From tokenised bonds to stablecoins: how digital infrastructure is transforming institutional finance
Mirela Ciobanu
18 Mar 2026 / 8 Min Read
The Paypers sits down with Anthony Day, Marketing at VeChain, to explore how tokenisation and blockchain are reshaping traditional finance.
While 2025 was widely cited as the year institutional players would enter Web3, the reality has been more measured. Financial institutions, as Anthony points out, are moving cautiously, but momentum is building in 2026 as regulatory clarity increases and infrastructure matures.
‘Any transformation of billion- and trillion-dollar markets doesn’t happen overnight’, says Anthony. ‘The lifespan of these transformations is in years, not months’. Drawing on his experience in traditional banking and payments projects, he emphasises that expecting banks to shift entirely to blockchain-based operations within a single year is unrealistic. Yet the direction is clear: tokenisation is becoming a core part of institutional finance.
He highlights a range of emerging applications. ‘We’re seeing tokenised money market funds, blockchain-based trading of traditional bonds and equities, and even tokenised gold’, he notes. While some of these offerings are experimental, the move to 24/7 trading represents a transformative shift. ‘It creates opportunities for capital to move faster, accumulate more efficiently, and for certain asset classes to become more liquid.’
The market’s leading institutions are already stepping in. ‘BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs; they’re offering clients access to digital assets and DeFi yield products’, he observes. For banks, participation is essential: not only to retain customers but also to unlock revenue from products that can now operate continuously.
He identifies three critical considerations for financial institutions exploring tokenisation:
Product readiness: Does the bank offer the services clients demand? If not, customers may seek alternatives elsewhere.
Market participation: As financial markets move to 24/7 blockchain-based systems, non-participation risks both losing customers and missing revenue opportunities.
Business case: Is there sufficient customer demand and a competitive advantage? Some banks may choose to wait for more mature infrastructure providers before launching their own tokenised products.
Anthony provides practical examples. Citi, for instance, developed a tokenised cash product enabling global, 24/7 digital cash transfers between its own banks. Similarly, JP Morgan invested years in its Onyx blockchain platform (officially rebranded to Kinexys), while other institutions are exploring Canton, a private blockchain network designed to combine privacy with atomic settlement capabilities.
‘Privacy and regulatory compliance remain key considerations’, he notes. Not all institutions want to use public blockchains like Ethereum due to KYC and counterparty visibility concerns. Instead, many are leveraging digital asset custodians, staking organisations, and tokenisation service providers to manage operations externally. ‘You don’t have to insource all these capabilities yourself. Large institutions often use multiple custodians and staking providers to diversify risk’, he explains.
Distribution is another critical factor. Tokenisation is only valuable if products can reach the right markets. Some assets trade on decentralised exchanges (DEXs), while others use traditional marketplaces or institutional networks like the New York Stock Exchange. ‘Liquidity and distribution are essential. Tokenisation alone isn’t enough’, Anthony stresses.
He also underscores operational efficiency. Blockchain-based systems can significantly reduce the cost of managing 24/7 markets, while providing transparent and auditable transactions. While some regulators may worry about synthetic assets creating systemic risks, Anthony believes that checks and balances built into blockchain infrastructure can prevent issues like those seen during the subprime crisis. ‘With the right controls, blockchain actually makes it easier to manage and track assets,’ he says.
The takeaway is clear: tokenisation and digital asset infrastructure are no longer theoretical. ‘The infrastructure is mature enough that banks can participate today. The main barriers are pairing technology with products, distribution channels, risk management, and regulatory clarity.’
To learn more about this topic, we invite you to watch our conversation and share your thoughts.
About the author
Anthony is Head of Marketing at VeChain, bringing 20 years' experience in growth strategy, marketing, and emerging technology delivery. He has significant experience in driving technology-led transformation for enterprises and has focused exclusively on Blockchain technology since 2016.
Anthony has held leadership roles for organisations such as Deloitte, IBM, and Parity Technologies (the engineering organisation behind Polkadot), has been recognised by LinkedIn as a 'Top Voice' for Innovation & Technology, and hosts two influential podcasts focused on Blockchain technology and its application across industries and geographies.
The Paypers is a global hub for market insights, real-time news, expert interviews, and in-depth analyses and resources across payments, fintech, and the digital economy. We deliver reports, webinars, and commentary on key topics, including regulation, real-time payments, cross-border payments and ecommerce, digital identity, payment innovation and infrastructure, Open Banking, Embedded Finance, crypto, fraud and financial crime prevention, and more – all developed in collaboration with industry experts and leaders.
