One of Argentina's longest‑running exchanges, Ripio, is betting on local currency stablecoins and tokenized bonds to drive a decade‑long boom in tokenized money across Latin America. Argentine exchange Ripio is leaning into local currency stablecoins and tokenized bonds as CEO Sebastián Serrano braces for what he expects to be a “lateralized” or down year for crypto in 2026 — but a decade-long boom for stablecoins. Founded in 2013, Ripio has shifted from a pure retail exchange into a B2B infrastructure provider serving banks, fintechs, and big platforms like Mercado Libre (Latin America’s answer to Amazon). The exchange now offers a range of local fiat-backed stablecoins, including the Argentine peso‑pegged wARS, the Brazilian real-pegged wBRL, the Mexican peso-pegged wMXN and a tokenized version of Argentina’s most‑traded sovereign bond, AL30, which Serrano says traded “more than a million units” on the Sunday of the last Argentinian election in October, 2025. Read more
The Bank of Italy's Fabio Panetta said stablecoins can only play a complementary role in the monetary system, arguing that their stability depends on fiat currency pegs. Commercial bank money is likely to become fully digital in the future, alongside central bank money, according to Fabio Panetta, the governor of Italy’s central bank, Banca d’Italia. Panetta made the remarks on Wednesday while addressing the executive committee of Italy’s banking association. According to a report by Reuters, Panetta said both digital commercial bank money and central bank money would continue to anchor the monetary system, while stablecoins would only play a complementary role. He added that the stability of stablecoins ultimately depends on their peg to traditional currencies, limiting their ability to function independently in the financial system. Panetta's comments came during a broader discussion on payments, financial infrastructure and geopolitical uncertainty. Read more
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, the French central bank governor and Coinbase CEO clashed over whether trust in money comes from institutions or decentralized Bitcoin. The long-running tension between central banks and Bitcoin resurfaced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where senior executives and policymakers debated regulation versus innovation in digital finance. Trust in money must come from regulated public institutions rather than private crypto issuers, French central bank Governor François Villeroy de Galhau said during a panel titled “Is Tokenization the Future?” on Wednesday. “The guarantee for trust is independence on the central bank side,” Galhau said, adding: “I trust more independent central banks with a democratic mandate than private issuers of Bitcoin.” Read more