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INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE BANKING

Tokenisation: The next chapter in money’s evolution

Contributor: Matt Hammerstein

02 Jun 2026

From bearer bonds, banknotes and cheques to cards, ATMs and tap-to-pay, money keeps evolving. Tokenisation could unlock the next stage – but without interoperability, common standards and balanced regulation, its full potential may remain out of reach, according to Matt Hammerstein, Chief Executive of the UK Corporate Bank and a member of the Group Executive Committee.

Key takeaways

Tokenisation is the next stage in a continuing evolution of money
It has the potential to rewire how value is represented and transferred, how risk is distributed and how financial markets are organised
Optimising the benefits of tokenisation depends on standardised protocols and common technical, regulatory and tax standards
Without alignment, tokenisation risks creating networks that cannot connect or scale
Regulation and sovereignty may ultimately determine who shapes tokenised finance

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CHAPTERS

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Creative destruction needs rules – and freedom

Money has evolved along with humanity – as our needs and interactions changed, so did what we required from it. From precious objects to bearer bonds to banknotes, cheques, credit cards, ATMs and tap-to-pay, each generation of money has changed how value is stored, represented, transferred and trusted. Tokenisation needs to be understood in this context. It is not an isolated technology trend, nor simply an extension of the cryptocurrency debate. It is instead the next stage in a continuing evolution of money and the market infrastructure required to store, represent and transfer value better.

In simple terms, tokenisation allows assets, money and financial claims to exist and move across programmable digital networks in a standardised, consistent way. As a general-use technology, tokenisation has the potential to rewire fundamentally how value is represented and transferred between counterparties, how risk is distributed between them and how financial markets are organised to make all of that faster, cheaper and easier.

That does not mean the existing rails will disappear. It is impossible to build a new system to full scale and then switch the old one off overnight; existing infrastructure will therefore remain essential for the foreseeable future. Instead, the financial world will have to dual-run old and new rails, just as physical cash, cheques, cards and the first incarnation of digital money have operated in parallel for decades.

Nevertheless, tokenisation could still prompt a profound period of creative destruction for the financial ecosystem. It will need shepherding, but it cannot be ‘micromanaged’ into life by governments and regulators. Nor can anyone credibly predict exactly where this evolution will take us next. Entrepreneurs, banks, fintechs, market infrastructures and public authorities are all part of an ecosystem adjusting as technology evolves, finding ever better ways to unlock more potential from it. The collective challenge is to create a sufficiently robust structure to facilitate trust, safety and scale – without hampering the experimentation needed to discover better models and outcomes.

Standards will decide the scale of the prize

Just as with the advent of the internet decades ago, optimising the benefits of tokenisation depends on standardised protocols. Without some common technical, regulatory and tax standards, tokenisation risks creating a series of individually useful networks that cannot connect, scale or deliver the full benefits of the technology.

There will still be benefits for some if that doesn’t happen. But, if regulators and market participants can align and avoid fragmentation, the opportunities could be wide-ranging and potentially transformative for the global financial system.

Several use cases already demonstrate the scale of the opportunity:

Settlement: Universally tokenised capabilities would allow institutions to settle trades, for assets such as commodities, on a more efficient delivery-versus-payment basis.

Fractionalisation: Unlike equities, other asset markets are not widely fractionalised, leading to inefficient risk allocation. Tokenisation can unlock benefits by spreading risk to the most efficient holders.

Savers and money market funds: Tokenised money market funds have the potential to offer a highly intuitive, easy-to-use product that provides better yields for consumers and institutions.

Payments and stablecoins: Stablecoins offer a mechanism for storing, representing and transferring value. While total market capitalisation is already over $300 billion¹, real economy use cases remain limited today, albeit with exciting potential even within those. As regulations become clearer, adoption could accelerate rapidly. Stablecoins could be especially useful in markets across developing economies, where consumers want to dollarise payments and avoid volatile local currencies. Some larger corporates are also already leveraging the potential of stablecoins to minimise the cost, time and complexity of transfers within their multi-national networks of subsidiaries.

