With the improvement of regulatory frameworks and technological maturity, the global issuance of digital currencies entered an acceleration phase in 2025. Traditional financial institutions and crypto-native enterprises are competing to deploy layouts, driving the migration of financial infrastructure onto the blockchain. Here are the three core trends and cases in the current stage:
I. Compliant Issuance Led by Traditional Banking Giants
Systematic Entry of European Banks
Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, has joined forces with Bitpanda and Swiss custodian Taurus to develop institutional-oriented crypto custody services. It plans to support assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum by 2026, strictly complying with the EU's MiCA regulations and Germany's BaFin regulatory requirements.
The German Savings Banks Association (Sparkassen) has integrated retail crypto trading through its own mobile application, covering nearly 50 million users, with underlying technical support provided by its subsidiary DekaBank (managing assets of $463 billion).
Breakthrough Attempts by Asian Banks
BOCI, a subsidiary of Bank of China, issued 200 million RMB tokenized structured notes on the Ethereum public chain, becoming the first Chinese-funded Hong Kong licensed institutional issuer. The project was initiated by UBS Group and targeted at Asia-Pacific clients, introducing regulated securities into the public blockchain for the first time.
II. Innovation and Integration of Technical Paths
Deposit Tokens: Banks' Response to Stablecoins
JPMorgan launched the deposit token JPMD on the public chain Base. When users deposit US dollars, they receive equivalent tokens on the chain, which support free circulation while retaining deposit insurance and interest benefits. This design not only preserves fiat currency credit but also enables 24-hour instant redemption on the chain, and has been adopted as a payment tool by BlackRock's BUIDL fund.
Hybrid Architecture Becomes Mainstream
Deutsche Bank developed "Project DAMA 2", an Ethereum Layer-2 solution based on ZKsync, which improves transaction efficiency while meeting the privacy and audit needs of financial institutions. France's BPCE Banking Group obtained the PSAN license through its subsidiary Hexarq and will launch an investment platform integrating crypto services in 2025, connecting its traditional banking network.
III. Regulatory Drivers and Market Impact
License Scarcity Promotes Competitive Barriers
Hong Kong's "Stablecoin Ordinance" will take effect on August 1st, with only a few licenses issued in the first batch. Institutions such as JD Digits and Standard Chartered Bank have entered regulatory sandbox testing. Under the EU MiCA framework, France's AMF took the lead in opening VASP license applications, attracting exchanges such as Gemini to settle in.
Explosive Growth of Stablecoin Economic Scale
After going public, Circle's market value soared to $65 billion, with USDC circulation reaching $54 billion; Tether's annual revenue is about $13 billion. Leading stablecoin issuers have formed a bank-like profit model through treasury bond management and other means.
Future Outlook: Formation of a Multipolar Ecosystem
In the second half of 2025, BlackRock will launch a Bitcoin ETP in Switzerland to expand into the European market; Visa and Mastercard plan to incorporate USDC into their global settlement networks. Meanwhile, multi-asset stablecoins (such as PAXG anchored to gold and ASEAN currencies) will emerge at an accelerated pace, promoting the transformation of the single US dollar system to multi-asset anchoring.
The issuance of digital currencies is reshaping the financial power structure – traditional banks are regaining the initiative with "compliance + technology", while crypto enterprises are infiltrating in reverse with "licenses + scenarios". The final outcome depends on who can find the optimal balance between openness and stability.
