The tokenisation of assets continues to be an area of focus for many banks and financial institutions, with a flurry of related activity and announcements continuing into 2026. We take a look at key developments in this space and explore what they could indicate about the future of cross-border transfers.
For banks, tokenised assets currently appear to be more of a focus than stablecoins, despite there being greater hype surrounding the latter. This may be down to the fact that tokenised deposits, for example, are often better suited to wholesale settlement, partly because they are bank deposits represented on a digital ledger, meaning cash legs of trades (the payment that settles a trade) can settle instantly and at the same time as the asset, reducing settlement risk. This method also enables banks to keep funds on their balance sheet, rather than losing them to third-party stablecoin providers where regulations are less developed and banks have less control.
Citi, one of the first major banks to embrace the tokenisation of assets, continued to expand Citi Token Services’ capabilities in November by integrating euro transactions while expanding the service to Dublin, Ireland.
New York-based BNY took its first major step towards tokenising bank deposits for blockchain-enabled settlement at the beginning of January by creating on-chain digital entries that represent client deposit balances on its digital assets platform. Through this, BNY plans to enable programmable payments and always-on real-time on-chain settlements.
Meanwhile, digital payment giant Ant International has completed a successful proof of concept for the cross-border transfer of tokenised deposits using ISO 20022 standards. The company partnered with HSBC to integrate Ant International’s blockchain infrastructure with Swift’s network – ultimately looking to boost interoperability and encourage standardisation for tokenised deposits.
During the latter stages of 2025 and into the start of 2026, various banks and financial institutions began leveraging a public blockchain network known as the Canton Network. November saw Societe Generale issue digital bonds using its tokenisation capability on the Canton Network. In December, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, the American financial market infrastructure company, enabled the tokenisation of DTC-custodied US Treasury securities, also on the Canton Network. Kinexys by J.P. Morgan began to issue its deposit token, JPM Coin, on the same network in January, while Lloyds Banking Group issued tokenised deposits on the Canton Network and used them to purchase a tokenised gilt from UK digital asset exchange Archax.
Convergence on a small number of blockchain networks is likely to continue as banks recognise the need for standardisation to be able to interact with each other using multiple currencies to enable the cash leg of transactions, making networks like Canton more popular.
Both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) have also taken steps to facilitate the settlement of tokenised assets. LSEG has launched its Digital Settlement House, which will enable instant settlement of commercial bank money in multiple currencies and jurisdictions, while NYSE launched a new tokenised securities platform to support on-chain market infrastructure for trading settlement, custody and capital formation.
With an increasing number of banks and financial firms embracing the tokenisation of assets to bolster their money movement capabilities, it appears that an increasing amount of transactions will occur on-chain in the future thanks to the promise of reduced settlement time and increased liquidity.
