By 
"…there basically is no end of the day on Friday."
Hey, it's Marc.
Welcome to the weekly edition of the 51 Insights digital asset newsletter.
This is our 200th issue. Thank you for reading. We’re just getting started.
On Monday I wrote that central banks want to own the cash side of big trades. Stablecoins aren't winning that race on size: their supply grew 0.7% in a year.
Every trade needs money to pay for it. This week the banks showed how they plan to make their own.
Here's what matters this week:
👉 Read all the stories on 51insights.xyz.
Don’t miss this week’s podcast with Matt Hougan, CIO at Bitwise
If the AI Trade Breaks, Bitcoin Is a Generational Buy
01 / MARKET INFRASTRUCTURE
BNY cuts a day, not a fee
What's going on here?
Citadel Securities bought a 2-year Treasury note on Tradeweb through BNY. BNY recorded a token of the note on its own private ledger, and it settled within minutes instead of the next day. Citadel then pledged the token in an overnight triparty repo, and BNY lent it the cash. BNY calls it the first use of tokenized assets on a major triparty repo platform. It was one trade, and no size was given.
What does this mean?
I think the trade cut a day, and that's the point. Citadel bought, settled and borrowed against one token in a single workflow. Why this is interesting: the same token moved straight from settlement into financing, which could shorten the gap before the collateral gets funded. BNY hasn't put a number on the saving.
The catch: once collateral leaves the ledger it settled on, reconciliation comes back. BNY says digital cash and tokenized deposits come next, with settlement hours stretching into Europe and Asia next year.
Why should I care?
If you finance Treasuries, your triparty agent just settled and lent against the same token. Ask BNY when your cash can join.
The 51 Signal: stable coins stopped growing
Dollar-pegged stablecoin supply, October 15, 2025, then month-ends to October 15, 2026, from the DefiLlama public API, pulled October 15. Exhibit and analysis by 51 Insights.
Our read: the money is moving more and staying less. Standard Chartered estimates raw onchain transfers averaged just under $10 trillion a month this year, up from $4 trillion in 2025, and pushed its $2 trillion supply forecast from 2028 to 2030, Benzinga reports. Raw transfers include bots and exchange shuffling, so real payments are smaller. Reserve income is most of an issuer's revenue, so flat balances remove the easiest growth driver. Issuers now have to win on yield, share and flow. That's exactly where the banks' own tokens compete.
PS: Your next client could be reading this.
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02 / BANKING
Big banks back their own tokens
What's going on here?
On their Q3 calls, the big banks talked up their own tokens. Citi's Jane Fraser said Citi Token Services now runs in 7 markets and links to Citi's 24/7 clearing network, which reaches 300 banks, while stablecoins are "a bit more clunky" on compliance, accounting and tax. Wells Fargo's Charlie Scharf said its tokenized deposits went live last month and "use cases in the U.S. for stablecoins remain unclear." His CFO called it "small volume so far." Goldman's David Solomon called its tokenization work "very small at this point."
What does this mean?
Our read: the banks want the money to stay bank money. A tokenized deposit is still a bank liability, so the client and the funding stay put. A stablecoin holder has a claim on a separate issuer instead. That's part of why Fraser calls stablecoins clunky. The banks are covering both bets, though: Citi, Goldman and Wells are among 21 firms planning a bank-backed dollar stablecoin for the first half of 2027. Either way, the money is theirs.
Your Take
Which money will settle most tokenized Treasury trades by 2030? |
03 / PAYMENTS
Card networks put stablecoins to work
What's going on here?
Visa moved Visa Direct's stablecoin prefunding from pilot to commercial use. The first enabler is Inyo Global, which lets eligible businesses prefund payouts to 180+ countries with USDC in near real time. The same day, Mastercard and BVNK launched the Global Money Platform: fiat and stablecoin accounts, conversion through one API, stablecoin-linked cards and local bank payouts through Mastercard Move. Nuvei and Marqeta will be among the first to integrate.
What does this mean?
Neither network issues a coin. Both sell the step in between: stablecoin in, local currency out, with their compliance in the middle. I think that's the best seat at the table. Whoever owns the conversion keeps the business customer, whichever token wins.
The hard part is proof. Neither release gives a volume number. Watch for one at Money20/20 next week and in Visa's and Mastercard's results on October 27 and 29.
Why should I care?
If you pay suppliers abroad, ask Inyo or BVNK which coins and corridors you qualify for, then compare the full conversion cost.
04 / REGULATION
Europe polices the dollar, licenses the euro
What's going on here?
