Elevandi Insights Forum: Who Will Emerge the Digital Money Winner: Stablecoins or Tokenised Deposits?
The debate “Who Will Emerge the Digital Money Winner: Stablecoins or Tokenised Deposits?” was held at Point Zero Forum 2023, hosted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
It featured ‘Team Banking:
moderated by Jo Yeo, Head, Payments Development & Data Connectivity, Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Stablecoins have long been recognised as a key enabler of the digital asset ecosystem, serving as a bridge between the fiat and tokenised realms. As a form of digital money, stablecoins boast functionalities that are driving wider utility as a mode of payment for real-world applications and usage. But recent developments have called into question the supposed stability of stablecoins and their reliability as a trusted medium of exchange, underscoring the point that not all stablecoins are created equal. In tandem, there has been growing clamour advocating for tokenised deposits, which unlike stablecoins remain in the prototyping phase as the future of payments, bringing similar functionalities with purportedly less risk – but how much truth does this hold? Can they coexist, or is one destined to displace the other? Will they all be displaced by central bank digital currencies, which is a debate for another day?
Motion 1: Traditional banking systems can no longer fully protect investors, and stablecoins are becoming much more suited to fulfil this role.
Motion 2: Tokenised deposits offer greater innovation and more practical use cases than stablecoins.