Latest news with #programmablemoney
Forbes
26-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Tokenized Deposits Vs. Stablecoins: The Quiet War For Cross‑Border Money
Stablecoins are moving beyond crypto and becoming the plumbing of the internet. Photo: Silas ... More Stein/dpa (Photo by Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images) When the United States Senate advanced the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act on 20 May, Capitol Hill finally acknowledged that privately issued dollar tokens have grown too large to ignore. Earlier, in July 2024, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) expanded its four‑year‑old Project Guardian pilot, inviting DBS, HSBC and Standard Chartered to issue on‑chain versions of customer deposits for foreign‑exchange and repo trades. Two jurisdictions, two approaches—but the same strategic question: who will own the plumbing of programmable money? Traditional deposits and fiat‑backed stablecoins both promise 24/7 settlement, atomic delivery‑versus‑payment and smart‑contract programmability. Yet their design philosophies differ. Tokenized deposits wrap an existing commercial‑bank liability in a cryptographic shell; the token inherits deposit insurance, Basel capital and lender‑of‑last‑resort support. Stablecoins, by contrast, are obligations of a non‑bank issuer, circulate on public chains and are secured by segregated reserves—usually short‑dated Treasuries. Regulators prefer the first model for its guard‑rails, while markets have so far favoured the latter for its unrestricted liquidity. That tension already shows in hard numbers. J.P. Morgan's Kinexys (formerly JPM Coin) crossed US $1.5 trillion in cumulative value this spring after settling a tokenized Treasury ETF against a deposit token on a public test‑net. Citi's Regulated Liability Network lets treasurers sweep cash across borders without SWIFT hops. Meanwhile, Tether's USDT surged past US $150 billion in market cap, Circle launched a nine‑chain Circle Payments Network, and PayPal's PYUSD landed a Coinbase listing. Stablecoin rails are now too liquid for treasurers to dismiss. Regulation is shaping the chessboard. In Washington, the GENIUS Act would force issuers to hold segregated Treasuries and operate bankruptcy-remote trusts—a half‑step toward the banking tent without deposit insurance. Europe's MiCA caps daily turnover unless a coin issuer becomes an e-money institution, while MAS talks of a three-pillar world: retail CBDC, regulated stablecoins, and tokenized deposits. The Bank for International Settlements has convened seven central banks and 41 financial institutions for Project Agorá, aiming to stitch tokenized deposits and wholesale CBDC together on a 'unified ledger.' Economics matters as much as rules. Stablecoin issuers keep the spread between T‑bill yields and the zero interest they pay holders—Tether booked more than US $5 billion in profit during the first half of 2024. Banks monetise deposit tokens by selling compliance certainty and embedding programmable workflows that off-the-shelf stablecoins still lack. Corporate treasurers are already splitting their stakes: deposit tokens for intra‑bank liquidity; stablecoins for Saturday‑night invoices in Buenos Aires. Real‑world proofs of concept are multiplying. Under Project Guardian, MAS is exploring smart contracts that bundle both legs of an SGD‑USD swap so settlement is instantaneous and counter-party risk diminishes. Kinexys now supports conditional logic, release payment when IoT sensors confirm delivery, while Circle's new network lets a multinational pay suppliers on Solana, collect receipts on Stellar and sweep surplus to a regulated custodian in New York. Trade‑finance platforms are testing tokenized deposits as real‑time collateral for letters‑of‑credit, and fintech remitters in Nigeria already settle payroll flows in USDC because correspondent wires arrive days late or get de‑risked. Yet technology cannot outrun risk. Tokenized deposits could fragment if every bank launches on a different private chain with bespoke standards. Stablecoins still face run dynamics: USDC briefly de‑pegged during the 2023 Silicon Valley Bank panic, and the SEC hints large coins might be unregistered money‑market funds. Both camps have capital questions too. If Basel weights tokenized liabilities more heavily, issuance could stall; if Treasury yields fall, the stablecoin profit machine shrinks. What happens next? BIS expects limited‑scale Agorá pilots by early 2026; J.P. Morgan plans to open Kinexys to third‑party banks later this year; Circle is lobbying U.S. regulators to let federally chartered banks hold USDC as cash equivalents. The race is now about reach: can banks persuade treasurers that compliant tokens will be just as liquid as public‑chain dollars before stablecoins burrow deeper into corporate workflows? The prize is enormous: McKinsey puts annual cross‑border friction at US $120 billion. Trim even a third and the savings rival the revenue of a top‑ten global bank. No wonder both sides are spending heavily on standards bodies, custody integrations and developer toolkits. This isn't VHS versus Betamax, with one format wiping out the other. It is more like Wi‑Fi and Ethernet—competing, interoperable, increasingly invisible to end‑users, and governed by evolving standards rather than a single victor. Whether banks or fintech issuers capture the lion's share will depend on who can scale liquidity, satisfy regulators and embed programmable dollars into everyday commerce first. The quiet war for the money pipes is already under way, and while consumers may never see the plumbing, the savings, or losses, will flow straight through corporate balance‑sheets.
