Doha Bank has completed a $150 million digital bond that settled instantly on Euroclear’s distributed ledger infrastructure, underscoring how regulated DLT systems, not public blockchains, are becoming the preferred rails for institutional tokenized debt. The Qatari lender listed its digitally native notes on the London Stock Exchange’s International Securities Market, achieving same-day settlement through Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure, a permissioned DLT platform operated by a centr ...

Swiss crypto bank AMINA Bank and Deutsche Börse’s Crypto Finance Group said Wednesday they have completed a pilot on Google Cloud’s Universal Ledger platform to settle fiat currency payments in real time between Swiss banks. The pilot, which ran with other unnamed banking partners, allowed around-the-clock settlement of payments across institutions while preserving compliance with Swiss financial standards. Crypto Finance served as the designated Currency Operator, onboarding banks and enforcing transacti ...

Core Insights - The HKMA's e-HKD Pilot Programme Phase 2 Report highlights the transition from physical cash to digital money, positioning Hong Kong as a leader in digital finance and next-generation payment infrastructure [1][2] Digital Money Landscape - The report categorizes the evolving digital money landscape into public money, which includes central bank digital currencies like e-HKD, and private money, which encompasses tokenised deposits and regulated stablecoins [3] Innovations and Research - Innovations in Hong Kong are laying the groundwork for tokenisation, facilitating faster, more transparent, and programmable transactions that bridge traditional finance with the Web3 ecosystem [4] - The HKMA has been researching the e-HKD since 2017, conducting pilot studies and technical experiments for both wholesale and retail applications [4] Phase 2 Focus - Phase 2 of the pilot program expanded to compare e-HKD with private digital money forms, assessing usability, scalability, and commercial viability [5] Key Themes and Findings - The Phase 2 pilots involved 11 industry partners and explored three main themes: - **Settlement of Tokenised Assets**: Pilots tested e-HKD for atomic settlement of tokenised assets, showing that DLT-based settlement could reduce cycles from T+2 to T+0, enhancing liquidity and reducing counterparty risk [6][7] - **Programmability**: The report evaluated programmable payments using smart contracts and purpose-bound money, identifying limited commercial adoption models and unclear business cases for large-scale implementation [7] - **Offline Payments**: Offline e-HKD pilots examined Super SIM and NFC-based payments without internet connectivity, concluding that the offline e-HKD would provide limited incremental benefits given existing infrastructure [8]

Core Insights - Bank Indonesia (BI) is advancing its central bank digital currency (CBDC) project, integrating stablecoin mechanics to create a digital rupiah backed by government bonds [1][2] - The digital rupiah will be supported by tokenized government bonds, known as Surat Berharga Negara (SBN), enhancing its stability [2][3] - This initiative is part of Project Garuda, aimed at financial digitalization and innovation in Indonesia [1][4] Group 1 - The digital rupiah will combine the security of a central bank-issued currency with the stability of asset-backed tokens, described as a "national stablecoin" [3] - The model ties the value of the digital rupiah directly to government bonds through tokenization, ensuring stability [3] - The new framework aligns with BI's broader digital finance agenda, focusing on innovation, industrial structure, and financial stability [4] Group 2 - BI will tokenize government bonds to issue digital securities, enhancing market liquidity and reducing transaction costs through blockchain automation [5] - The hybrid CBDC will provide advantages such as greater monetary policy control, improved payment efficiency, and enhanced security [6] - Unlike private stablecoins, the digital rupiah will be a direct liability of the central bank, reinforcing public trust and enabling faster, cheaper payments [7]

