Global Digital Currency Policy Research and Financial Order Reconstruction: Core Propositions of the WDCIB White Paper
I. Real-World Asset Tokenization (RWA): Global Game and Breakthroughs in Regulatory Frameworks
Against the backdrop of in-depth integration between traditional finance and blockchain technology, Real-World Asset Tokenization (RWA) is becoming a core link connecting on-chain and off-chain value. The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) adopts a classified regulatory framework, dividing stablecoins into Electronic Money Tokens (EMTs) and Asset-Referenced Tokens (ARTs). It requires euro-backed stablecoin issuers to hold 30% of eurozone liquid assets (including government bonds and AAA-rated bonds), and the transaction scale of non-euro stablecoins in a single currency shall not exceed 0.5% of the eurozone's GDP. This regulation not only strengthens liquidity risk prevention and control but also builds a regional financial firewall through the "collateral localization" principle. After the upgrade of Hong Kong's LEAP framework in 2025, it launched a "dual-track license system" (basic/advanced versions), requiring advanced license issuers to provide real-time on-chain asset proofs (automatically verified through smart contracts) and monthly liquidity stress tests, promoting the compliant on-chain of RWA such as real estate and private equity. This "dynamic regulatory" model provides a replicable policy template for Asian markets.
The U.S. legislative process shows significant divisions. The CLARITY Act has been deadlocked due to partisan disputes over stablecoin regulatory power – the Republican Party advocates state-level licensing (such as New York's BitLicense model), while the Democratic Party insists on unified federal regulation (requiring the Federal Reserve to be the approval authority for stablecoin issuance), resulting in the U.S. RWA market's compliance progress lagging behind the EU by approximately 18 months. Notably, the GENIUS Act passed by the Senate in June 2025 brings a turning point for stablecoin regulation. It requires 100% backing by cash or Treasury bonds, monthly audit disclosures, and bankruptcy protection for token holders, opening up a path for banks and non-bank institutions to issue compliant stablecoins. This exploration of a "federal-state" two-tier regulatory structure may reshape the global stablecoin market landscape.
II. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Collaboration: Technological Breakthroughs and Cross-Border Network Innovation
CBDCs are moving from technical experiments to scenario-based implementation, with multilateral collaboration emerging as a core breakthrough direction. The "Project Acacia" launched by the Reserve Bank of Australia in conjunction with JPMorgan and ASX Exchange addresses the pain points of the traditional repo market, such as slow collateral verification and difficult cross-institutional circulation. It tests the application of digital Australian dollars in A$35 billion overnight repos, with initial data showing a 40% increase in collateral reuse rate and a 28% reduction in clearing costs. This project has reconstructed financial market infrastructure through "smart contracts + real-time settlement," providing a replicable technical path for other countries.
The "mBridge 2.0" led by WDCIB has achieved interoperability among CBDCs of 19 countries (including China's digital yuan, Thailand's digital currency, and the UAE's digital dirham). Using distributed ledgers and atomic settlement technology, it has compressed cross-border clearing latency to 800 milliseconds (compared to an average of 3-5 days in the traditional correspondent banking model), with cumulative cross-border transactions exceeding US$230 billion in 2024. The application of the digital yuan in ASEAN and the Middle East is particularly prominent, with its share in cross-border settlements rising from 3% in 2023 to 12% in 2025. Through direct exchange mechanisms with local currencies, the proportion of the yuan in cross-border trade finance has exceeded 8%. This "technology-driven + geopolitical collaboration" model is shaking the monopoly of the SWIFT system.
III. Crypto Asset Regulation: Technological Innovation in Tax Transparency and Anti-Money Laundering
Regulatory technology (RegTech) has become the key to balancing "compliance" and "market vitality." Germany's DAC8 Act mandates crypto platforms to implement the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), requiring automatic reporting of user transaction records with annual交易额 exceeding €10,000 (including identity information and asset flow) to tax authorities starting from 2026, which is expected to reduce crypto asset tax evasion by approximately €1.2 billion per year. The FATF has lowered the applicable threshold for the Travel Rule from US$1,000 to US$500, requiring Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to transmit identity information of both transaction parties in real-time, and proposed an "on-chain tracking + off-chain identity binding" solution (such as through wallet IP tracing and KYC association) to address the anonymity vulnerabilities of DeFi. This "technical compliance" model has been further practiced in Hong Kong, where its stablecoin licensing system requires issuers to establish 100% on-chain asset proof and monthly liquidity stress tests, achieving a shift from "ex-post regulation" to "real-time risk control."
