Digital euro: the battle for orchestration has begun

01Four signals in a few weeks

1. 13 April — HSBC takes the plungeTokenised deposits deployed on Canton Network, a public blockchain.
2. 23 June — European ParliamentThe digital euro framework is adopted by the ECON committee, 43 votes to 14.
3. 1 July — CACEIS launches EURXTThe first euro stablecoin from a major European custodian.
4. July — Swift Shared Ledger17 banks on six continents: cross-bank interoperability goes into production.

The question is no longer “which network should I connect to?” but “how do I orchestrate liquidity across all these networks simultaneously?”Philippe Henry, 18 July 2026

02Three structural disruptions and one blind spot

1. Tokenised deposit vs stablecoin: the line is fadingHSBC and CACEIS already run both instruments in parallel. Interoperability, not the nature of the instrument, is once again the decisive strategic variable.
2. Europe's missing linkUnlike tokenised US T-bills, Europe does not yet have a fully tokenised risk-free asset to collateralise a 24/7 money market.
3. The hidden cost for banksCorporate liquidity circulating continuously puts the LCR under pressure, and the disappearance of interbank settlement float threatens net banking income.

03What it implies

The architecture of European tokenised liquidity is being decided now. For banks and treasurers alike, the challenge is to build the ability to orchestrate liquidity across several networks and forms of money, rather than betting on a single network.

The architecture is being decided now. Follow the liquidity!Philippe Henry

Sources : Philippe Henry, “Digital euro: the battle for orchestration has begun”, 18 July 2026; OpenbanQ analysis.