Core Insights - Hedera Hashgraph has been selected to participate in the Bank of England's DLT challenge, which focuses on testing the application of Distributed Ledger Technology in finance [1][3] - Following this announcement, HBAR crypto has seen a 15% increase over the week, coinciding with the launch of the Hedera ETF on October 28 [1][6] - The Bank of England's commitment to exploring DLT innovation marks a significant shift in the UK's approach to cryptocurrency, potentially increasing institutional interest in HBAR [2][4] DLT Challenge Details - The DLT Innovation Challenge is a collaborative initiative between the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub, aimed at exploring transactions and settlements of central bank money on external programmable ledgers [3][4] - The challenge will run throughout the autumn and invites firms to demonstrate secure transaction methods for central bank money on non-Bank of England controlled ledgers [4] Learning Outcomes and Participants - Key learning outcomes from the challenge will include insights on settlement finality, security, scalability, transaction volume handling, network control, regulatory balance, and interoperability [5] - Other notable participants in the challenge include Ava Labs, Chainlink, Aave Labs, USDC issuer Circle, HSBC, and KPMG [5] ETF Launch Impact - The launch of the HBAR ETF by Canary Capital marks the first US-listed ETFs providing direct exposure to Hedera and Litecoin, making them the third digital assets to receive spot ETF listing approvals after Bitcoin and Ethereum [6][7] - The interaction on social media between Hedera and Litecoin highlights the significance of this milestone in the digital asset space [7]

Core Insights - Bitget, the world's largest panoramic exchange (UEX), is set to participate in the 2025 London Blockchain Conference, highlighting its growing role in the integration of traditional finance and blockchain infrastructure [2][4] - The conference will feature a high-level panel discussion on "TradFi 2.0: Building Blockchain Rails," focusing on how financial institutions can reconstruct business models using distributed ledger technology (DLT) [3] - Bitget aims to strengthen its vision of creating a borderless financial ecosystem through its UEX model, which integrates centralized trading, decentralized liquidity, and tokenized stock tokens [4] Company Overview - Founded in 2018, Bitget serves over 120 million users across more than 150 countries, offering innovative trading solutions and real-time cryptocurrency price information [5] - Bitget Wallet is a leading non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet supporting over 130 blockchains and millions of tokens, facilitating multi-chain trading and direct connections to over 20,000 decentralized applications [5] - The company has strategic partnerships for cryptocurrency promotion, including being the official cryptocurrency partner of La Liga in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America [5][6]

Core Viewpoint - The article discusses the launch of the Digital Market Infrastructure (DMI) by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) in collaboration with Microsoft, aimed at enhancing the efficiency and interoperability of global capital markets through Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) [2][9]. Group 1: DMI Overview - DMI is designed to provide a trusted, scalable, and interoperable financial infrastructure, enhancing the efficiency of the entire asset lifecycle from issuance to post-trade services across various asset classes [2][6]. - The core principles of DMI are interoperability and scalability, enabling seamless integration with existing traditional financial systems while promoting innovation [2][4]. - DMI aims to support any asset class and geographic region, with a strategic initial focus on private markets, particularly private equity and private credit funds [6][7]. Group 2: Benefits of DLT - DLT offers significant advantages in addressing real challenges in capital markets, such as reducing settlement friction and counterparty risk while ensuring data integrity and auditability [3][4]. - The technology is positioned as a solution to existing problems rather than a search for problems, emphasizing an open collaboration approach with clients [3][4]. Group 3: Market Needs and Features - DMI will meet key needs of General Partners (GPs) and Limited Partners (LPs) by operating alongside existing private securities markets while leveraging DLT for primary market transactions [7][8]. - Enhanced distribution capabilities will allow GPs to access a wide range of LP resources, facilitating the discovery of private fund opportunities [8]. - DMI will provide a secure environment for LPs to trade fund shares, improving liquidity and confidence between GPs and LPs [8]. Group 4: Future Potential and Collaboration - The design of DMI is intended for cross-asset class expansion and adaptability to evolving industry demands, with future integration of artificial intelligence to optimize trading and service processes [10]. - The collaboration between LSEG and Microsoft combines market expertise with technological leadership to support the development of next-generation digital financial infrastructure [9][10]. - The article emphasizes the importance of collaboration among market stakeholders to shape the future of digital and private markets [10].