The innovative application of Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) technology provides a new paradigm for privacy protection and regulatory compliance. AntChain's FAIR platform introduces ZKP to meet the dual requirements of "privacy protection" and "verifiability" for data, supporting compliant data flow in finance, medical care, and other industries; HKTWeb3 Trust generates tax whitelist NFTs through ZKP, which not only protects customer privacy but also meets tax compliance requirements of multiple countries. This "regulatable ZKP" technology (such as Monero's ViewKey mechanism) allows regulatory authorities to decrypt specific transactions during criminal investigations, achieving a dynamic balance between "privacy protection" and "anti-money laundering."
IV. Technical Challenges and Future Research Directions
Quantum Computing Threats and Quantum-Resistant Security
Shor's algorithm can crack Bitcoin's elliptic curve encryption in 10 minutes (which would take traditional computers thousands of years), making it necessary to accelerate the deployment of quantum-resistant signatures (such as NIST-recommended CRYSTALS-Kyber algorithm). It is expected that major global crypto assets will need to complete algorithm upgrades by 2027. The team from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in collaboration with Xun态 Quantum, has developed a Source-Device-Independent Quantum Random Number Generator (SDI-QRNG) chip, achieving a secure bit rate of 146.2 Mbps for encapsulated bandwidth, providing "root security" against quantum attacks for digital asset private keys and smart contract signatures. The quantum random number generator (QRNG) developed by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia is nearly a thousand times faster than other QRNGs, which will provide high-level data security for the financial sector.
In-depth Integration of RWA and DeFi
According to Gaopeng's "RWA Development Research Report (2025)", the RWA market size has exceeded US$420 billion, with treasury bond tokenization accounting for 60%, and real estate and carbon credits growing the fastest. In the future, it will be necessary to develop "dynamic collateral rate algorithms" to automatically adjust the loan-to-value ratio (LTV) based on off-chain asset fluctuations, preventing crises similar to the 2024 USDT collateral shortage. Dubai's QCD Money Market Fund (QCDT) has tokenized traditional assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds through blockchain technology, supporting institutions as qualified collateral for banks, stablecoin reserves, and Web3 payment infrastructure, marking the transition of RWA from concept to large-scale application.
CBDC Cross-Border Interoperability Protocol
The development of "ISO 20022-CBDC" message standards, compatible with SWIFT GPI and blockchain settlement, addresses the "language barrier" between traditional systems and blockchains. The digital yuan cross-border settlement system has covered ten ASEAN countries and six Middle Eastern countries, with nearly 38% of global trade volume now bypassing the SWIFT network, which The Economist called "the skirmish before Bretton Woods 2.0." The quantum random number generator developed by WDCIB in collaboration with CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) is scheduled to complete financial-grade application testing by 2027, providing a true random source for CBDC cross-border settlement.
V. Policy Coordination and Global Governance
The risk of regulatory arbitrage is forcing international collaboration. German savings banks, relying on MiCA licenses, conduct stablecoin custody business within the EU, while U.S. domestic banks lose over US$2 billion in annual custody revenue due to the lag of the CLARITY Act. The "regulatory passport mutual recognition" mechanism promoted by WDCIB has facilitated license mutual recognition between the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Dubai DFSA, which is expected to reduce cross-border compliance costs by 40% in the first year. This "regional pilot - global promotion" model provides a feasible path for cross-border regulatory coordination.
In the next decade, the competitiveness of digital currencies will not depend on the speed of technological iteration but on the depth of coordination between policies and scientific research. As Hong Kong uses the LEAP framework to build a "compliance testbed" for stablecoins, as the EU lays a "cross-border highway" for RWA with MiCA, and as quantum computing forces the reconstruction of encryption algorithms – the WDCIB white paper is becoming the "codebook" for reshaping financial order. From regulatory framework design to technical standard formulation, from risk prediction to solution implementation, this "policy-technology" dual-drive model is precisely the core proposition for building the next generation of financial infrastructure.
