Educational Intelligence — The Global Money Reset

The International Monetary System Is Being Rebuilt. Here Is Every Brick.

Central Bank Digital Currencies, tokenized deposits, stablecoin regulation, cross-border settlement networks — these are not future scenarios. They are active programs at every major institution in the global financial system. This is the map of what is actually happening, who is building it, what technology underlies it, and what it means for every person who uses money.

GMIIE VIEW Arguably the most significant structural transformation since Bretton Woods — what looks from the outside like a fragmented collection of central bank digital currency experiments is, viewed from inside participating institutions, a coordinated reconstruction of the rails on which money moves. DATA GMIIE tracks activity across 134 jurisdictions as of Q2 2026.

The story has three layers. The first is retail: what currency ordinary people will use, how they'll hold it, and who controls their access to it. The second is wholesale: how banks settle with each other, how sovereign obligations are discharged, and who has authority over the clearing layer. The third is geopolitical: which nations' infrastructure becomes the global standard, whose currency maintains reserve status, and how the dollar's six-decade dominance adjusts to a multipolar monetary world.

All three layers are active simultaneously. The decisions being made in BIS working groups, Fed research divisions, and Polygon validator networks right now will determine the financial architecture of the next fifty years. This brief covers all of it — with educational depth, institutional accuracy, and HD voice narration if you'd prefer to listen.

134

Jurisdictions Tracked

Live (GMIIE def.)

In Pilot Phase

In Research

~$175B

Stablecoin Mkt Cap

$4T+

Daily X-Border Settle.

GMIIE taxonomy · as of June 2026
FACT Public trackers such as the Atlantic Council CBDC Tracker typically count 3–4 retail CBDCs as fully live (e.g., Bahamas, Jamaica, Nigeria, and sometimes Zimbabwe).
GMIIE VIEW We classify as “live” any CBDC or CBDC-like settlement system in production with real money and real counterparties — including selected wholesale platforms and multi-CBDC bridges (e.g., mBridge). That yields 11 live systems in our registry versus the narrower retail-only count above.
Market-cap and share figures are approximate snapshots; see table headers for dates.

Regional CBDC Status — Live Map

134 jurisdictions · Live 11 (GMIIE def.) · Pilot 36 · Research 87 · as of Q2 2026

North America

United States

FedNow + Digital Dollar Research

CBDC Blocked

FACT FedNow instant payments rail is live for eligible banks — not a retail CBDC. FACT The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act (H.R. 5403) passed the House and is pending in the Senate Banking Committee as of June 2026, prohibiting retail CBDC issuance. Project Hamilton (MIT + Boston Fed) research complete. Project Cedar (Fed NY wholesale CBDC) in advanced research. RLN consortium tokenized-deposit pilot active.as of June 2026 · source: Fed, GMIIE desk

Canada

Project Jasper / Digital CAD

Research

Bank of Canada completed Project Jasper (DLT-based wholesale settlement). Retail CBDC under consideration. Canada is cautious — significant privacy debate. Interac digital infrastructure already highly developed, reducing urgency.

Mexico

Digital Peso

Pilot 2025

Banco de M — xico announced digital peso development. Focus on financial inclusion (50%+ unbanked). Fintech law (2018) created regulatory framework. Pilot targeting 2025-2026 launch.

Bahamas

Sand Dollar

LIVE — World's First

First retail CBDC globally launched October 2020. Operated by Central Bank of the Bahamas. Available via authorized wallets on Android/iOS. Limited uptake but operational and expanding. Model for small island CBDC deployment.

Jamaica

JAM-DEX

LIVE

National launch 2022 with government incentive program ($16 JAM for wallet creation). Processed via FinCo CBDC platform. Bank of Jamaica operates. Growing adoption in informal economy.

