Jun 10, 2026 · 30 min · 10 segments
Two defining tech trends of 2026 - AI-driven decision-making and the tokenisation of financial infrastructure - are already reshaping finance. But what happens when they converge? From near real-time…
Ron van KemenadeHost
Michelle NealGuest
Jess HoulgraveGuest
Graeme RodfordGuest
And that, that's probably again where, um, let's say part of the trust, uh, should be obviously on the permission side in the wallet, like you said, Jess.
And, and then on the other side, there is programmability of transactions on the blockchain.
Which brings me a bit to the whole theme that I promised we would come back on of trust.
Where do you believe, Michelle, in the future, the trust will predominantly reside in the whole ecosystem of, of wallets, uh, banks, the blockchain operators, the regulators, uh, identity providers? I could go on, right? Where, where do you believe the, the trust will go, and how do, how do consumers in particular understand that?
So I'm a, I'm a little bit cautious about the notion, and, and this is one that sort of comes up a lot, that distributed ledgers eliminate the need for trust.
Um, people sometimes des- you know, describe blockchain as trustless, but financial systems are never truly trustless.
The question is simply: where does the trust sit? Is it in institutions, in governance frameworks, or increasingly in the design of the rules of the network itself? Um, and I think that distinction becomes even more important in a world where AI systems are participating more actively in financial decision-making.
Because if AI is making decisions and tokenized infrastructure is executing them, then trust, accountability, and governance have to be embedded much more directly into the system itself.
So one interesting aspect of tokenization is that controls, permissions, um, and governance can potentially be embedded directly into assets and transactions, making oversight more proactive, um, than purely reactive.But transparency a-alone is, is, is not the same as accountability.
So you still need clear governance, intervention mechanisms, legal certainty, and ultimately confidence in the underlying settlement process.
So for wholesale financial activity, um, central bank money continues to provide the strongest foundation because it delivers finality and removes credit risk from the system.
Um, in addition to that, central banks have a governing remit for financial stability.
Um, of course, the role of monetary policy transmission, um, and the fractional reserve banking system, and there's lots of schools of thoughts on whether fractional banking, um, will be needed in the future.
So I do see the role of central banks and regulators as remaining central but evolving.
Um, distributed infrastructure can extend how trust is accessed and used across increasingly digital and interoperable markets, but it does not eliminate the need for this sort of trusted anchor underneath.
Um, in fact, a-as systems become more automated, more interconnected, and potentially more autonomous, um, the, the importance of that trusted foundation argu-arguably increases.
So because if AI accelerates, uh, transaction velocity, um, financial decision-making, uh, markets need infrastructure underneath that can support that activity safely, consistently, predictably.
So success will not really be determined by a single technology or a single model.
Um, it will depe-depend on whether the system as a whole, um, becomes more coherent, whether the value, liquidity, and risk, for example, can move efficiently, safely, and consistently across markets, jurisdictions, and different forms of digital money.
So we're moving from digitized finance towards increasingly programmable finance, and that has implications not just for efficiency, but for how trust, governance, accountability, and resilience are built directly into the financial system itself.
And I think that's what makes this, this moment so important because the architectural decisions that we make now, um, will shape how financial markets operate for decades to come.
And that, that's probably again where, um, let's say part of the trust, uh, should be obviously on the permission side in the wallet, like you said, Jess.
And, and then on the other side, there is programmability of transactions on the blockchain.
Which brings me a bit to the whole theme that I promised we would come back on of trust.
Where do you believe, Michelle, in the future, the trust will predominantly reside in the whole ecosystem of, of wallets, uh, banks, the blockchain operators, the regulators, uh, identity providers? I could go on, right? Where, where do you believe the, the trust will go, and how do, how do consumers in particular understand that?
So I'm a, I'm a little bit cautious about the notion, and, and this is one that sort of comes up a lot, that distributed ledgers eliminate the need for trust.
Um, people sometimes des- you know, describe blockchain as trustless, but financial systems are never truly trustless.
The question is simply: where does the trust sit? Is it in institutions, in governance frameworks, or increasingly in the design of the rules of the network itself? Um, and I think that distinction becomes even more important in a world where AI systems are participating more actively in financial decision-making.
Because if AI is making decisions and tokenized infrastructure is executing them, then trust, accountability, and governance have to be embedded much more directly into the system itself.
So one interesting aspect of tokenization is that controls, permissions, um, and governance can potentially be embedded directly into assets and transactions, making oversight more proactive, um, than purely reactive.But transparency a-alone is, is, is not the same as accountability.
So you still need clear governance, intervention mechanisms, legal certainty, and ultimately confidence in the underlying settlement process.
So for wholesale financial activity, um, central bank money continues to provide the strongest foundation because it delivers finality and removes credit risk from the system.
Um, in addition to that, central banks have a governing remit for financial stability.
Um, of course, the role of monetary policy transmission, um, and the fractional reserve banking system, and there's lots of schools of thoughts on whether fractional banking, um, will be needed in the future.
So I do see the role of central banks and regulators as remaining central but evolving.
Um, distributed infrastructure can extend how trust is accessed and used across increasingly digital and interoperable markets, but it does not eliminate the need for this sort of trusted anchor underneath.
Um, in fact, a-as systems become more automated, more interconnected, and potentially more autonomous, um, the, the importance of that trusted foundation argu-arguably increases.
So because if AI accelerates, uh, transaction velocity, um, financial decision-making, uh, markets need infrastructure underneath that can support that activity safely, consistently, predictably.
So success will not really be determined by a single technology or a single model.
Um, it will depe-depend on whether the system as a whole, um, becomes more coherent, whether the value, liquidity, and risk, for example, can move efficiently, safely, and consistently across markets, jurisdictions, and different forms of digital money.
So we're moving from digitized finance towards increasingly programmable finance, and that has implications not just for efficiency, but for how trust, governance, accountability, and resilience are built directly into the financial system itself.
And I think that's what makes this, this moment so important because the architectural decisions that we make now, um, will shape how financial markets operate for decades to come.
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