Whether tokenisation strengthens or fragments the financial system depends on policy decisions on money, market infrastructure and legal frameworks, Tobias Adrian (토비아스 아드리안), director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said.

On July 3, The Block reported that Adrian set out the view in an IMF blog post. He explained that moving financial assets and liabilities to a shared ledger compresses execution, clearing and settlement into simultaneous processing governed by software. He added that the shift could concentrate risk in platforms, code and market infrastructure providers rather than in the balance sheets of traditional intermediaries.

The report said three types of assets are emerging in a tokenised economy: tokenised bank deposits, stablecoins and tokenised central bank reserves.

Tokenised deposits enable atomic settlement and efficient liquidity management while maintaining the existing banking system. But continuous settlement increases the need for real-time liquidity support, Adrian said.

Stablecoins offer programmability and global accessibility, but whether they can maintain parity with other money depends on the quality of reserves, market liquidity and the stability of the issuer.

Adrian said he expects tokenisation to change banking functions rather than eliminate banks themselves. Tokenised deposits can integrate payment, customer settlement and treasury functions into a shared ledger. Tokenised loans can embed interest accrual and collateral requirements into smart contracts, enabling continuous risk monitoring.

In emerging markets and developing countries, tokenisation can reduce cross-border payment costs and improve market access. But wider use of privately issued global stablecoins could accelerate capital flows and currency substitution, Adrian added.