DBS survey finds 88% of large firms use or pilot tokenized money

Eighty-eight percent of large businesses are using or piloting tokenized money, according to a DBS-commissioned survey of 422 finance leaders at companies with revenue above $500 million.

Within that group, 24% reported tokenized money deployed at scale and 43% reported limited live use in selected markets. Another 21% were running pilots or proofs of concept; 12% were exploring the technology or not using it. EY ran the survey across 11 markets, including the U.S., China, Germany and the U.K. CoinDesk first reported the findings Oct. 28.

The respondents are corporate treasury and finance leaders, so the figures describe demand from large institutional cash holders rather than from advisory clients. Tokenized money market funds, the instrument nearest the wealth shelf, are in use or planned at 52% of respondents, behind stablecoins at 63% and tokenized deposits at 53%. Those totals combine current use and plans, while the deployment ladder separates them.

Faster payments were among the expected benefits: 71% said they had already seen improvements in real-time cross-border payments or expected them within two years, and 65% said the same for treasury liquidity management.

Regulatory uncertainty, security risks and integration difficulties remained obstacles, according to the survey. Nearly two-thirds wanted banks to provide a single point of access to the tokenized money ecosystem, and 63% wanted help with pilots and integration. "For companies, fragmentation may add complexities and compliance obligations," said Lim Soon Chong, DBS's group head of global transaction services.

DBS, which commissioned the survey, launched DBS Token Services in 2024, connecting its permissioned blockchain to its payment systems for round-the-clock settlement and programmable payments. Citi said at its May investor day that hundreds of clients were moving close to $1 billion daily through Citi Token Services, mainly to manage liquidity and working capital. In September, DBS and Citi completed a weekend dollar payment between Singapore and New York using tokenized deposits through the Swift Digital Ledger; the transaction settled in minutes outside traditional banking hours.