Big banks are ditching private blockchains to build tokenized cash networks on public infrastructure
Sygnum says banks and institutions want tokenized deposits, stablecoins and tokenized money funds to work on one platform.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
Sygnum says the market is moving past a single-winner stablecoin race. Instead, banks and institutional clients want tokenized cash instruments that can move interchangeably on shared infrastructure with regulatory oversight.
Big banks are trying to build one shared road for digital money, so different kinds of token money can travel together, like cars using the same highway. Sygnum says the future is less about one magic coin and more about a connected system that banks can trust.
Analysis
What Sygnum is arguing
Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum says institutional demand is shifting away from a debate over which single tokenized cash product will win. In its view, treasuries and asset managers want a system where stablecoins, tokenized bank deposits and tokenized money market funds can all operate on the same platform and be swapped between as needed.
Public infrastructure, permissioned access
Chief strategy officer Thomas Eichenberger said institutional discussions often start with private chains because of privacy and control. But Sygnum’s view is that "public-yet-permissioned" infrastructure is where convergence is headed: public blockchain rails with regulated access control. The attraction is connectivity to the wider on-chain financial system without giving up supervision.
Banks are already testing it
Sygnum has been working with UBS and PostFinance on blockchain payments between institutions on Ethereum. The article also notes a broader Swiss franc-backed stablecoin testing program involving UBS, PostFinance, Raiffeisen, Zürcher Kantonalbank, BCV and Swiss Stablecoin. That trial is presented as a live example of bank-run token networks operating inside a regulated environment.
The policy angle
The story also frames a tension with European policymakers. ECB President Christine Lagarde has argued that euro stablecoins do not solve Europe’s deeper market problems. Sygnum partly agrees that stablecoins alone are not enough, but says the answer is not to wait for a central-bank digital euro. Instead, commercial banks are building multi-asset tokenized money networks themselves.
The broader takeaway
The article’s core message is that the institutional market may be moving toward interoperability across several tokenized cash forms, rather than betting on a single product category. That makes infrastructure and regulatory design at least as important as the token itself.
Key points
- Sygnum says institutional clients do not want to wait for a single stablecoin winner.
- Banks are exploring a setup where tokenized deposits, stablecoins and tokenized money market funds can work together.
- Sygnum argues public-yet-permissioned blockchain infrastructure is better suited than fully private chains for institutional use.
- The article says Sygnum has already worked with UBS and PostFinance on Ethereum-based payment tests.
- A Swiss franc-backed stablecoin trial is presented as an example of bank-run token networks in practice.
If the bank-led model works, institutions could move money faster, around the clock, and switch between tokenized deposits, stablecoins and money funds without changing systems. A shared framework could also make on-chain finance easier for large companies and asset managers to use.
The approach could fragment if banks, regulators and platforms do not agree on common standards or if public-yet-permissioned systems do not satisfy privacy and control concerns. The article also suggests euro stablecoins have struggled to gain traction, which could limit adoption if backing and access remain weak.