None of these use cases can reach their full potential without much clearer definition of, and solutions for, true interoperability, which is only achievable through industry and regulatory collaboration.

Several notable initiatives are underway. The Bank for International Settlements’ Project Agorá directly addresses the interoperability of tokenised commercial and central bank money.² The European Central Bank’s Pontes project is designed to connect DLT-based market platforms with the Eurosystem’s TARGET Services, enabling settlement of tokenised financial instruments in central bank money.³ Swift is also developing tokenised infrastructure, including a blockchain-based shared ledger and interoperability capabilities across existing and emerging systems.⁴

These initiatives highlight the fact that while central banks and regulators have a critical role in ensuring financial stability, they are not the only enablers of tokenised finance. Banks, market infrastructures, payments networks and technology providers all have to help build the bridges between old and new systems.

Regulation – and sovereignty – loom large

Technical interoperability will help determine the success of tokenised finance. But regulation and sovereignty may ultimately determine who shapes it.

In this context, the most important recent development in digital assets is the 2025 Genius Act, which has created a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. The Clarity Act, which has advanced through the Senate Banking Committee but still requires further action in Congress, is aimed at providing greater clarity for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. Together, they reduce uncertainty by outlining clearer rules for issuers, exchanges and brokers.

The US previously lagged other jurisdictions on regulation related to digital assets but new rules strike a different tone – far more market-led and encouraging experimentation. At the same time, questions remain around how these frameworks will interact internationally, with a risk that differing approaches could increase fragmentation and limit interoperability.

The stakes are high because the Genius Act, in particular, could accelerate a broader recalibration of default currencies. If US dollar-denominated stablecoins – backed by US Treasuries – become the dominant global format, the implications go far beyond payments. The US could reinforce dollar dominance and fund itself more cheaply, while other economies might face higher borrowing costs and potential constraints on fiscal sovereignty.

The opportunities, however, are also significant. Stablecoins create new flexibility in how legitimate actors transmit value across borders. In a fragmented geopolitical environment, some countries will not want every transaction to depend on rails shaped primarily by US priorities. There may be growing demand for robust alternatives – including digital euro or sterling-denominated rails – but those alternatives will only become contenders if they can work across systems, jurisdictions and use cases.

For guidance, regulators should look to past successes – such as the UK’s approach to fintech over a decade ago – to get the balance between safety and innovation right. The UK, the EU and other financial centres around the world need to play an important role in the digital asset era. But they need to collaborate on common standards and innovation-friendly regulation that allows tokenised finance to develop without becoming fragmented.

The digital asset debate has moved on. Tokenisation is not a sideshow to crypto. It is part of the long-term evolution of money – and an infrastructure question that could help define the next era of finance.

[1] https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/02/new-research-answers-fundamental-questions-about-stablecoins/
[2] https://www.bis.org/about/bisih/topics/fmis/agora.html
[3] https://www.ecb.europa.eu/paym/target/pontes/html/index.en.html
[4] https://www.swift.com/de/node/310352

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About the expert

Matt Hammerstein

CEO, UK Corporate Bank

Matt Hammerstein is the CEO for the UK Corporate Bank. Prior to this Matt was the CEO for Barclays Bank UK, covering Retail Banking, Business Banking and Barclaycard UK. He was the former Head of Retail Lending, covering both the secured and unsecured lending businesses. Matt joined Barclays in 2004 as Director of Group Strategy, later progressing to become the Group Chief of Staff; a key strategic role in which he provided vital support to the Group CEO during the financial crisis. Matt went on to manage Barclays Group Corporate Strategy and Corporate Relations, Barclays Customer and Client Experience in Retail and Business Banking and Barclays UK Retail Products and Segments. Matt is a member of the Group Executive Committee and Charities Aid Foundation America Board. Matt is Chair of the FCA Practitioner Panel and active ambassador in Barclays for inclusion, wellbeing and anything that makes the workplace more fun.

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Tokenisation: The next chapter in money’s evolution

Creative destruction needs rules – and freedom

Standards will decide the scale of the prize

Wholesale and retail rails will move at different speeds

Regulation – and sovereignty – loom large