The Battle for the Deposit Franchise: Are Stablecoins or Tokenized Deposits the Future?

As digital money moves from experimentation to execution, traditional financial institutions face a critical strategic decision: pursue a stablecoin strategy, tokenized bank deposits, or attempt both? Each path carries profound implications for balance sheets, regulation, payments infrastructure, customer relationships and long-term competitiveness.

Citi’s Artem Korenyuk, Managing Director, Digital Assets, shares his perspective on whether stablecoins or tokenized deposits represent the most viable—and defensible—path forward for TradFi. The conversation will examine where real economic value is being created, how regulators and supervisors are shaping outcomes, and what decisions bank executives must make in the next 12–24 months to remain relevant in a tokenized financial system. The discussion will include a dive into:

• Are stablecoins and tokenized deposits truly alternatives—or stepping stones toward the same end state?
• Stablecoins vs. tokenized deposits: core differences on issuer model, customer trust and brand risk, control vs. reach, and Interoperability.

• Regulatory and balance sheet implications—and which path aligns more naturally with the current regulatory perimeter and which is more future-proof if regulation shifts?
• Creating value: payments, treasury, and liquidity use cases.
• Operating model and technology trade-offs.
• Developing an ecosystem strategy—go it alone or join a network?
• Nonbank stablecoin adoption in emerging markets.
• The risk of deposits migrating off bank balance sheets.

Digital-asset lending and borrowing platforms are redefining how liquidity moves across financial markets. Once the domain of crypto natives, these platforms now sit at the intersection of traditional finance and decentralized infrastructure, enabling new models for collateral management, credit intermediation, and yield generation.

As institutional players explore tokenized collateral, stablecoin liquidity, and on-chain credit protocols, the opportunity—and the regulatory complexity—is expanding fast. The panel brings together experts from banking, asset management, and crypto to unpack the evolution of digital-asset lending. Panelists will provide a clear understanding of where digital-asset lending fits within modern credit markets and how traditional institutions can participate responsibly in this emerging ecosystem. Key discussion points include:

• The current state of crypto lending and its convergence with traditional credit markets.
• Risk management, collateralization, and transparency in on-chain lending.
• The role of stablecoins and tokenized assets in institutional liquidity strategies.
• Regulatory and compliance challenges for digital asset credit products.
• Building interoperability between on-chain and off-chain lending platforms.

Getting There First, Going Fast and Playing the Long Digital-Asset Game

There are no barriers to entry when it comes to launching an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The hard part, though, is building and growing a successful ETF. Peter Mintzberg, CEO of crypto asset manager Grayscale, is well acquainted with the challenges of the crypto market and how it figures—mightily—in the traditional world of asset management. His aggressive moves to position the firm early in digital assets is paying off: Grayscale manages a diverse, multi-billion dollar portfolio including Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC), Ethereum trusts, and a list of 27 potential new digital assets for future products, including DeFi and AI tokens. And Grayscale is just getting started.

While TradFi and crypto leaders seek regulatory “clarity,” that alone isn’t enough, particularly for financial institutions. As tokenization, on-chain settlement, and programmable finance move from pilots to production, the crucial factor for TradFi leaders will be their execution capability: operating models, talent authority, cultural readiness, and strategic clarity that allow them to establish durable, profitable positions in the native conditions of on-chain finance over the next three years.

The panel discussion will focus on what must change inside traditional financial firms to compete with native on-chain players and fast-moving incumbents, including:

• What changes once regulatory “permission” is no longer the bottleneck?
• Which firms are still hiding behind regulatory uncertainty as an excuse for inaction?
• How much regulatory clarity is enough to move real capital on-chain?
• Why quarterly roadmaps fail in 24/7, real-time markets.
• What has to break (processes, controls, approvals) to ship on-chain products.
• Can TradFi genuinely iterate in public — and should it?
• Why crypto expertise without decision-making power doesn’t execute.
• Where TradFi org charts quietly kill on-chain momentum.
• What governance models actually work for on-chain business lines.
• Why “digital asset divisions” often become organizational dead ends.
• How treasury, risk, compliance, and ops must change for atomic settlement.
• When permissioned chains help — and when they slow you down.
• How on-chain transparency changes risk management and reputation.
• Why do you exist on-chain? Issuer, liquidity provider, infrastructure, risk wrapper—pick one.
• Why “tokenization strategy” is not a business model.
• How native players are defining the rules faster than incumbents.
• What will be considered a failed digital asset strategy in hindsight?

Tokenization is redefining how financial assets are issued, traded, and managed — unlocking new levels of liquidity, transparency, and efficiency. As institutional adoption accelerates, the lines between traditional finance and blockchain-native systems are blurring. This panel brings together leaders from banking, asset management, and digital infrastructure to explore how tokenized securities are reshaping capital markets. We’ll discuss how traditional institutions can participate safely and profitably in on-chain finance, from regulatory frameworks and custody solutions to product design and investor access. The panel will offer a practical understanding of where tokenization fits within institutional strategy, what pilots are showing real results, and what’s next for asset managers navigating the digital transformation of capital markets. Key topics include:

• The evolution of tokenized funds, bonds, and alternative assets.
• Legal and regulatory frameworks for tokenized securities.
• Integration of blockchain infrastructure into existing asset management workflows.
• Opportunities for yield, liquidity, and operational efficiency.
• Collaboration models between asset managers, custodians, and DeFi platforms.