Tokenised deposits, stablecoins and CBDCs: three kinds of digital money explained

The useful part

The UK test matters less for crypto prices than for the fight over who controls digital payments. If the shared platform moves beyond trials, stablecoin issuers could face regulated competition in settlement uses such as property and securities transactions. There is no clear direct read-across to crypto token prices, and reports of the trial did not mention Quant's QNT token.

How it works

• --- Tokenised deposits, stablecoins and a possible digital pound can look alike on a screen, but they rest on very different promises, and knowing whose promise you hold matters more than the technology.
• Seven UK banks, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Monzo, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander, completed the first interbank transactions using tokenised deposits, on a platform built by Quant.
• The tests included remortgage settlements that released funds automatically once a property transfer was confirmed, and a purchase where payment was held until delivery.
• Tokenised deposits are ordinary bank deposits on a blockchain-style ledger, so they keep standard depo...