Large firms test tokenized cash, but few run it at scale
A DBS-commissioned survey finds 88% of large firms use or pilot tokenized money, yet only 24% run it at scale. Banks are the preferred gateway.
Large corporates are moving past tokenized-cash experiments, but mostly in pilots and limited live use. A DBS commissioned EY survey found 88% of 422 large firms use or pilot tokenized money, yet only 24% operate at scale. The results point to banks, not crypto platforms, as the preferred access layer.
The Ledger Desk · 3 min read- 88% of 422 surveyed large firms report live use or pilots of tokenized money, but only 24% operate at scale.
- Stablecoins (63%), tokenized deposits (53%) and tokenized money market funds (52%) are the instruments in use or planned.
- 64% want banks to be a single access point to the tokenized money ecosystem, which favors incumbents that can reconcile multiple rails.
- The survey was commissioned by a bank that sells these services, so adoption figures are sponsor-framed.
- Regulatory uncertainty, security risks and integration difficulty remain the stated barriers.
Large corporates are using tokenized money more widely than a year of stablecoin skepticism might suggest, but most of that use is still pilots and limited live deployments. A survey commissioned by DBS and run by EY reports that 88% of respondents are live or piloting, with 24% operating at scale, as CoinDesk reported on October 28, 2026.
What the survey measured
The survey, commissioned by DBS and conducted by EY, covered 422 business and finance leaders across 11 markets, including the U.S., China, Germany and the U.K. Every respondent organization has annual revenue above $500 million. Of those, 88% reported live use or pilots of tokenized money: 24% at scale, 43% in limited live use in selected markets and 21% in pilots or proofs of concept. The remaining 12% are exploring the technology or not using it, according to CoinDesk's report.
Why firms want banks as the gateway
Respondents did not ask for a new intermediary: 64% want banks to act as a single access point to the tokenized money ecosystem, and 63% want help with pilots and integration, as CoinDesk reported. The incentive is compliance. DBS's Lim Soon Chong said fragmentation may add complexities and compliance obligations. If several token rails coexist, the bank that reconciles them becomes the control point, and pricing power in treasury services could follow that position.
Instruments and the bank rails behind them
Stablecoins lead at 63%, followed by tokenized deposits at 53% and tokenized money market funds at 52%, per CoinDesk's account of the survey. On the bank side, DBS Token Services, launched in 2024, links DBS's permissioned blockchain to its payment systems for round-the-clock settlement. In September, DBS and Citi completed a weekend dollar payment between Singapore and New York using tokenized deposits over the Swift Digital Ledger, settling in minutes, CoinDesk reported.
What to watch next
The survey was commissioned by a bank that sells tokenized-deposit services, so the adoption figures are sponsor-framed, and a pilot can cover a wide range of activity. Regulatory uncertainty, security risks and integration difficulty remain the cited barriers. Treasury teams should watch whether the 24% at scale grows, and whether interbank frameworks, such as the one DBS and Kinexys by J.P. Morgan are reported to be exploring, reduce the fragmentation firms say they fear.
- How many large businesses use tokenized money, according to the DBS survey?
- The EY survey commissioned by DBS found 88% of 422 leaders at firms with revenue above $500 million report live use or pilots. Of those, 24% operate at scale, 43% are in limited live use and 21% are in pilots or proofs of concept.
- Which tokenized instruments are firms using or planning?
- Stablecoins lead at 63%, followed by tokenized deposits at 53% and tokenized money market funds at 52%, as reported by CoinDesk.
- Why does the survey favor banks as the access point?
- 64% of respondents want banks to serve as a single access point and 63% want help with pilots and integration. DBS's Lim Soon Chong said fragmentation may add complexities and compliance obligations.