Eastern Caribbean

DCash (DXCD)

LIVE — 8 Nations

8-nation Eastern Caribbean Currency Union CBDC. Operated by ECCB. Covers Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Montserrat, Anguilla. First multi-country CBDC. Fintech infrastructure built by Bitt Inc.

South America

Brazil

DREX

Pilot · Phase 2

DREX is the most sophisticated CBDC design in the Western hemisphere. Built on Hyperledger Besu (EVM-compatible). Smart contract programmability. DvP (Delivery vs Payment) for securities. Wholesale focus with retail bridge. Participants: B3, Ita — , Bradesco, BTG, XP, Nubank, and 14 others. Phase 2 pilots privacy-preserving features using zero-knowledge proofs.

Argentina

Research Phase

Research

Milei government's crypto-peso hybrid pivot has complicated CBDC planning. Peso dollarization attempted, now shifting. BTC used as reserve buffer concept gaining internal traction. BCRA studying options. Complex political environment.

Colombia

Digital Peso Research

Research

Banco de la Rep — blica partnering with IDB and World Bank on CBDC feasibility. Focus on financial inclusion (40% unbanked). Pilot design phase. Timeline: 2026-2027.

Chile

eWeight Research

Research

Banco Central de Chile published CBDC research paper 2023. Highly banked population reduces urgency. Focus on wholesale use case. Fintech ecosystem strong — Fintual, Betterfly leading fintech growth.

Peru

BCRP Research

Research

Central Reserve Bank of Peru exploring CBDC for financial inclusion. 40% of adults unbanked. Yape and Plin digital payment systems already dominant. CBDC would bridge rural access gaps.

Uruguay

e-Peso (Completed Pilot)

Pilot Completed

Uruguay ran the world's first retail CBDC pilot (2017-2018) — e-Peso. 10,000 users. Results published. Did not proceed to full rollout due to cost-benefit analysis. Now watching global developments before re-engaging.

Europe

European Union

Digital Euro

Preparation Phase

ECB investigation phase completed Oct 2023. Preparation phase ongoing. Legislation pending European Parliament. GMIIE VIEW Earliest launch window projected for 2027–2029; no final go-live decision yet. Privacy debate ongoing. Consultation proposals include holding caps.as of June 2026 · source: ECB

United Kingdom

Digital Pound ("Britcoin")

Blueprint Phase

HM Treasury + Bank of England consultation complete; blueprint published; no launch decision. Consultation proposals include a digital-pound holding range of roughly £10,000–£20,000 — not finalized policy. Mid-2020s decision window under discussion.as of Q1 2026 · source: BoE / HM Treasury

Sweden

e-Krona

Extended Pilot

Riksbank pilot with Handelsbanken, Tietoevry, and Accenture. Testing offline payments, payments for the elderly, API integration. Sweden is the most cashless society on earth (only 8% of transactions use cash). e-Krona would preserve payment sovereignty.

Switzerland

Project Helvetia + wCBDC

Wholesale Pilot

SNB Project Helvetia with SIX Digital Exchange: wholesale CBDC for settling tokenized assets. Live pilot since 2021. Swiss franc wCBDC used for real securities settlement. Most advanced wholesale CBDC in Europe. Retail: not planned.

Norway

Project Icebreaker

Cross-Border Pilot

BIS Project Icebreaker (with Sweden, Israel): retail CBDC cross-border payments. Norway 98% cashless. Norges Bank testing technical feasibility. Focus on interoperability between different CBDC systems.

