The world is veering toward a fragmented monetary future in which central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins and other digital money variants jostle for position in an increasingly complex financial ecosystem. Under these conditions, rifts between different ledger technologies and payment infrastructures could also widen over time.
But fragmentation is no friend to market efficiency or liquidity. Today, the relatively poor interoperability of different digital assets is already exposing early pain points for consumers, businesses and even public authorities. Transferring value between any combination of them can be risky, expensive and time-consuming.
