settlement delays mean capital is often tied up for a period of time, even after a transaction is agreed. That creates inefficiency, especially at scale,” Thapa notes.

When transactions settle instantly, capital is no longer stuck in limbo. It can be redeployed immediately, improving liquidity and reducing risk.

There’s also the question of certainty. In today’s systems, the completion of a transaction often involves multiple stages, execution, clearing, and settlement, each introducing potential delays or points of failure. Tokenised systems collapse those stages into a single, atomic process.

“Tokenised money allows transactions to settle almost instantly, and more importantly, allows both sides of a transaction to complete simultaneously. That removes a lot of the uncertainty and risk that exists today,” Thapa noted.

For institutions operating at scale, those incremental efficiencies add up. They reduce the need for intermediaries, simplify post-trade processes, and eliminate much of the operational overhead tied to reconciliation.

When finance stops sleeping

If tokenised cash really takes hold, it could start to quietly change how markets function day to day.

Today, financial systems are structured around time, trading hours, settlement windows, and batch processing cycles. Even in an increasingly digital world, these constraints remain. But programmable, tokenised money introduces the possibility of continuous operation.

“Do you see programmable money enabling truly 24/7 financial markets?” is no longer a hypothetical question; it’s becoming a design consideration.

Thapa believes the implications could be significant.

“When settlement becomes instant, and systems operate continuously, the delay between decision and execution effectively disappears. That should improve liquidity, since capital is no longer sitting idle waiting for settlement,” he added.

At the same time, continuous markets introduce new dynamics.

Faster reactions can improve efficiency, but they can also amplify volatility. Without natural pauses in the system, markets may become more sensitive to real-time information.

“There’s also a structural shift for institutions. Many existing processes are built around defined operating hours. Moving to a 24/7 model requires a different approach to liquidity management, risk monitoring, and even staffing,” Thapa said.

Programmability: The real shift

While tokenisation improves infrastructure, programmability changes behaviour. Money, in this setup, isn’t just sitting idle anymore; it can actually “do” things, carrying instructions and acting on them when certain conditions are met.

So a payment might go through the moment a contract is fulfilled, collateral can shift on its own, and liquidity can move depending on what’s happening in the market.

“Yes, and I think this is where things start to get really interesting. Transactions are no longer just instructions; they can carry conditions and logic,” Thapa noted.

When combined with data and artificial intelligence, the implications expand further. Over time, these systems may move beyond fixed rules and start adjusting on their own, reacting to changes as they happen.

“Over time, I expect this to evolve into more autonomous systems where both execution and decision-making become increasingly automated,” he emphasised.

This is where the idea of ‘programmable money’ begins to feel less like infrastructure and more like an operating layer for financial activity.

Risks in a code-driven system

With that shift comes a different kind of risk. Traditional financial systems are built to manage delays, human errors, and operational inefficiencies. Programmable systems introduce new vulnerabilities, ones tied to code, data, and automation.

“The nature of risk changes quite a bit. Instead of dealing mainly with delays or manual errors, the focus shifts to system design, code quality, and data reliability,” Thapa said.

Smart contracts, once deployed, execute automatically and often irreversibly. A flaw in logic can scale quickly, with consequences that are difficult to unwind.

Then there is the question of how reliable the data actually is. These systems depend on outside inputs to make decisions, and if that data is wrong or tampered with, the results can go off track just as quickly.

Add AI into the mix, and things get more complicated. Questions around model behaviour, transparency, and whether decisions still reflect what’s happening in the real world start to matter a lot more. The emphasis, as Thapa puts it, shifts toward proactive risk management, testing, validation, and continuous monitoring.

Bridging old and new

Despite the momentum, tokenised finance is unlikely to replace existing systems overnight. In fact, the near-term reality is more hybrid than transformative.

“Tokenised financial infrastructure is no longer theoretical. However, parallel financial infrastructure will co-exist for years to come,” Landriault said.

Legacy systems are deeply embedded, and institutions cannot simply abandon them. Instead, the focus is on integration, connecting new technologies with existing frameworks.