Asia-Pacific

China

Digital Yuan (e-CNY)

LIVE — Most Advanced

Among the largest operational retail CBDC programs globally. Programmable features (expiry, geography, category limits) documented in PBOC materials. Cross-border pilots via mBridge. FACT Wallet/user counts move quickly — GMIIE desk cites roughly 261M+ wallets in public reporting.as of Q2 2026 · source: PBOC

India

Digital Rupee (e₹)

LIVE

Wholesale (e₹-W) and retail (e₹-R) tracks; UPI integration; major banks participating. User counts have exceeded 5M+ users in RBI reporting.as of Q2 2026 · source: RBI

Japan

Digital Yen

Phase 3 Pilot

Bank of Japan CBDC experiment Phase 3. No decision to launch; policy decision expected H2 2026. High cash usage makes urgency lower. Note: BoJ hiked its policy rate to 1.0% on June 16, 2026, shifting the macro settlement environment.as of June 2026 · source: BoJ

Singapore

Project Orchid / Guardian

Phase 3

MAS Project Orchid: purpose-bound money framework. Project Guardian Phase 3: tokenized asset settlements with 15+ financial institutions including JPM, DBS, Standard Chartered, HSBC, UBS. One of the most sophisticated CBDC ecosystems globally. Focus on wholesale and cross-border rather than retail.

South Korea

BOK CBDC Phase 2

Phase 2 Pilot

Bank of Korea Phase 2 with 100,000 participants. Kakao Pay, Samsung Pay, and Naver Pay integration. Testing offline payments, micropayments, conditional payments. Highly digital society. Decision on full launch: 2025-2026.

Australia

Project Acacia / eAUD

Pilot

Reserve Bank of Australia Project Acacia: wholesale CBDC with tokenized financial markets. eAUD pilot 2023: 14 use cases tested with 16 industry participants. RBA chose wholesale over retail. Focus: improving securities settlement, foreign exchange, and cross-border payments.

Middle East & Africa

UAE

Digital Dirham / mBridge

Pilot — Live Cross-Border

CBUAE Digital Dirham Phase 2. mBridge participant — active cross-border settlement with China, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Hong Kong. Oil trade settlement in digital dirham pilot live. DIFC and ADGM both have regulatory sandboxes. Abu Dhabi Global Market RWA tokenization focus.

Saudi Arabia

Digital Riyal / Project Aber

Pilot

SAMA Project Aber (with UAE): bilateral CBDC settlement. mBridge participant. Tadawul T+1 settlement using blockchain. Vision 2030 digital finance mandate. SAMA exploring retail CBDC but primary focus is wholesale cross-border for oil trade. OPEC+ petro-digital infrastructure development.

South Africa

Project Khokha

Pilot

SARB Project Khokha 1 (interbank settlement) and Khokha 2 (DvP securities) completed. Project Dunbar with BIS: cross-border CBDC (with Australia, Malaysia, Singapore). SARB Rate cut path ongoing. Financial inclusion is primary CBDC driver in sub-Saharan context.

Nigeria

eNaira Version 2

LIVE v2

eNaira v1 (Oct 2021) saw very low adoption; v2 adds offline/USSD/merchant QR features aligned with World Bank inclusion guidance. GMIIE VIEW One of the more significant retail relaunches under active monitoring — not a settled success story yet.as of Q1 2026 · source: CBN / World Bank commentary

Ghana

eCedi

Pilot

Bank of Ghana eCedi pilot with Giesecke+Devrient. Offline chip-based payments for rural areas. Focus on financial inclusion (60% unbanked). First CBDC in sub-Saharan Africa to use hardware card for offline transactions.

mBridge Platform

Multi-CBDC Bridge

LIVE — BIS role reduced

Participants include PBOC, CBUAE, SAMA, BOT, HKMA. FACT BIS reduced operational involvement (reported Oct 2024); governance increasingly led by participant central banks. Pilot transaction values and production timelines remain in flux.as of Q1 2026 · source: BIS / participant CB releases

IMF — BIS — World Bank — G20 — Settlement Networks

What the institutions are actually building

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Global CBDC Policy Architecture & Cross-Border Standards

FACT The IMF publishes CBDC design handbooks and cross-border policy work including the XC Platform concept. ANALOGY XC is sometimes described as a “monetary internet” — GMIIE explanatory language, not an official IMF product name — a settlement layer where national CBDCs interoperate without a single dominant currency.

