01The map: use cases in every business line
| Business line | Example use cases |
|---|---|
| Retail banking | Cross-border C2C payments, crypto/stablecoin merchant payments, DeFi yield on stablecoins, store of value, collateralised lending |
| Corporate banking | Cross-border B2X payments and FX, global cash management and treasury optimisation, domestic payments, supply chain and trade finance, transaction banking for digital asset firms |
| Capital markets | Repo and securities financing, digital assets as collateral, bank treasury and liquidity optimisation, settlement for sales and trading, primary tokenised issuance (ECM, DCM), crypto trading including derivatives |
| Wealth management | Trading of crypto and digital assets, Lombard lending against digital assets |
| Asset management | Tokenisation of mutual funds, crypto ETFs, tokenisation of alternative assets (PE, VC, real estate, private credit), stablecoin reserve management, tokenisation of real-world assets (RWAs) |
Several capabilities cut across the bank: wallets, digital asset custody, bank treasury optimisation, stablecoin on/off-ramp services, stablecoin issuance and native KYC/AML.
02How to prepare: six enterprise decisions
- Set an explicit posture for each opportunityDecide, business line by business line, where the bank will lead, partner, distribute or monitor: stablecoins, tokenised deposits, CBDC, crypto, tokenised MMFs, RWAs. Posture depends on franchise: a global transaction bank may (co-)issue, a regional bank wins on integration, a wealth-led bank on access.
- Decide who owns the bank's role in money and settlementTreat stablecoins, tokenised deposits and CBDC as one money-and-settlement agenda. The money layer is a strategic control point: balances, payments, settlement, treasury flows and the cash leg of tokenised markets.
- Start with use cases with clear demand and economicsPrioritise two or three commercial plays with named business owners, funding, milestones and revenue or adoption targets.
- Build the platform as an orchestrator, not a blockchain companyPartner for native layers (wallets, custody, smart contracts, key management); build where the bank has a durable advantage: core banking, payments, data, client channels.
- Upgrade risk and compliance before scaling volumesExtend AML, sanctions, monitoring, custody governance, third-party and cyber risk to on-chain and off-chain data. Tooling can be outsourced, accountability cannot.
- Establish a robust operating modelGovernance and decision rights, funding, prioritisation, regulatory engagement, talent, shared capabilities. Without one model, expect fragmented pilots and inconsistent controls.
Not one decision but a set of choices: where to compete, who owns the money layer, which use cases scale first, build or partner, who is accountable?OpenbanQ adaptation of the BCG / Anchorage Digital analysis
Sources : BCG · Anchorage Digital, June 2026; BCG analysis, OpenbanQ adaptation.