Digital Bytes 11th March 2026
A weekly analysis of who, how, where and why blockchain and digital assets are being used globally in various industries
Tokenisation will do to assets what the internet did to information - Tokenisation is doing to assets what the internet did to information. By converting ownership rights in real-world assets—such as real estate, bonds, commodities, and funds, into blockchain-based tokens, markets can become fractional, programmable, and globally accessible. This shift could unlock liquidity in traditionally illiquid markets worth hundreds of trillions of dollars. As regulators and institutions explore tokenised securities and digital settlement infrastructure, tokenisation is emerging as a foundational technology for more efficient, transparent, and accessible global capital markets.
Why the future of AI depends on programmable money - Amid AI hype and fears, $2T software reset, job obsolescence, inequality surge, technology reshapes work, yet money remains rigid, human-paced, reliant on banks and paperwork. AI acts autonomously: searching, negotiating, executing at scale. Traditional money falters for machine economies, like roads unfit for cars. Programmable money enables instant, conditional flows, embedding trust in code for M2M payments. It boosts coordination, abundance, reduces risks, redefining ownership from scarcity to seamless, inspectable infrastructure. Without it, AI’s potential fragments.
How Bitcoin forced finance to modernise - Bitcoin did not replace the financial system,it forced it to modernise. By demonstrating continuous settlement, transparent ledgers, and programmable money, Bitcoin exposed weaknesses in traditional finance such as settlement delays, liquidity mismatches, and opaque balance sheets. After the 2023 banking crisis, regulators and banks began adopting tokenisation, unified ledgers, and digital settlement infrastructure. As a result, blockchain principles are increasingly embedded in banking, capital markets, and payments, accelerating the transition toward a faster, more transparent, and programmable financial system.
Programmable money in practice - tokenised money has moved from a niche crypto application to a central consideration for institutional finance and public policy. Across stablecoins, tokenised deposits, CBDCs and money market funds, differing design choices shape risk, usability and regulatory treatment. The evolving landscape reveals strong momentum in cross-border payments and settlement, alongside unresolved challenges around interoperability, governance and cross-border supervision that will determine how tokenised money integrates into the global financial system.