Active Initiatives

XC PlatformDesign Phase

Handbook for CBDC DesignPublished

ISO 20022 Harmonization PushActive

FinTech Notes SeriesOngoing

Fragmentation Risk MonitoringLive

Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

The Central Banker's Central Bank — Leading Global CBDC R&D

FACT BIS Innovation Hub runs multi-CBDC research (Icebreaker, Dunbar, Helvetia, Meridian, Agorá, etc.). FACT BIS stepped back from day-to-day mBridge operations (2024), with participating central banks taking greater governance roles. GMIIE VIEW The Unified Ledger concept remains one of the most ambitious wholesale-tokenization frameworks in public discourse.

Major Projects

Project Agorá (7 central banks)Active

Project Icebreaker (CBDC cross-border)Complete

Project Dunbar (4 nations)Complete

Project Meridian (UK)Active

BIS Unified Ledger ConceptWhitepaper

mBridge (EXITED Oct 2024)EXITED

World Bank Group

Financial Inclusion, Developing Economy CBDC, and Payments Modernization

The World Bank focuses on what CBDCs mean for the 1.4 billion adults globally who have no bank account. It provides technical assistance for developing nation CBDC programs, advises on regulatory frameworks, and runs the Bali Fintech Agenda with the IMF. For developing economies, the World Bank's position is: CBDCs can include the excluded, but only if designed for offline functionality, USSD access, and agent banking integration.

Focus Areas

Developing Economy CBDC AdvisoryOngoing

Financial Inclusion CBDC DesignActive

Bali Fintech Agenda (with IMF)Live

Nigeria eNaira Technical AssistanceCompleted

Colombia Digital Peso FeasibilityActive

Regulated Liability Network (RLN)

US Bank Consortium — Tokenized Deposit Pilot

The RLN is the US commercial banking sector's answer to CBDC: instead of a government-issued digital dollar, tokenized commercial bank deposits on a shared regulated liability ledger. The theory: keep the two-tier banking system (central bank + commercial banks) but put the commercial bank layer on-chain. All dollars remain FDIC-insured. The Fed would oversee but not issue.

Participants & Status

JPMorgan, Citibank, Wells FargoActive

BNY Mellon, US Bancorp, TruistActive

HSBC, TD Bank, PNC, MastercardActive

NY Innovation Center (NYIC) / NY FedOversight

12-week proof of conceptCompleted 2023

Fnality International

UK-Based Wholesale Settlement Network — Live Production

Fnality is the most operationally mature private tokenized settlement system globally. The Sterling Fnality Payment System (sFPS) went live as a regulated payment system in the UK. It allows financial institutions to settle financial market transactions using tokenized central bank money (reserves at the Bank of England, held in a distributed structure). Real money, on-chain settlement, bank-grade.

Shareholders & Status

Barclays, BNY Mellon, CitiLive

Lloyds, MUFG, Nasdaq, SantanderLive

State Street, Sumitomo, UBSLive

sFPS (Sterling Fnality Payment System)LIVE UK

USD / EUR extensionsTargeted 2026–27

Project Agorá (BIS + 7 Central Banks)

Tokenizing Wholesale Cross-Border Money — Unified Ledger Prototype

FACT Seven central banks (France, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Switzerland, UK, NY Fed) plus 40+ private firms explore tokenized deposits/reserves on shared infrastructure. GMIIE VIEW One of the most ambitious multi-institution wholesale CBDC programs publicly active in 2026 — scale metrics still emerging.