“Scalable, institutional-grade capabilities will be the result of incremental adaptation over the years ahead, rather than overnight transformation,” she added.

This gradual approach reflects both technical and regulatory realities.

One of the bigger hurdles is still getting different systems to talk to each other smoothly. Rules and regulations are also catching up, trying to make sense of new forms of money. And for institutions, there’s the added task of investing in the kind of infrastructure that can actually connect all of this.

As Thapa puts it, the system is “progressing, but not fully there yet.”

A layer, not a replacement

One of the more persistent misconceptions around tokenised money is that it represents a break from traditional finance. In practice, it looks more like an evolution.

“I tend to see it more as an evolution of financial infrastructure rather than a completely new concept. Most institutional work in this space is focused on improving existing systems using tokenisation, not replacing them,” Thapa added.

That distinction is important.

Tokenised cash is not coming up on its own; it is growing alongside things like CBDCs, stablecoins, and the systems already in place today, each serving its own purpose. Over time, these pieces could start fitting together, shaping a more connected and flexible financial system.

The post Why the way money moves is being rethought appeared first on International Finance.

As per the filing, the “BlackRock Daily Reinvestment Stablecoin Reserve Vehicle” will invest in cash, short-term US Treasury securities and overnight repurchase agreements secured by Treasuries. This, along with the digital class of existing funds, will have a minimum investment amount of USD 3 million.

When it comes to appealing to crypto-native investors, BlackRock faces steep competition, as in May 2026, State Street Investment Management too launched its “State Street Galaxy Onchain Liquidity Sweep Fund”, a tokenised cash-management product allowing large stablecoin holders to sweep their assets into an on-chain, yield-bearing asset.

“The firm aims to bridge traditional finance with the rapidly evolving digital asset ecosystem, bringing familiar, high-quality investment strategies into a format that aligns with how a growing cohort of investors hold and manage their capital on chain,” Kim Hochfeld, global head of cash, securities lending and digital assets at State Street, told ETF Upside.

“The firm’s first tokenised product represents an important milestone for State Street. It serves as a foundational step toward scaling a broader suite of on-chain investment solutions, positioning State Street at the forefront of the convergence between traditional asset management and blockchain-enabled finance,” she added further.

“The future of asset management will span both traditional and blockchain-based products, whether those are onchain or through more traditional vehicles like exchange-traded funds,” the senior official remarked.

State Street launched its fund on the Solana blockchain. It is now planning to integrate with Stellar and Ethereum. In the opinion of Gabriel Shahin, founder and CEO of Falcon Wealth, the move is a shift from institutional risk to architectural risk.

‘With a traditional treasury fund, you’re essentially trusting the “armoured truck”, meaning the infrastructure is slow, but it’s proven. State Street’s fund trades that for the speed of Solana. It’s like upgrading from a horse and buggy to an F1 car. The speed is incredible, but at 200 mph a technical glitch is instantaneous and irreversible,” he told The Daily Upside.

The post BlackRock, State Street join Wall Street’s tokenisation race appeared first on International Finance.

Blockchain is opening up new money flows, cross-border transactions are speeding up, and artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising financial processes. At the same time, businesses are being forced by regulatory changes to incorporate compliance technology, which will ensure their resilience at a time of increased scrutiny.

B2B finance is at a turning point. In addition to changing the financial infrastructure, the convergence of these advances is radically changing how businesses control risk, streamline processes, and spur expansion.

Businesses that successfully use fintech solutions will have a competitive advantage, while those that don’t adjust quickly run the risk of becoming obsolete in the rapidly digitalised financial sector.

The quickening of business payments

As businesses seek quicker, more affordable solutions, the global payment infrastructure is changing. By the end of 2025, it is anticipated that the total number of cross-border blockchain transactions will have increased by 48% year over year to $5 trillion. The demand for smooth, real-time settlement solutions is expected to propel the worldwide payment processing industry, valued at $79.6 billion in 2024, to more than double, reaching $161.9 billion by 2030.

