defi ·
DBS survey shows 88% of large businesses use or pilot tokenized money for payments
An EY survey, commissioned by DBS and surveying 422 finance leaders from large companies across 11 markets, indicated that nearly 90% of these firms are utilizing or piloting tokenized money.
The study revealed that stablecoins are the leading instrument being used or planned, cited by 63% of respondents. Tokenized deposits followed at 53%, while tokenized money market funds were indicated by 52%.
Of the surveyed organizations, 24% had deployed the technology at scale, and another 43% had limited live use within specific markets. Furthermore, 21% were engaged in pilots or proofs of concept, leaving 12% either exploring or not using the technology.
Participants reported expecting improvements in real-time cross-border payments within two years, with 71% stating this expectation. Additionally, 72% anticipated better traceability within that two-year timeframe, and 64% desire banks to serve as a singular access point.
Obstacles such as security risks, integration difficulties, and regulatory uncertainty persist. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents expressed a desire for banks to furnish a unified access point to the tokenized money ecosystem, alongside 63% seeking assistance with pilots and integration.
Lim Soon Chong, DBS’s group head of global transaction services, noted, “For companies, fragmentation may add complexities and compliance obligations.” He added that “The future will be defined by new forms of money and technology, and also shaped by trusted anchors who can orchestrate value movement across multiple networks.”
This adoption trend among institutional finance participants suggests a maturation in the application of digital assets for operational efficiency, moving beyond theoretical exploration into tangible use cases for treasury and cross-border settlement.
Why it matters
This indicates a significant institutional shift toward tokenized assets for operational efficiency, directly impacting traditional payment rails. The preference for stablecoins suggests a growing acceptance of regulated, programmable money within established corporate finance workflows. Readers should watch how regulatory frameworks adapt to support these high-volume, permissioned tokenized use cases.
