Digital currencies and new opportunities for standardisation .

Despite the fact that cryptocurrency remains one of the most well-known use cases for distributed ledger technology, ISO/TC 307 has so far not initiated any projects on decentralised finance or digital currencies.  Meanwhile, stablecoins have proliferated among new and existing providers of financial services, and central banks around the world have begun taking earnest steps toward deploying central bank digital currency (CBDC).  Standards are an important prerequisite for institutional adoption of any new technology, and these new technologies could form key infrastructure for the future of electronic payments.

New standards might soon be on the way.  This year, ISO/TC 307 has launched a new advisory group on digital currencies that shall explore the potential for new projects and initiatives in areas related to digital currencies, digital assets, and decentralised finance.  This advisory group is working in parallel to a corresponding advisory group launched by ISO/TC 68 Financial services.  Watch this space, and participate if you can!

I personally drafted an article on tokens and distributed ledger technology in payment systems to help researchers and the standardisation community make sense of what new technologies mean for the future of payments.  The community would like to hear your thoughts as well.