Finextra
22-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Quant rolls out white-labelled programmable money and banking infrastructure
Quant, a global leader in fintech and innovation, today announces the rollout of Quant Flow, an industry-first programmable money and banking infrastructure now available via a white-label solution to banks, institutions and corporates across Europe, the Middle East, and APAC. 0 Quant Flow was developed in response to the growing demand for smarter forms of commercial bank money and the need to modernise financial infrastructure, driven by rising regulatory pressure and competition from stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), neobanks and fintechs. Quant Flow delivers automation and intelligence directly into money at the account level. For banks, this means they can respond to market demand, address regulation, innovate with new forms of money and defend profitability - all without the need for costly system overhauls. For corporates, it enables them to harness programmable money to effortlessly connect to existing banking, business and financial applications. It also offers them the ability to design custom payment flows and automate financial processes to drive growth and eradicate inefficiencies through real-time programmable actions. 'Money today may look digital on the surface, but beneath the apps, most financial systems still rely on decades-old static rails. Quant Flow changes that. It brings intelligence to money itself - turning it into a programmable instrument embedded with code, not spreadsheets. This gives banks fintech-level agility without compromising on resilience, compliance or core stability,' says Gilbert Verdian, CEO and Founder of Quant. Quant Flow enables banks to: • Defend their client and market share to differentiate and innovate by offering smarter financial products like dynamic account options, automated money management tools, and custom products and services built around each customer's needs. • Rapidly test and roll out innovative new banking features quickly using PayScript®, a purpose-built language that makes creating new banking and financial products as easy as a few lines of code. • Remove friction by automating repetitive tasks such as currency conversions and cash flow adjustments based on real-time data, saving time and reducing risk. • Automate compliance processes across regions, making it easier to stay on top of changing regulations. With Quant Flow, banks can also offer their corporate business clients more control and insight over their finances. From smart automation to real-time dashboards, businesses can move from reactive to proactive financial decision-making that drives growth. Key benefits of programmable money for corporates and businesses include: • Smarter cash management. They can set programmable rules that automate things like currency conversions, tax payments, or loan repayments as events or triggers - taking advantage of market conditions, saving time and reducing human error. • Access to live financial data. They can access up-to-the-minute dashboards offering a clear picture of financial health and liquidity, helping CFOs to automate and make better decisions. • Faster, cheaper global payments. They can automate international transactions - in both traditional currencies and stablecoins - for smoother, faster payments at lower cost. • Streamlined compliance. They can eliminate manual tasks with rule-based automation for taxes, reconciliation, and reporting. David Yates, former President of Mastercard, Western Union and First Data and Vocalink Chair says: 'The world is digital—yet money remains stuck in the past. Quant Flow redefines how money works—it's intelligent, automated and efficient. Banks can deliver features that traditional systems can't match, and businesses can transform their financial operations by transforming simple transactions into next-generation workflows. Programmable money is the next generation of finance - and it's here today.' 'Quant Flow marks a fundamental shift in the way we think about money,' concludes Verdian. 'We're not simply adding features, we're creating an intelligent financial operating system fit for the digital economy. For banks, businesses, and the broader industry, this is a move from transactional finance to programmable finance, and it's built to transform.'
Finextra
22-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Quant launches open-source programming language for money
Quant, a global leader in fintech and innovation, today announces the rollout of Quant Flow, an industry-first programmable money and banking infrastructure now available via a white-label solution to banks, institutions and corporates across Europe, the Middle East, and APAC. 0 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. Quant Flow was developed in response to the growing demand for smarter forms of commercial bank money and the need to modernise financial infrastructure, driven by rising regulatory pressure and competition from stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), neobanks and fintechs. Quant Flow delivers automation and intelligence directly into money at the account level. For banks, this means they can respond to market demand, address regulation, innovate with new forms of money and defend profitability – all without the need for costly system overhauls. For corporates, it enables them to harness programmable money to effortlessly connect to existing banking, business and financial applications. It also offers them the ability to design custom payment flows and automate financial processes to drive growth and eradicate inefficiencies through real-time programmable actions. 'Money today may look digital on the surface, but beneath the apps, most financial systems still rely on decades-old static rails. Quant Flow changes that. It brings intelligence to money itself - turning it into a programmable instrument embedded with code, not spreadsheets. This gives banks fintech-level agility without compromising on resilience, compliance or core stability,' says Gilbert Verdian, CEO and Founder of Quant. Quant Flow enables banks to: • Defend their client and market share to differentiate and innovate by offering smarter financial products like dynamic account options, automated money management tools, and custom products and services built around each customer's needs. • Rapidly test and roll out innovative new banking features quickly using PayScript®, a purpose-built language that makes creating new banking and financial products as easy as a few lines of code. • Remove friction by automating repetitive tasks such as currency conversions and cash flow adjustments based on real-time data, saving time and reducing risk. • Automate compliance processes across regions, making it easier to stay on top of changing regulations. With Quant Flow, banks can also offer their corporate business clients more control and insight over their finances. From smart automation to real-time dashboards, businesses can move from reactive to proactive financial decision-making that drives growth. Key benefits of programmable money for corporates and businesses include: • Smarter cash management. They can set programmable rules that automate things like currency conversions, tax payments, or loan repayments as events or triggers - taking advantage of market conditions, saving time and reducing human error. • Access to live financial data. They can access up-to-the-minute dashboards offering a clear picture of financial health and liquidity, helping CFOs to automate and make better decisions. • Faster, cheaper global payments. They can automate international transactions - in both traditional currencies and stablecoins - for smoother, faster payments at lower cost. • Streamlined compliance. They can eliminate manual tasks with rule-based automation for taxes, reconciliation, and reporting. David Yates, former President of Mastercard, Western Union and First Data and Vocalink Chair says: 'The world is digital—yet money remains stuck in the past. Quant Flow redefines how money works—it's intelligent, automated and efficient. Banks can deliver features that traditional systems can't match, and businesses can transform their financial operations by transforming simple transactions into next-generation workflows. Programmable money is the next generation of finance – and it's here today.' 'Quant Flow marks a fundamental shift in the way we think about money,' concludes Verdian. 'We're not simply adding features, we're creating an intelligent financial operating system fit for the digital economy. For banks, businesses, and the broader industry, this is a move from transactional finance to programmable finance, and it's built to transform.'
