The Financial institution for Worldwide Settlements (BIS) is urging central banks to take the lead in transitioning to a tokenized monetary system constructed on unified ledgers — whereas concurrently leveling sharp criticism at stablecoins.
BIS outlined its imaginative and prescient for the next-generation financial and monetary system. On the coronary heart of that imaginative and prescient lies the tokenization of central financial institution reserves, industrial financial institution deposits, and authorities bonds — built-in by means of a unified ledger infrastructure.
The idea of unified ledger expertise, positioned by BIS as a foundational layer for the longer term monetary system, was launched in April 2024.
In keeping with BIS, tokenization allows the seamless integration of settlement, messaging, and asset switch right into a single, automated operation — eliminating the frictions, delays, dangers, and prices embedded in conventional monetary infrastructure. That is particularly important for cross-border transactions, the place tokenization might exchange advanced chains of intermediaries with atomic, end-to-end processes that embrace built-in AML/CFT compliance mechanisms.
The BIS framework is constructed round three key elements:
- Tokenized central financial institution reserves, offering a trusted anchor and serving as the final word settlement asset throughout the system.
- Tokenized industrial financial institution deposits, which protect the two-tier financial structure whereas enabling new functionalities.
- Tokenized authorities bonds, offering liquidity and supporting the efficient implementation of financial coverage.
The report additionally highlights a number of BIS-led initiatives exploring tokenization in apply:
- Undertaking Agorá, which brings collectively seven jurisdictions and 43 regulated monetary establishments to develop a prototype for cross-border funds utilizing tokenized cash.
- Undertaking Pine is a pilot initiative testing how financial coverage instruments — like collateralized lending, curiosity calculations, and disbursements — may be automated by means of sensible contracts.
- Undertaking Promissa, which focuses on remodeling paper-based sovereign debt devices into tokenized property, eliminating guide processing and enhancing transparency.
With out robust management from central banks, BIS warns, society might as soon as once more face the pitfalls of unsound cash—a threat paying homage to the U.S. Free Banking Period.
The report additionally delivers sharp criticism of stablecoins comparable to USDT and USDC. In keeping with BIS analysts, these devices endure from a number of structural flaws:
- Totally different stablecoins typically commerce at various trade charges, undermining the precept of cash being universally accepted with out query.
- Their issuance requires full pre-funding, which limits financial elasticity and restricts liquidity flexibility.
- Stablecoins issued on public blockchains are steadily utilized in ways in which bypass KYC and AML compliance frameworks.
Greater than 99% of the stablecoin market is denominated in U.S. {dollars}, elevating issues at BIS about financial sovereignty. Furthermore, stablecoins have proven excessive volatility — particularly throughout episodes of financial tightening — posing extra dangers to the soundness of the worldwide monetary system.
It’s value noting that BIS officers had already voiced issues about stablecoins earlier this yr, linking their rising recognition to potential threats to monetary stability — significantly in international locations the place belief in native currencies is weak.
Сообщение BIS Frames Tokenization as Basis of Subsequent-Technology Monetary System появились сначала на CoinsPaid Media.