As tokenization moves into production, one core question is becoming unavoidable: what counts as true settlement finality in digital markets? For decades, the safest standard was delivery versus payment in central bank money. In 2026, that model is being challenged by the rise of regulated stablecoins, wholesale CBDCs, and tokenized market infrastructure. This panel examines the growing divergence between the US and Europe. The US is advancing tokenized securities under a regulated stablecoin framework, while Europe is pairing private stablecoin rules with the launch of wholesale CBDC infrastructure through Pontes. Against this backdrop, leading market institutions are building across both traditional and digital rails, and must make practical decisions about how cash will move in tokenized markets. The discussion will focus on the trade-offs shaping the next phase of market structure: atomic settlement versus netting efficiency, private innovation versus monetary sovereignty, interoperability versus fragmentation, and the broader EUR-USD dynamic in digital finance. Ultimately, this is not just a debate about stablecoins versus CBDCs, but about the future architecture of global capital markets.