Central Bank Participants

Banque de France ( — zone)Active

Bank of Japan ( — )Active

Bank of Korea (?)Active

Swiss National Bank (CHF)Active

Bank of England ( — )Active

New York Fed ($ reserves)Active

Global Bank CBDC & Stablecoin Tracker

What every major bank is actually building

US Banks — Tokenized Deposits & Stablecoins

JPMorgan ChaseJPM Coin (live), Onyx blockchain, RLN participant, $1M+ daily institutional transactions

CitibankCiti Token Services (live), cross-border tokenized deposits, RLN, Agor —

Wells FargoIntraday USD payments blockchain pilot, RLN participant

BNY MellonDigital asset custody (live), tokenized securities, RLN, Fnality shareholder

Goldman SachsGS DAP (Digital Asset Platform), tokenized bond issuance ( — 1B+), repo on blockchain

Bank of America700+ blockchain patents, tokenized deposits research, stablecoin readiness under GENIUS Act

European Banks — Tokenized Settlement

Deutsche BankDigital bond issuances, EUROe stablecoin investor, Fnality shareholder

HSBCHSBC Orion (tokenized assets), Project Guardian Singapore, RLN participant

BarclaysFnality founding shareholder, Digital Gilt experiment, CBDC research

Soci — t — G — n — raleEUR CoinVertible (EURCV stablecoin on Ethereum, fully regulated, MiCA compliant)

BNP ParibasDigital bond settlements, tokenized fund shares, Digital Euro preparation

UBSUBS Tokenized Money Market Fund (live on Ethereum), Fnality shareholder

Asian Banks — Cross-Border & Domestic

MUFG (Japan)Progmat stablecoin platform (Progmat Coin), digital yen pilot, Fnality shareholder

DBS Bank (Singapore)DBS Digital Exchange (licensed), tokenized bonds, Project Guardian, Project Orchid

Standard CharteredZodia Custody (crypto custody), Project Guardian, tokenized trade finance

Ita — (Brazil)DREX pilot bank, tokenized Brazilian government bonds, crypto brokerage live

HDFC Bank (India)e? pilot bank, UPI integration, digital rupee wholesale participant

ANZ (Australia)A$DC stablecoin (first AUD stablecoin by major bank), Project Acacia

Stablecoins — The Private Dollar Layer

Tether — Circle — JPM Coin — EURCV — How It All Fits Together

Educational — Stablecoins 101

What a Stablecoin Actually Is, and Why It Matters More Than the Price of Bitcoin

A stablecoin is a digital token designed to maintain a fixed value relative to a reference asset — most commonly the US dollar. Unlike Bitcoin (which fluctuates) or a CBDC (which is government-issued), a stablecoin is private money, issued by a company, backed by reserves, and running on a public blockchain. The ~$175 billion stablecoin market (approx., May 2026) is, in practice, one of the largest private payments rails globally.

The economics are straightforward: you deposit $1, you receive 1 stablecoin, you can use that stablecoin to transact on any blockchain that supports it, and you can redeem 1 stablecoin for $1. The complexity is in the reserve: what backs the dollar claim? Who audits it? Who can freeze your tokens? Who is liable if the issuer fails?

GMIIE VIEW The GENIUS Act provides the first comprehensive federal stablecoin framework in US discourse — reserve rules, attestations, and licensing — though implementation details and overlapping securities/commodities regimes remain open questions. Offshore structures face market-access friction; onshore, fully reserved issuers and bank-chartered products gain structural advantage.

Stablecoin	Issuer	Market Cap (approx., May 2026)	Backing	Chain	Regulatory Status	GENIUS Act Impact
USDT (Tether)	Tether Ltd (BVI)	~$118B	T-bills, reserves, "other"	Tron (~50% of supply), Ethereum (~35%), others	Gray Area	Excluded — offshore structure
USDC (Circle)	Circle (US, Delaware)	~$43B	T-bills + Fed bank accounts	Ethereum, Solana, Base	Compliant	Winner — US structure aligned
JPM Coin	JPMorgan Chase	$1B+ daily volume	JPM bank deposits (FDIC)	Onyx (private EVM)	Bank-issued	Winner — bank-chartered
EURCV	Soci — t — G — n — rale	— 100M+	Euro cash reserves	Ethereum, Stellar	MiCA Compliant	EU jurisdiction — unaffected
PYUSD	PayPal / Paxos	$500M	T-bills + cash	Ethereum, Solana	Paxos Trust	Compliant — US structure
FDUSD	First Digital (HK)	$2B	HK dollar cash	BNB Chain, Ethereum	SFC Hong Kong	HK jurisdiction — watching
DAI / USDS	MakerDAO / Sky	$5B	Crypto collateral (overcollateralized)	Ethereum	DeFi Native	DeFi front-ends affected

