Digital Assets Maturity Curve: 10 Steps From Board Mandate to Programmable Finance

Digital asset programmes at business banks tend to start in the right place. Client pain gets mapped, the regulatory perimeter gets drawn and the board signs off a policy. Then progress slows, at the exact point where the work has to reach a business client.

The digital assets maturity curve makes that point visible. It sets out ten capability steps across five phases, from the first assessment to programmable finance, and marks where most programmes stall. This article walks through each phase, explains why the jump from strategy to the first live use case matters most, and shows how to place your own bank on the curve.

In brief

The digital assets maturity curve has five phases. Foundation covers discovery and the board mandate. Activation brings wallet visibility and the on/off-ramp. Expansion adds tokenised deposits, FX and liquidity. Depth adds cross-border payments and digital custody, and Leadership covers tokenised asset distribution and programmable finance. Most programmes stall between Foundation and Activation.

How the digital assets maturity curve is built

The curve has ten capability steps, grouped in five phases. The first two steps happen inside the bank: research, policy and a mandate. From step 3 onwards, each step is a capability the bank offers its business clients.

The ten capability steps of the digital assets maturity curve, grouped in five phases.

Read it as a sequence rather than a menu. Every new step is added to capability the bank already has live, which is why the early steps shape everything after them.

Foundation: the work business clients do not see

Step 1, discover and assess, is where the bank maps client pain and the regulatory perimeter. Step 2, strategy and governance, turns that into a policy and board mandate.

For banks in the EU, that perimeter includes the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), Regulation (EU) 2023/1114.

Client pain is just as concrete. Non-bank fintechs and neobanks already offer digital assets to the same business clients, and each client who moves digital money elsewhere takes part of the daily relationship with them.

Foundation is necessary, and it is invisible to the client. A policy gives a business client nothing to use, which is why the next jump is the one that counts.

The jump that matters: from strategy to one use case live for clients

Most programmes stall between step 2 and step 3. The strategy exists, the mandate is signed, and no use case is live for clients yet.

Where most programmes stall: between step 2 and step 3.

The constraint is rarely technology. Signing a provider for custody, exchange or issuance moves quickly. Turning that infrastructure into something business clients use is slower, because providers cover the digital asset stack itself, and none of them connect it to the bank’s core banking systems and business banking portal.

Most core banking systems are not ready for digital assets yet, and the playbook expects an estimated three to five year transition before native core support is widespread.

Waiting for the core is not the route across. The route is narrower: one use case, live for business clients, on an orchestration layer the next steps can reuse.

That is the role TreasurUp plays. TreasurUp’s digital assets orchestration layer sits between the bank’s core banking systems, the providers it chooses and its business banking channel. It connects to those providers rather than replacing them.

Activation: the first steps a business client can use

Activation is the first phase a business client notices. Step 3, wallet visibility, puts stablecoin balances in the portal. Step 4, the on/off-ramp, adds conversion between fiat and stablecoins.

Activation: the first two steps a business client can use.

These two are the common first use cases. With wallet visibility, a business client sees stablecoin holdings next to its fiat accounts, in the portal it already logs into. With the on/off-ramp, the same client gets a compliant way in and out of stablecoins, under the bank’s brand.

Neither needs a separate app or wallet interface. Both belong inside the channel itself, not in a widget next to it. How the remaining use case families extend this base is set out in our article on digital asset use cases.

Expansion and Depth: tokenised deposits, FX and stablecoin-rail corridors

Expansion brings the bank’s own digital money into play. Step 5, tokenised cash and deposits, means bank-native tokenised deposits. Step 6, FX and liquidity, covers hedging, balancing and yield.

Balancing and yield map onto use case families TreasurUp supports today. Balancing sits in cross-border and intra-group liquidity, including target balancing and 24/7 on-chain intra-group cash sweeping. Yield comes from access to money market funds and tokenised money market funds, so surplus cash can earn a return while staying with the bank.

Depth widens the bank’s role in movement and safekeeping. Step 7, cross-border payments, means stablecoin-rail corridors live. Step 8, digital custody, covers institutional wallet and key management. For the longer view on stablecoin volumes, see our 2030 outlook on stablecoins in business banking.

Custody is a step on the bank’s curve, not a role TreasurUp takes over. The custody provider stays the bank’s choice, and TreasurUp orchestrates between that provider, the bank’s core and its channels.

Leadership: tokenised asset distribution and programmable finance

Leadership is steps 9 and 10. Tokenised asset distribution covers MMFs, bonds and receivables. Programmable finance is the full orchestration platform.

It sits at the end of the curve for a reason. Each step in it depends on what earlier steps put live: the wallet view, the ramps, custody and the cross-border corridors. A bank reaches Leadership by extending a working channel, not by starting a new programme.

Where is your bank on the digital assets maturity curve?

Count the last step your bank has live for business clients, not the last one it has approved. That is your position on the curve, and the step after it is the one to plan.

If Foundation is done and nothing is live, the next step is one Activation use case: wallet visibility or the on/off-ramp. If a first use case is live, the next step builds on it in the same channel. If it is unclear whether your core banking systems can carry that next step, start with the readiness check in the playbook.

The playbook Digital Assets in Business Banking: From Infrastructure to Live Use Cases, available on the digital assets page.

The playbook covers the five use case families, the four steps that take a bank from provider to live use case, and the readiness questions to answer before choosing.

Questions banks ask about the digital assets maturity curve

Where do most digital asset programmes stall?

Between Foundation and Activation, at the jump from step 2 to step 3. The policy and board mandate are in place, but no use case is live for business clients. The cause is rarely the provider. It is connecting digital asset infrastructure to core banking systems that are not ready for it, and to the portal and APIs the bank’s business clients already work in.

Which step should a bank put live first?

Usually a step in Activation. Wallet visibility (step 3) and the on/off-ramp (step 4) are the common starting points: one shows stablecoin balances next to fiat accounts, the other gives a compliant route between fiat and stablecoins. Further steps are then added on the same orchestration layer, one at a time.

Does TreasurUp replace our custody provider at step 8?

No. Institutional wallet and key management stay with the custody provider the bank chooses. TreasurUp is the orchestration layer between that infrastructure, the bank’s core banking systems and its client channels. It is pre-connected to multiple providers, so moving up the curve does not tie the bank to a single vendor.

Do business clients need a separate app or wallet?

No. Every TreasurUp use case runs inside the bank’s own business banking portal, APIs and mobile app, under the bank’s brand. Wallet balances sit next to fiat accounts, and bank staff manage the set-up through a bank-side admin and operations portal.

How long does it take to get the first use case live?

Time to live is 3 to 9 months, against 48 to 60 months for comparable in-house builds. The orchestration engine, compliance logic and provider integrations already exist, and that is what shortens the route from strategy to the first use case live for clients.

Can AI agents move digital money on their own at any step?

No. TreasurUp’s cross-border payments and liquidity agent prepares sweeps, funding and conversions across fiat and digital money. It proposes, routes and flags; the business client approves. An approval gate sits between proposal and execution, and nothing financial, regulatory or accounting-related is executed autonomously, in fiat or in digital assets.

Found your step? Plan the next one.

Bring your bank’s position on the curve to a walkthrough with our digital assets team. We will go through how the orchestration layer would sit in your core banking stack and which step to put live next for your business clients.

→ Request a walkthrough

Prefer to read first? Download the playbook.