The EBA classified USDC as a significant e-money token, the first of 45 notified in the EU. From November 12, the EBA directly supervises the reserves, liquidity, own funds and redemption plans of Circle's EU issuer. France's ACPR keeps governance and fit-and-proper checks. The EBA also signed an MoU with New York's DFS. The same day, the Dutch central bank licensed Qivalis, a euro stablecoin backed by 37 banks in 15 countries, as an e-money institution.
What does this mean?
Our read: Europe is tightening its grip on the dollar token while licensing a bank-backed euro rival. It's the same fight over the cash leg.
Qivalis has a licence and no token yet. It plans to issue "within the next months," after it publishes its MiCA white paper, and it enters a euro stablecoin market that already exists. I'd watch whether its 37 owners push it to their own clients. If they do, USDC competes with the banks' distribution, which is much harder to beat than their tech.
Why should I care?
If you hold USDC in Europe, your euro alternative may come from your own bank.
Quick Hits
Ledger turns its wallet into a phone. Ledger unveiled Atom, an $899 Android device with a separate secure chip to approve payments and AI agents, due summer 2027. It comes days after tampered Ledgers sold through a Malaysian reseller cost users up to $93.2 million
OCC finds debanking at all nine. The OCC found the nine largest national banks all had policies restricting sectors, digital assets among them. It is weighing supervisory changes.
Binance bStocks pass $1 billion. Binance's tokenized stocks, sold outside the US, crossed $1B in assets four months after launch.
A swap on a tokenized index. DRW and Marex traded the first OTC swap on a fully tokenized index, S&P's iBoxx USD Liquid IG, built with Kaiko on Canton.
The SEC sees longer hours. Markets chief Jamie Selway said US markets "will soon be 23-by-5," then likely trade around the clock not long after.
Singapore plans CBDC bill settlement. MAS is moving to settle tokenised MAS Bills in wholesale CBDC. CBDCs will "ultimately be needed to anchor monetary stability," its MD said.
StanChart sells bitcoin in Dubai. Standard Chartered launched bitcoin and ether trading inside bank accounts, first for eligible professional investors in the UAE.
VersaBank advances VUSD. VersaBank began US commercialization of VUSD, a planned tokenized deposit that pays interest and is eligible for FDIC insurance.
Deel pays privately on Tempo. Tempo opened Zones, its private stablecoin balances, to enterprises. Payroll firm Deel is first in production.
IBKR adds ether staking. Interactive Brokers now lets eligible clients stake ether through zerohash.
Riot switches custodians. Riot Platforms is moving its bitcoin from NYDIG to BitGo Bank & Trust, its filing shows.
Money Moves
Payward → Saldo Bank, terms undisclosed. Kraken's parent agreed to buy the Lithuanian bank, with closing expected in 2027. Saldo had €163.9M in assets at end-2025, CoinDesk reports.
Polygon Labs → Coinme, closed. The deal gives Polygon money transmitter licences in 37 states, plus exemptions in 11 more.
Fission, $10M Series A. Pantera led, with Circle Ventures joining. Fission builds liquidity for tokenized fund redemptions.
Boardroom Reads
He Crafted a Crypto Law for Trump. Sam Kessler, WSJ. Tether money flowed to a firm Bo Hines co-owned while he worked on the GENIUS Act.
Crypto exchange Kraken owner to buy European bank. Nikou Asgari, FT. Why Kraken's co-CEO thinks exchanges will become "new versions of banks," starting with a Lithuanian lender. Paywalled.
You Say You Want a Revolution. Greg Baer, Bank Policy Institute. The big banks' case: stablecoin payments were about 1% of 2025 stablecoin volume, so deposit tokens should win.
Rethinking KYC. Maggie Hsu and Michele Korver, a16z crypto. How reusable credentials and "Know Your Agent" checks could stop institutions repeating KYC on every chain.
Are stablecoins and bank deposits substitutes? Rashad Ahmed and Iñaki Aldasoro, BIS. Higher deposit rates predict slower stablecoin growth, especially for USDC. Banks reprice deposits harder once the fed funds rate passes about 3%.
On the Calendar
October 18 to 21: Money20/20 USA, Las Vegas. Listen for stablecoin volumes.
October 19: GENIUS Act comments due. Treasury's proposal on who may issue, offer and sell payment stablecoins.
October 20: Regulation Crypto Assets comments close. Last chance to comment on the SEC's crypto rulebook.
October 28: FOMC decision. The decision moves the yield on stablecoin reserves.
October 29: Mastercard Q3 results. Coinbase reports after the close.
November 12: EBA supervision of USDC begins. Circle's EU reserves and liquidity move to the EBA.
Your Intelligence Stack
Take the next vendor, market or partnership decision deeper with 51's research and company intelligence. Reply with the claim your team is trying to verify.
That's all for now, folks.
– Marc & Team
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