Core Insights - EquiLend has announced that The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY) and National Bank of Canada have begun executing trades using 1Source's distributed ledger technology (DLT) to enhance efficiency and eliminate reconciliations [1][3][4] - The adoption of 1Source is expected to transform global securities finance workflows by providing a single source of truth for transactions, thereby increasing operational efficiency and reducing trade breaks [3][4] - The onboarding of BNY and National Bank of Canada is seen as a significant milestone in EquiLend's mission to improve post-trade infrastructure across the securities finance industry [4][5] Industry Impact - The momentum behind 1Source is growing, with additional global broker-dealers expected to join, which will further expand the network and enhance industry-wide synchronization [2][4] - Third-party estimates suggest that 1Source could save industry participants hundreds of millions of dollars annually through improved operational efficiency and optimized costs [4] - The collaboration among industry participants is expected to drive improved accuracy, transparency, and efficiency in securities finance [4][5] Company Statements - EquiLend's CEO, Rich Grossi, emphasized that each new participant strengthens the network effect of 1Source, accelerating the benefits for the industry [4] - BNY's Head of Securities Finance, Nehal Udeshi, highlighted the commitment to innovation and the aim to manage challenges associated with manual reconciliation [5] - National Bank of Canada's Managing Director, Carl Attie, noted that joining 1Source lays the foundation for broader adoption and future enhancements in the securities finance marketplace [5]

Core Insights - The cryptocurrency market is primarily dominated by Bitcoin and Ethereum, both of which have gained approximately 30% year-to-date as of October 2, outperforming the S&P 500 [2] - XRP has shown strong performance, leading to discussions about its potential as a smart investment choice in the current market [3] Group 1: XRP Overview - XRP is the native cryptocurrency of Ripple's payment network, designed to enhance the speed, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency of international money transfers [4] - Transactions on the XRP ledger settle within seconds and incur minimal fees, contrasting sharply with traditional banking systems where international transfers can take days and cost between $20 to $50 [4] Group 2: Competitive Landscape - The primary competitor to XRP is the SWIFT network, which has historically facilitated global financial messaging but does not directly provide payment services [5] - XRP aims to eliminate the intermediary model used by SWIFT, thereby reducing operational friction and costs associated with cross-border payments, positioning itself as a potential disruptor in the trillion-dollar global cross-border transactions market [6] Group 3: Market Dynamics - SWIFT is actively exploring blockchain and tokenization, collaborating with major financial institutions to test distributed ledger technology for cross-border payments [7] - While XRP has established credibility as a viable solution for digital modernization in financial infrastructure, its status as the smartest cryptocurrency to invest in remains a topic of debate [8]

Core Insights - The discussions around SWIFT integrating Ripple's XRP Ledger for real-time cross-border transactions have intensified, but practical implementation remains uncertain [1][2] - As of September 2025, SWIFT is conducting trials with various blockchain systems, including XRP Ledger, to explore their integration into its payment infrastructure [2][3] - Ripple has seen increased institutional adoption and regulatory clarity in the US, yet SWIFT has not confirmed any formal partnership or commitment to using XRP [3][4] SWIFT's Strategy and Position - SWIFT aims to be a neutral facilitator rather than a disruptor, focusing on interoperability for over 11,000 member institutions without committing to any single digital asset like XRP [5][7] - The organization is testing multiple distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) for cross-border payment solutions, emphasizing a "plug-and-play" approach rather than reliance on a single blockchain [7] Technical Fit of XRP Ledger - XRP Ledger offers a settlement time of 3 to 5 seconds with low fees, aligning with SWIFT's modernization objectives [8] - RippleNet's On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) demonstrates the use of XRP for sourcing cross-border liquidity, addressing gaps in SWIFT's correspondent banking model [8] - XRP Ledger is compatible with ISO 20022 standards, which is crucial as SWIFT mandates migration by November 2025 [8]