Banks Face Digital-Money Test as Open USD and Pontos Launch

In June 2026 a 140-member consortium launched Open USD and a group of major U.S. banks announced a bank-led tokenised-deposit network. The European Central Bank is putting central-bank money on distributed ledger technology with its Pontos wholesale settlement service and has scheduled a retail digital-euro pilot for 2027. New regulatory frameworks in the U.S., EU and U.K. are progressing alongside these infrastructure rollouts.

Open USD is backed by firms including Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock and Stripe and aims to provide a shared dollar stablecoin network. The Clearing House announced a tokenised-deposit network involving banks such as JPMorgan, Citi, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Consumer and payments firms have begun live rollouts: a national bank embedded a stablecoin in its app, and remittance providers introduced dollar tokens across their transfer networks.

Tokenised deposits are digital claims issued by banks that stay on balance sheets and require ledger integration, token custody, on-chain settlement engines and revised reconciliation processes. Stablecoins issued by commercial entities operate on public or permissioned blockchains and require custody solutions, compliance screening and mechanisms to translate blockchain settlement into traditional ledger entries. Wholesale central bank digital currencies will focus on interbank settlement and reserves, requiring connectivity to central bank platforms and intraday liquidity management.

Industry practitioners describe different rails as suited to specific uses. Stablecoins are being used for consumer remittances and cross-border retail flows because they can move funds on public rails without correspondent banking chains. Tokenised deposits are being positioned for domestic high-value and business-to-business clearing where banks want to retain deposit relationships. Wholesale CBDCs are being designed for interbank settlement, central counterparty integration and large-value liquidity flows. Each option imposes separate custody, matching and compliance requirements that affect a bank’s payments hub design.

The changes have direct implications for deposit bases and treasury operations. Tokenised deposits keep customer funds as bank liabilities and preserve deposit funding. Third-party stablecoins can shift funds away from bank balance sheets unless banks act as issuers, custodians or distributors. New digital rails also require adjustments to liquidity management, intraday credit lines and collateral processes because settlement timing and finality differ from existing batch and RTGS systems.

Data from RedCompass Labs shows rising activity in digital-money projects and uneven operational readiness across institutions. Banks with real-time settlement systems and modular payment hubs appear better positioned to integrate multiple token standards than those with legacy, siloed platforms. Over the next 12 to 24 months live infrastructure and rulebooks will be introduced that banks will need to connect to in order to operate with stablecoins, tokenised deposits and CBDCs.