In addition to speeding up transactions, this development is forcing companies to reconsider their financial arrangements and hastening the use of financial products based on blockchain technology to improve liquidity management and maximise cash flow. This growing reliance on digital assets is ushering in a more automated and decentralised corporate finance ecosystem.

Digital asset usage in corporate finance is becoming a strategic imperative rather than just conjecture. Blockchain technology is used by financial institutions and global firms to improve security, liquidity management, and transaction efficiency.

Early blockchain projects were mostly limited to experimental pilots, but due to institutional demand, regulatory changes, and cost-saving advantages, corporate adoption has now moved to full-scale implementation.

Due to growing corporate adoption, the financial blockchain market is expected to reach $49.2 billion by 2030. Tokenisation is driving this change, as companies digitise financial instruments, commodities, and real estate to enhance liquidity and tradability.

Experts predict that the demand for tokenised assets will surpass $600 billion. Tokenised assets are already being incorporated by businesses into trade settlement, supply chain finance, and cross-border transactions, which lowers counterparty risks and shortens settlement times from days to seconds.

At the forefront of this change are institutions. Leading exchanges are modifying their models to include institutional-grade digital assets, while international banks and asset managers are introducing tokenisation platforms to enable blockchain-based financial instruments. The distinction between decentralised finance (DeFi) and traditional finance is starting to become less clear, opening up new avenues for investment vehicles and capital markets.

But there are still obstacles in the way of widespread acceptance. As different jurisdictions adopt varying approaches to digital asset monitoring and compliance regimes, regulatory uncertainty remains a major concern.

While some regions, like Singapore and the European Union, have taken proactive measures to set clear regulatory norms, others are still figuring out where they stand. Businesses’ approaches to risk reduction, security procedures, and compliance will be influenced by these changing policies.

Businesses that successfully integrate tokenisation into their financial strategy will be positioned for long-term success in an increasingly digitised and decentralised global economy, even though adoption will move at varying rates across industries.

The institutional shift and CBDCs

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are still developing, but more slowly than first thought. Citing the need for legislative clarity, interoperability testing, and risk assessment, about one-third of central banks have postponed their intentions to introduce digital versions of their currencies.

Most, however, are still driven to keep control over monetary policy and currency issuance and are dedicated to eventual adoption. The increase in cross-border wholesale CBDC initiatives over the past few years is indicative of an institutional focus on improving interbank settlements and simplifying international financial flows.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the United States Federal Reserve are among the central banks that have started pilot programmes to test the infrastructure for digital currency transactions at the wholesale level. Project mBridge, which links banks in China, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia, is one of them.

Wholesale CBDCs are emerging as a more attractive option for large-scale corporate transactions, liquidity management, and cross-border trade financing as central banks concentrate on improving interbank settlements and simplifying international financial flows.

Adoption of CBDCs has important and encouraging ramifications for businesses. Reduced transaction costs, quicker settlement times, and less dependence on middlemen are all advantages for businesses involved in international trade.

By facilitating quicker settlement times and lowering reliance on intermediary currencies, wholesale CBDCs have the potential to lower foreign exchange risks, especially in emerging markets where operational difficulties are caused by currency volatility. CBDCs could reduce the risks related to foreign exchange swings in cross-border payments by facilitating direct currency exchanges and improving transparency in cross-currency transactions.

Despite these benefits, privacy laws, their influence on monetary policy, and cybersecurity issues remain major barriers to widespread adoption. The digital currency frameworks of some jurisdictions, like China and the UAE, are developing quickly, but others are still cautious and are waiting for more precise guidelines regarding the governance of CBDCs and their integration with current financial systems.

Businesses must keep up with changing technology and regulatory environments as CBDCs continue to grow. Navigating the next stage of financial digitisation will require an understanding of how digital currencies fit into global payment infrastructure, liquidity management, and corporate finance. This emphasis on ongoing learning and adaptation highlights the significance of remaining informed and proactive in the rapidly changing fintech world.

Future of enterprise finance and AI

Artificial intelligence is evolving from a tool for efficiency to a fundamental component of enterprise finance, changing everything from sophisticated financial modelling to real-time risk management. As businesses scramble to incorporate automation and machine learning into financial operations, investments in AI-driven compliance, fraud detection, and predictive analytics are increasing.

