CoinDesk
Sygnum, the Swiss digital-asset bank that bills itself as the world's first, says large institutional clients have stopped asking which tokenized cash instrument will win — and started demanding that several of them work interchangeably on a single platform. Chief strategy officer and deputy group CEO Thomas Eichenberger told CoinDesk the demand is consistent across asset managers and corporate treasuries: tokenized bank deposits, regulated stablecoins and tokenized money market funds need to be combined and made interoperable, with permissioned settlement, 24/7 cross-border flows, yield with on-demand liquidity, all under one regulatory framework clients already trust.
The bank is putting its weight behind that thesis in production. Sygnum partnered with UBS and PostFinance late last year to test blockchain-based institutional payments on Ethereum, and earlier this year joined UBS, PostFinance, Raiffeisen, Zürcher Kantonalbank, BCV and Swiss Stablecoin on a Swiss franc-backed stablecoin pilot. Separately, a consortium of 37 European banks under the Qivalis banner is racing to issue a digital euro before year-end.
Why it matters
Eichenberger's framing is a direct challenge to two competing visions of European digital money. On one side is the European Central Bank's preferred path — wait for a central-bank-issued digital euro to settle the question of trusted, regulated digital cash. On the other is the euro stablecoin thesis, which Lagarde has argued won't fix Europe's deeper liquidity problems on its own.
Sygnum agrees with Lagarde that stablecoins aren't a silver bullet, but disagrees on the fix. Eichenberger said euro stablecoins have struggled to gain traction because they're hard to access, lack real bank backing and don't integrate with the rest of finance. The bank's answer is a multi-instrument setup in which commercial banks — not central banks — build the unified infrastructure themselves.
A second technical debate sits underneath: where the transactions actually run.
Frequently asked questions
-
What is Sygnum arguing about stablecoins and tokenized cash?
Sygnum says institutional clients are no longer waiting for a single tokenized cash instrument to win. They want tokenized bank deposits, regulated stablecoins and tokenized money market funds to work interchangeably on one platform, under a single trusted regulatory framework, with permissioned settlement and 24/7…
-
Which banks are piloting Sygnum's multi-instrument tokenized cash model?
Sygnum partnered with UBS and PostFinance late last year to test institutional blockchain payments on Ethereum, and earlier this year joined UBS, PostFinance, Raiffeisen, Zürcher Kantonalbank, BCV and Swiss Stablecoin on a CHF-backed stablecoin pilot. Separately, 37 EU banks under Qivalis are racing to issue a digital…
-
How does Sygnum's view conflict with the European Central Bank's position?
The ECB, under Christine Lagarde, has argued euro stablecoins won't fix Europe's deeper liquidity problems and has pushed for a central-bank-issued digital euro instead. Sygnum agrees stablecoins aren't a silver bullet but says commercial banks — not central banks — should build the unified tokenized cash…
-
What is a public-yet-permissioned blockchain model, and why does Sygnum prefer it?
A public-yet-permissioned model runs on public blockchain infrastructure but gates access to regulated participants. Sygnum's Thomas Eichenberger said most institutional discussions still default to fully private chains for privacy, but operators increasingly see public-yet-permissioned setups as the convergence point…
-
How big is the tokenized assets and stablecoin market right now?
Tokenized assets hit a record $28.9 billion in May — the tenth consecutive monthly all-time high — while the broader stablecoin market cap extended its run to $320 billion, according to figures cited alongside Sygnum's announcement.
TheBlock
CoinTelegraph
Crypto Rank News
WatcherGuru
Crypto News