The payment market is developing continuously, and new types of digital money and payment solutions have attracted attention in recent years. Stablecoins form part of this development.
Ulrik Nødgaard said that stablecoin use is growing, but adoption in Europe remains limited. Stablecoins are currently primarily used to buy and sell crypto-assets.
Future stablecoin adoption will depend, among other things, on whether stablecoins offer users real added value compared with existing payment solutions. This applies, for example, to cross-border payments, often highlighted as an area where stablecoins can make payments more effective.
Over time, these developments may potentially affect payments, financial markets, banks’ role and monetary policy transmission – and that is precisely why stablecoins matter to us as a central bank, Ulrik Nødgaard explained.
Several Danish banks are also already engaging with these developments, gaining an understanding of the underlying technology and tokenisation’s potential – and that is positive, Ulrik Nødgaard emphasised.
Central bank money should also in future provide the common foundation for stability and confidence in the monetary system. Danmarks Nationalbank is therefore working with the ECB to ensure access to central bank money between banks in a financial ecosystem based on DLT technology. In this context, a solution was launched on 21 September that connects market-developed DLT platforms with tokenised financial assets and the Eurosystem’s Target Services. The solution, called Pontes, enables trading in tokenised financial assets to settle in central bank money and marks the first step toward a DLT-based ecosystem for financial markets in the longer term.
Ulrik Nødgaard stressed that Danmarks Nationalbank is technology-neutral with regard to new types of digital money. He also pointed out that stablecoins should not replace central bank money between banks.
Most recent presentations and speeches