Long confined to bitcoin and other disconnected crypto-assets from the real economy, blockchain/DLT technology is undergoing a strategic turning point in the United States. The question has always been: can distributed ledgers replace financial infrastructures? Can they be used for traditional assets, including real estate?
It’s very concrete as well: can you imagine your bank deposit in the form of a token in a distributed ledger rather than a record in your bank’s data center?
According to Paris Europlace, there is urgency. The American commitment contrasts with European caution. If Washington succeeds in structuring an efficient financial ecosystem based on DLT, with the US controlling the infrastructure, it will attract more attractiveness to the dollar at the expense of the euro.
Genius Act
In the United States, it all starts with the presidential decree of January 23, 2025. Donald Trump announces the creation of the “President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets,” responsible for guiding American policy on crypto-assets. They abandon the e-dollar, the Fed’s digital currency (while the ECB wants an e-euro), in favor of dollar stablecoins. The USA opts for a digital finance model based on private innovation.
The GENIUS Act, then adopted on July 18, 2025, regulates stablecoins by giving them a status of liquid asset: they can be used as collateral for derivatives operations and facilitate interbank settlements. The effective application of the text is scheduled for early 2027, but several issuers – Circle, Ripple, Fidelity Digital, Bitgo, and Paxos – have already obtained a provisional license. Tether, the market leader with over $188 billion in circulation at the beginning of 2026, will follow. In parallel, major American banks prioritize deposit tokenization. The question has not yet arisen in Europe: the e-euro has not yet been launched, and it does not seem to follow the path of distributed ledger.
The rivalry between stablecoins and tokenized deposits raises a central question in the USA, according to the report – that of remuneration. Banks advocate the prohibition of any return, while the crypto industry advocates more flexibility. This debate should continue within the framework of the upcoming CLARITY Act, which aims to clarify the rules in the field. The GENIUS Act requires stablecoin issuers to guarantee repayment at par value – allowing any holder to convert their token against its face value within reasonable deadlines and transparent fees. In practice, this promise is not fully guaranteed: stablecoins mainly trade on the secondary market, where liquidity becomes a critical factor, resulting in a strong concentration around a few players.
The question of interoperability
Interoperability remains a major challenge: for stablecoins and tokenized deposits to be accepted in interbank settlements, they must be able to circulate without friction or loss of value in the traditional world of banks. Privately, therefore, the task is to build a fluid, secure, and interconnected exchange system. For Paris Europlace, the balance being established in the USA is virtuous: tokenized deposits will be used for domestic payments, stablecoins – without returns or Federal insurance – for international flows. These stablecoins offer foreign savers a privileged way to access the dollar if they cannot access it in other ways. The dollarization of emerging countries will intensify, and the central banks’ inability to manage economies will worsen.
In theory, stablecoins can be issued against any currency. The current reality is that over 95% of stablecoins are issued in dollars. So, the USA has created a pull for the dollar once again. Because for each USD stablecoin, the issuer must buy a dollar, often in the form of US government bonds. This is a double benefit: strengthening the dollar’s sovereignty and financing the US deficit.
In Europe?
According to Paris Europlace, Europe must approach distributed ledgers differently by capitalizing on its strength: the foundations of its monetary model that favors credit and deposits through banks. These are the ones that drive the economy. Tokenized deposits should be a strategic priority because they anchor digital finance in the real economy.
The European Union had taken the lead in regulation with the MiCA regulation, which came into effect in 2023. It regulates crypto-assets and service providers, but euro issuances remained marginal, and DLT-based tokens tied to assets have practically no collateral at this stage. In a few days, the first exchange based on ledgers will start: Lise. But it took a long time. For Europlace Paris, the European pilot regime for ledger-based market infrastructures, launched in 2023, has not met the expected success. It is too restrictive and limits the scope of projects too much.
The Commission believes that two main hurdles still block the development of these solutions in Europe: a pilot regime that is too restrictive and a lack of sufficient legal certainty in traditional regulatory frameworks.
Subscription processes often still involve converting to conventional currency, breaking the flow of entirely digital operation, adds the report.
For the entire chain to function, legally recognizing a blockchain-compatible means of payment and further harmonizing rules among European countries are necessary. Today, each country retains its definitions and frameworks, hindering the emergence of a true common market.
Banking prudential regulations also complicate matters: stablecoins are treated more severely than other digital assets, with discouraging capital and liquidity requirements. Without simpler rules, clear legal status, and better European coordination, tokenization will remain limited in use.
An industrial shift towards distributed ledgers and tokens is already underway in the USA, and the question now is who will set the standards for the new financial system. The USA is advancing rapidly with a strategy that combines private innovation, support for dollar-backed stablecoins, and the development of tokenized deposits, thereby strengthening the international attractiveness of the dollar.
So, it’s true; Europe should prioritize tokenized deposits and tokenized market infrastructures to modernize its finance without weakening its banking model. However, they should not neglect stablecoins, which Paris gives less emphasis to in the report. If all stablecoins remain in dollars, it is an added call for the dollar in Europe. They will deepen the dollarization of emerging economies and could flow into Europe, contrary to what is needed to promote the euro as an alternative to the dollar. Europe must develop its stablecoins in Euro; otherwise, the dollar’s colonization of the world (and Europe’s vassalization) will continue.
What strategy for Paris financial center with regard to digital finance? Paris Europlace March 2026.
