Tokenized cash adoption hits 88% among large firms, DBS survey shows

Scale of adoption across the corporate tier

A DBS-commissioned EY survey of 422 finance leaders from 11 markets, each with revenue above $500 million, reports that 88% are using tokenized money in live environments or pilot projects CoinDesk. The study breaks usage into three categories: 24% have deployed the technology at scale, 43% operate limited live use in selected markets, and 21% run pilots or proofs of concept.

Instruments leading the rollout

Stablecoins top the list of tokenized instruments, with 63% of respondents indicating current use or plans to adopt them. Tokenized deposits and tokenized money-market funds follow closely at 53% and 52% respectively. Treasury liquidity management improvements are reported by 65% of firms, while 71% anticipate or have realized real-time cross-border payments within two years.

Banking as the conduit for tokenized ecosystems

Regulatory uncertainty, security concerns and integration complexity are cited as persistent obstacles. Nearly two-thirds of participants want banks to serve as a single access point, and 63% seek assistance with pilots and integration. DBS’s own token platform, launched in 2024, connects a permissioned blockchain to its payment infrastructure, enabling round-the-clock settlement. Citi disclosed that its token service moves close to $1 billion daily for corporate clients, and a recent weekend dollar transfer between Singapore and New York settled in minutes via tokenized deposits on the Swift Digital Ledger.

Our read: Corporate treasury functions are moving decisively toward tokenized cash to shave latency and improve traceability, with stablecoins as the preferred vehicle. The reliance on banks for a unified access layer reflects both the strategic value of trusted intermediaries and the current gap in in-house integration capabilities.