# Banks Tokenize To Keep Settlement

Incumbent banks and central banks increasingly move real bank money on-chain to keep control of wholesale settlement, contesting the ground that private stablecoin issuers are trying to occupy.

- Conviction: 40 / 100 (forming)
- Horizon: Emerging (watchlist)
- Tracking since: 2026-07-31T00:00:00.000Z
- Last updated: 2026-07-31T05:59:43.114Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/crypto/trends/wholesale-tokenized-settlement-race
- Publisher: Polylog
- Affected regions: Global

## Recent evidence

- [confirms] BIS Moves Real Central-Bank and Commercial-Bank Money On-Chain in 28-Lender Payments Test (2026-07-31): The BIS Project Agorá test moved real central-bank and commercial-bank money on-chain across 28 lenders, settling ~$1M in six currencies in about 80 seconds by tokenizing bank money rather than issuing a stablecoin. This is incumbents building the wholesale-settlement rail themselves to keep control of the ground stablecoin issuers want, directly advancing the thesis.