'All Transactions Will Settle On Blockchains Eventually,' Standard Chartered CEO Says

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All transactions would “eventually” run on blockchain rails, according to Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters.

“Our belief, which I think is shared by the leadership of Hong Kong, is that pretty much all transactions will settle on blockchains eventually, and that all money will be digital,” Winters said Monday at Hong Kong FinTech Week. “Think about what that means: a complete rewiring of the financial system.”

Winters added that it was not yet clear how this rewiring would be done, which made experimentation supported in Hong Kong all the more critical.

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Hong Kong has worked to become a blockchain and cryptocurrency hub since at least 2022. In 2024, the region launched a tokenization sandbox, which has seen participation from Standard Chartered. This year, the region has also passed a stablecoin bill, offering guidance and clarity to prospective issuers.

Standard Chartered in February announced a partnership with cryptocurrency-focused venture capital firm Animoca Brands to launch a Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin.

Winters on Monday said HKD-backed stablecoins could play an “interesting” role in international trade, as they are linked to the Chinese government but are still “tightly managed against the U.S. dollar.”

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Meanwhile, Hong Kong is not the only region opening its doors to tokenization and stablecoins. In April, the U.S. enacted stablecoin rules. Meanwhile, the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission has unveiled “Project Crypto,” an initiative to enable financial markets to move on-chain.

Amid the global regulatory tilt, several leaders in finance have shown rising optimism about the blockchain sectors.

Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) CEO Vlad Tenev last month likened tokenization to a “freight train,” adding that “it can’t be stopped and eventually it’s going to eat the entire financial system.”

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Even renowned cryptocurrency skeptic JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon appears to have changed his tune.

“Crypto is real,” Dimon said at the Future Investment Initiative conference last week. “Blockchains, stablecoins and JPM deposit coins, all that stuff is real. It will be used by all of us to facilitate better transactions.”

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This article 'All Transactions Will Settle On Blockchains Eventually,' Standard Chartered CEO Says originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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