Nasdaq’s move to enable tokenised equity trading within DTCC infrastructure signals that blockchain settlement is shifting from crypto experiment to core capital-market plumbing. If the world’s deepest and most liquid market adopts programmable securities and near-continuous trading, global exchanges, regulators and asset managers may face competitive pressure to modernise faster, or risk liquidity migration toward jurisdictions willing to embrace tokenised market structure.

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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As stablecoins move into regulated mainstream finance, they are shifting from crypto gateways to always-available digital cash for payments, settlement and treasury use. This raises a critical question: how much transactional liquidity could migrate away from bank deposits - traditionally the cheapest funding source for lending? Drawing on Taurus research and global regulatory developments, this article examines potential deposit pressures, balance-sheet implications and the strategic choices banks face as digital money becomes more mobile, competitive and embedded in financial infrastructure.

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