Sygnum, a digital asset bank, indicates that institutional investors are increasingly seeking a cohesive platform that supports various tokenized cash instruments.

Digital asset bank Sygnum reports that institutional investors desire a seamless experience with multiple tokenized cash instruments on a unified platform.

By Olivier Acuna|Edited by Nikhilesh De Jun 11, 2026, 4:37 p.m. 3 min read

UBS collaborates with Sygnum to explore blockchain payment solutions and a stablecoin tied to the Swiss franc. (JaierRT/Wikimedia Commons)
  • Major banks and institutional players are advocating for a centralized system where stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and tokenized money market funds can function interchangeably under a unified regulatory framework.
  • Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum, alongside significant financial institutions like UBS and PostFinance, is experimenting with public yet permissioned blockchain systems, arguing they effectively merge on-chain finance connectivity with regulatory compliance.
  • This initiative by banks to create multi-asset tokenized money networks in Europe confronts policymakers' inclination towards central-bank-led solutions and underscores the limited success of euro stablecoins lacking robust bank support and integration into traditional finance.

Financial institutions are pivoting to integrate stablecoins and traditional financial instruments into a single cohesive offering to satisfy the rising institutional demand for versatile asset management.

Rather than awaiting the emergence of a single dominant solution, leading asset managers and corporate treasuries are requesting a multi-instrument framework where stablecoins, tokenized bank deposits, and tokenized money market funds operate on the same infrastructure.

“The demand from institutional clients is consistent: they are not waiting for any single instrument to prevail,” stated Thomas Eichenberger, Sygnum's chief strategy officer and deputy group CEO, in an email to CoinDesk on Thursday.

“They are inquiring about how tokenized deposits, regulated stablecoins, and tokenized money market funds can be integrated and made interoperable, allowing treasury functions to move seamlessly between them — including permissioned settlement, 24/7 cross-border transactions, yield generation with on-demand liquidity — under a regulatory framework they already trust,” he elaborated.

Sygnum, which claims to be the world's first digital asset bank, partnered late last year with UBS and PostFinance, a subsidiary of the state-owned Swiss Post, to experiment with blockchain payments among institutions on Ethereum.

In a similar vein, Qivalis, a coalition of 37 leading banks in the European Union, is working to launch a digital euro by the end of this year.

This robust initiative from banks stands in stark contrast to the views of European politicians regarding the future of digital currency control. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde recently asserted that euro stablecoins will not resolve the fundamental issues within Europe’s financial markets, which primarily require increased cash availability and a genuinely secure, trusted asset.

While Sygnum’s multi-instrument approach aligns with Lagarde’s assertion that stablecoins are not a panacea, it challenges her conclusions about the solutions needed. Instead of waiting for central banks to issue a digital euro, commercial entities are proactively crafting their own solutions.

Eichenberger concurred that stablecoins alone are insufficient to bridge the gap. He noted that euro-pegged stablecoins have historically faced adoption challenges due to accessibility issues, lack of genuine bank backing, and poor integration with the broader financial ecosystem.

Apart from the assets themselves, a separate technical discussion is ongoing regarding the infrastructure facilitating these transactions.

“Most institutional discussions still gravitate towards private chains for data security and counterparty management,” Eichenberger remarked. “However, the practical perspective from operators indicates that public-yet-permissioned models — public infrastructure with regulated access — are where the convergence is headed. This setup allows for connectivity to the larger on-chain financial system without sacrificing oversight.”

This combination of open access and stringent monitoring is already being implemented. This year, Sygnum collaborated with UBS, PostFinance, Raiffeisen, Zürcher Kantonalbank, BCV, and Swiss Stablecoin to initiate a joint testing program for a Swiss franc-backed (CHF) stablecoin.

For others in the sector, the Swiss experiment serves as a practical example of how bank-operated token networks function when the institutions creating them, the cash supporting them, and the regulatory bodies overseeing them are all based in the same country.