Digital Bytes 1st April 2026
A weekly analysis of who, how, where and why blockchain technology, digital assets and the impact of AI are being used globally in various industries.
From physical to digital: the long-term vision for a tokenised economy - tokenisation imagines a future where digital tokens represent all of the world’s wealth, including art and real estate. This significant change will make the digital economy more open, accessible and efficient than it has ever been. It will also allow almost all assets to be programmed and traded on blockchain networks.
The banking system is moving on-chain - and has gone unnoticed by most people - US banks are shifting core systems so as to use blockchain technology; not chasing crypto hype, but building tokenised deposits, programmable payments and real-time settlement on regulated rails. JPMorgan’s Kinexys, Citi Token Services and the Regulated Liability Network show institutions are replacing legacy batch processing with shared ledgers, smart contracts and 24/7 liquidity. This measured transition could transform treasury, cross-border flows and custody whilst preserving compliance. The on-chain banking era is already underway.
Between Beijing and Wall Street: Hong Kong’s crypto third way - Hong Kong is pursuing a rare strategy: not competing to dominate digital assets, but positioning itself as the most connected, credible gateway between Chinese monetary sovereignty and global institutional capital. With stablecoin licenses arriving, perpetual contracts greenlit and a unified regulatory stack under HKMA/SFC, the city aims to be the permissioned interface for Asia-West flows, DeFi-regulation and innovation-trust. In a world racing for market capture, Hong Kong bets on connectivity over control. So, will many other regulators look on and decide their next move regarding programmable payments?
The Bank of England’s stablecoin regime is already dead: UK companies are settling £trillions without sterling, so has the bank just regulated a ghost? - English law has never required sterling/legal tender to settle obligations. Precursor to the Bank of England, the 1694 National Land Bank failed, but its idea of using assets as payment lives on through freedom of contract. Corporates are able to legally settle £trillions in tokenised property, stablecoins or RWAs, therefore bypassing the BOE’s 40/60 regime, holding limits and unremunerated deposits entirely.
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