tokenization

ECB launches Pontes blockchain settlement alongside digital euro merchant call

The European Central Bank has invited online and mobile-commerce merchants across the euro area to apply for a 12-month pilot of the digital euro, marking a new phase in the Eurosystem's preparations for a potential central bank digital currency. The…

ECB launches Pontes platform for tokenized asset settlement

The European Central Bank on Monday launched Pontes, a platform that bridges blockchain-based financial markets with the euro area's existing payment infrastructure, allowing banks to settle wholesale tokenized transactions in central bank money for the first time.

Bitcoin surges past $84,000 as SEC tokenization exemption fuels rally

Bitcoin climbed sharply on Monday, September 21, extending a rally that began late last week and pushing the cryptocurrency to its highest level in months. The Wall Street Journal News Corp reported that Bitcoin jumped above $85,000, marking an eight-month…

NYSE spent a year testing Avalanche for tokenized trading, Ava Labs says

The New York Stock Exchange has spent roughly a year testing Avalanche blockchain technology as it builds infrastructure for a planned tokenized securities platform, Ava Labs President Charley Cooper disclosed Thursday at the Avalanche Summit in New York.

Shein shares land on DeFi exchanges days after Hong Kong IPO

Within hours of Shein's long-awaited debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Sept. 1, a tokenized version of the fast-fashion retailer's shares appeared on decentralized exchanges. The token, $SHEINx, is now trading on PancakeSwap via BNB Chain and on…

London Stock Exchange partners with Kraken parent to tokenize top 100 UK stocks

The London Stock Exchange announced on Tuesday a partnership with Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, to bring tokenized representations of the 100 largest UK-listed companies to its new round-the-clock trading platform, LSE 24, starting in 2027.

ECB’s Schnabel urges central banks to issue reserves on blockchain

European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel urged central banks to bring their reserves directly onto distributed ledgers, arguing the move would modernize monetary policy and help institutions respond more rapidly to financial stress.

ECB to launch Pontes system for settling tokenized transactions in central bank money

The European Central Bank is bringing central bank money to distributed ledger technology platforms for the first time as an operational service, with Executive Board member Piero Cipollone confirming on Wednesday that the Pontes settlement system will go live later…

BlackRock, Visa and Mastercard to validate Circle’s Arc blockchain

Circle on Wednesday announced the founding validator cohort for Arc, its proprietary blockchain network designed for institutional financial applications, naming some of the largest firms in global finance as network operators ahead of a public mainnet launch scheduled for September…

BlackRock launches tokenized money market funds in Europe on Ethereum

BlackRock has launched tokenized share classes for select European money market funds on the Ethereum blockchain, bringing 24/7 digital wallet transfers to its $311 billion Institutional Cash Series platform in what marks the asset manager's first onchain fund access in…

J.P. Morgan’s Ethereum tokenized funds top $900M

J.P. Morgan's JPMorgan Chase & Co. tokenized money market funds on Ethereum have surpassed $900 million in combined onchain assets under management, cementing the bank's position as one of the largest institutional players deploying traditional financial products on a public…

Major banks settle real payments in BIS tokenized money pilot

Some of the world's largest banks have completed real cross-border payments using tokenized money in a live test led by the Bank for International Settlements, marking a concrete step toward blockchain-based settlement infrastructure for global finance.

BNY moves $8.6T fund recordkeeping onto blockchain

BNY The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, the world's largest custodian bank, announced on Wednesday the launch of a blockchain-based Digital Transfer Agency platform that moves fund ownership records and investor transactions onchain, covering approximately $8.6 trillion in assets…

Securitize becomes first company to tokenize its stock on IPO day

The infrastructure for trading traditional stocks on blockchains advanced on multiple fronts this week, with Binance BNB crossing a key milestone for its tokenized equities product, Securitize debuting on the New York Stock Exchange, and Ondo Finance launching SEC-aligned tokenized…

Crédit Agricole launches euro stablecoin as MiCA deadline hits

French banking giant Crédit Agricole has launched EURXT, a euro-pegged stablecoin issued through its securities services arm CACEIS, marking the entry of one of Europe's largest banks into the digital currency market just as the EU's MiCA transitional period reaches…

BIS declares stablecoins structurally unfit as money

The Bank for International Settlements on Sunday released its 2026 Annual Economic Report at its yearly general meeting in Basel, Switzerland, delivering a sweeping critique of stablecoins and declaring them structurally incapable of functioning as genuine money.