Citi recently published its “Securities Services Evolution” whitepaper, which studies market infrastructure developments every year and how the industry is responding to these changes. The whitepaper estimates that 10% of the globe’s market turnover will be tokenized by 2030, mostly by bank-issued stablecoins. It highlights that automation via technology will help businesses deal with the T+1 settlement problem.
This fifth annual survey report had 537 industry participants, including custodians, broker-dealers, and asset managers. It showed how tokenization, faster settlements, and AI-driven automation are changing post-trades arrangements.
The main points of the report predict that by 2030, a significant portion in this domain will be processed with digital assets and tokenized securities, and bank-issued stablecoins will play a key role in improving collateral efficiency, fund tokenization, and private market securities.
A staggering 48% of projects are aiming to optimize their internal processes for North American T+1 settlements. In 2025, 76% of those who answered are actively working on T+1 projects.
“From accelerated settlements to automation in asset servicing and increased shareholder participation and governance, the collective vision of firms worldwide is converging on the same core themes,” said Chris Cox, Head of Investor Services, Citi. He added, “The industry is at the cusp of significant change as market participants intensify their focus on T+1, accelerate the adoption of digital assets, and implement GenAI across their operations.”
Furthermore, the study also revealed that 86% of respondents reported that their companies are testing GenAI, with client onboarding as the primary use case for asset managers, custodians, and broker-dealers. Meanwhile 57% said that their companies are testing the technology for post-trade purposes only, and buy-side firms are leading the way in using GenAI in the back office. And 67% of institutional investors utilize GenAI for clearing and settlement, post-trade reconciliation and reporting, and clearing and settlement.
Stablecoins On Rise in the Asia-Pacific Region
The Asia Pacific region has been leading in the use of digital assets lately, with millions of cryptocurrency users. Further, regulators in the region are also moving to get digital asset projects up and running.
China, Japan, and South Korea have been eyeing currency-based stablecoins recently. Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is in the process of approving the nation’s first yen-backed stablecoin, a move that could potentially expand the use of digital money and impact the demand for government debt.
Furthermore, China is also exploring to launch its yuan-backed stablecoins to expand its currency’s global reach in digital finance and counter the dominance of the USD.