Japan, for example, on Wednesday (July 15) passed a new parliamentary amendment placing cryptocurrency assets under the regulatory umbrella of “financial assets.” Previously, digital assets were designated as “payment assets,” not financial ones.

Meanwhile, London on Monday (July 13) issued a report on accelerating tokenization in wholesale financial markets.

The defining question therefore is no longer whether banks will use blockchain. It is whether blockchain-based money will remain an extension of banking or become a competing…