The B2B banking industry has proven AI’s usefulness for automated risk assessment. It enables businesses to examine large financial data sets to identify irregularities and make previously unheard-of credit risk predictions.

Real-time transactional behaviour analysis by AI-driven fraud detection systems, which are already integrated into international payment networks, can reduce financial crime losses by up to 50% by flagging questionable activity.

Corporate finance is also changing as a result of the emergence of generative AI. Complex legal documents, contract analysis, and regulatory compliance reporting are now processed by AI-powered automation, which can reduce processing times by up to 90%.

Businesses now face additional security and regulatory problems as AI develops. Although AI improves financial decision-making, authorities are examining AI-driven financial services more closely, so companies must use understandable AI models to ensure compliance and transparency.

For financial organisations, investing in AI is now a strategic need rather than an option. In an increasingly automated and data-driven economy, businesses that do not incorporate AI-powered financial solutions run the danger of falling behind.

Fintech adoption for compliance

Regulatory compliance is still a major concern as financial technology changes business interactions. Businesses are being forced to reconsider how they handle compliance as a result of the growing complexity of international financial regulations, as well as the emergence of digital assets, AI-driven financial services, and CBDCs.

Regulatory technology (RegTech), which offers automated solutions for risk assessment, fraud prevention, and real-time monitoring, is becoming an increasingly important part of enterprise fintech plans.

Several important causes are driving the need for RegTech. Businesses that conduct cross-border operations must adhere to several regulatory frameworks, which raises the cost and difficulty of reporting. Businesses may automate compliance procedures with AI-powered RegTech solutions, guaranteeing adherence to changing jurisdictional standards while lowering operational risks.

As businesses enhance automation to manage regulatory complexity, the RegTech industry is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.6% from its 2023 valuation of $11.7 billion to $83.8 billion by 2033, according to Allied Industry Research.

AI is already being used to expedite manufacturing, healthcare, and financial regulatory procedures. By automating risk assessments, fraud detection, and legal reporting, RegTech platforms powered by AI have been demonstrated to dramatically lower compliance costs. AI-based solutions have reduced document filing times in legal departments by 90%, improving operational effectiveness and reducing compliance expenses.

Initiatives for digital compliance are also being accelerated by governments and financial institutions, especially in light of the growth of digital currencies and decentralised finance (DeFi). Regulatory frameworks must change as blockchain-based transactions and CBDCs become more popular in order to adequately supervise these financial innovations.

Businesses that don’t incorporate automated compliance solutions run the danger of facing fines from the government, being investigated, and experiencing operational inefficiencies.

Businesses can lower compliance expenses, improve fraud detection capabilities, and increase the effectiveness of regulatory reporting by utilising RegTech. Integrating AI-powered compliance technologies enables businesses to manage changing regulations and reduce the dangers of financial crime.

Businesses that proactively deploy RegTech solutions will be better equipped to handle the increasingly complicated global regulatory environment as financial technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace.

In order to negotiate an increasingly complex legal environment, businesses must make sure that their infrastructure is ready for the integration of digital assets, engage in staff development to maximise AI applications, and have strict compliance procedures in place. Cybersecurity is still a major worry, and to protect digital transactions, firms must implement advanced risk mitigation techniques.

Despite the traditional lag in B2B financial technology adoption compared to consumer finance, 2025 represents a significant shift. Failure to integrate financial technology puts businesses at risk of operational inefficiencies and decreased competitiveness, especially as the sector transitions to full-scale digitisation. Moving from trial adoption to strategic deployment is now essential, making sure that technology investments solve particular operational issues and provide quantifiable corporate value.

Opportunities are being created by the quickening adoption of financial technology, but businesses that don’t make strategic plans may find it difficult to remain resilient in a setting that is changing quickly. Enterprise transactions in the future will be shaped by companies that adopt digital finance innovations now; those that do not run the risk of becoming permanently behind in a financial ecosystem that is changing quickly.

The post Fintech’s next revolution appeared first on International Finance.