XRPL — Tron — The Infrastructure Giants

How the world's money actually moves on-chain

XRPL — XRP Ledger

The Central Bank CBDC Platform

FACT XRPL offers fast finality, low fees, and built-in DEX features suited to RTGS-style settlement experiments. GMIIE VIEW One of the most mature public-chain RTGS-style ledgers — not a claim against TARGET2 or Fedwire.

FACT Bhutan and Palau have run limited-scope pilots/partnerships involving XRPL infrastructure. Frame as pilots and constrained deployments, not full national stack replacements.

FACT Ripple ODL corridors (e.g., Philippines, Singapore, Mexico) remain active post-SEC settlement. GMIIE VIEW Reported volume growth has been significant quarter-over-quarter; avoid pinning a single percentage without a dated source.

Tron — TRC-20 USDT

The Emerging Market Money Rail

GMIIE VIEW In many inflation-hit emerging markets, TRC-20 USDT on Tron functions as a de facto dollar rail for remittances and everyday transactions — with roughly half of total USDT supply hosted on Tron as of early 2026 (public issuer/chain analytics vary by snapshot).

Low per-transaction fees and ~3-second settlement drive adoption where correspondent banking is slow or costly. Nigeria, Turkey, Argentina, Venezuela, and similar markets show heavy informal USDT use — always verify jurisdiction-specific legal status.

GENIUS Act friction for offshore issuers affects US market access; Tron's primary user base remains outside US-regulated on-ramps.

Quantum Computing & Algorithmic Trading — What's Actually Happening

No hype. Just the state of the technology and its market implications.

Quantum Computing — The Real Timeline

Where We Actually Are in 2026

GMIIE VIEW Breaking widely deployed elliptic-curve cryptography plausibly remains 5–10+ years out, depending on hardware and algorithmic progress — not consensus, but a planning horizon many banks use. FACT Google Willow (105-qubit benchmark, 2024) and IBM's fault-tolerance roadmap (~2029 target) are public. NIST post-quantum standards finalized 2024; financial firms are beginning integration for data-at-rest and long-lived keys.

Algorithmic & High-Frequency Trading

The Market Structure Nobody Talks About at Dinner Parties

FACT Algorithmic trading is commonly estimated at 60–70% of US equity volume. ANALOGY GMIIE PSI (Policy Surprise Index) uses a stylized HFT latency anecdote — illustrative satire from The Satirist desk, not a documented historical trade record. MEV extraction on-chain remains a material microstructure issue for DeFi users.

Energy Trading & Carbon Markets

SREC, REC, Carbon Credits, and the Financialization of the Grid

Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs) are state-specific certificates representing 1 MWh of solar generation. New Jersey and Massachusetts have the highest SREC prices ($180-220/SREC) due to strong renewable portfolio standards. Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are broader national certificates ($3-8/REC). The voluntary carbon market — where companies buy offsets — hit $2B in 2023 and is restructuring after quality scandals. Verra (largest standard-setter) has tightened requirements. The GMIIE system tracks SREC prices, REC market trends, and voluntary carbon market quality through Baron von Brent's Energy & Carbon desk. Key insight: AI data centers are buying RECs aggressively to offset their energy consumption — creating a feedback loop where AI demand raises copper prices (grid build) which raises electricity prices which raises the incentive to install solar which produces more SRECs. The math is circular and beautiful.