For the past two years, the digital asset question in business banking was whether the technology was ready. At MERGE Madrid 2026, that question had largely gone. The infrastructure works, many banks have chosen their partners, and what now separates them is how fast they turn that infrastructure into something a business client can use.
This article sets out the five digital asset trends in business banking that came through most clearly across the eight sessions we followed in Madrid at the end of October. For each one, it adds the latest research from EY-Parthenon, Capgemini and ESMA, and what the trend means for a business bank planning its first live use case.
In brief
Five digital asset trends in business banking stood out at MERGE Madrid 2026. Execution, not technology, is the bottleneck. Doing nothing is now the risk. Banks want to own the client and the risk, and source the plumbing. MiCA gave clarity, not uniformity. And the on-ramp and off-ramp is the first concrete ask from business clients.
Digital asset trends in business banking at a glance
Five digital asset trends from MERGE Madrid 2026.
1. Execution, not technology, is the bottleneck
The reasons banks stall now sit inside the bank. Three came up again and again in Madrid: alignment between business, technology and risk teams; compliance sign-off for a new type of money; and operating models built for office hours in a market that never closes. On stage, it came down to one practical question: who supports a business client at 3 am on a Saturday?
The wider market shows the same gap between intent and delivery. In Capgemini’s World Payments Report 2027, published in September 2026, only 21% of the 300 banks surveyed are actively scaling at least one new digital money instrument.
Timelines suffer accordingly. Plans announced in months stretch well beyond them, and internal buy-in usually takes longest. Whoever shortens the path to a first live use case wins. With the orchestration engine, the compliance logic and the provider connections already built, a first use case can go live in 3 to 9 months.
We looked at where digital asset integration programmes stall between pilot and portal in an earlier article.
2. Doing nothing is now the risk
Waiting for the market to settle used to look like the prudent choice. In Madrid, the argument ran the other way. Business clients already hold digital assets elsewhere, and crypto-native players are moving into banking. A bank that waits loses the relationship, not only the transaction.
The research points the same way. In EY-Parthenon’s October 2026 survey of 521 executives, 18% of companies had used stablecoins, roughly double the share in the 2025 edition, and 63% said they would likely adopt through their current bank or payments provider. That preference has limits: in Capgemini’s research, nearly 60% of the 1,110 large companies surveyed were willing to source stablecoin services from non-bank providers.
Recreated in TreasurUp branding from EY-Parthenon, October 2026.
Banks are also building shared rails themselves. A consortium of 37 European banks received its e-money licence from the Dutch central bank in October and plans to issue a euro stablecoin within the coming months. Regulated blockchain networks run by groups of banks were part of the same conversation in Madrid.
Shared rails settle value between institutions. They do not put a product in front of a business client. That still happens in each bank’s own portal, APIs and mobile app, and that is where the gap now sits.
3. Banks want to own the client and the risk, and source the plumbing
The build-versus-outsource debate ran through the whole event. Most banks are settling between the extremes: the client relationship, the brand and the risk decisions stay in-house, and the infrastructure comes from specialist partners.
The survey data agrees. In EY-Parthenon’s 2025 stablecoin survey of 100 financial institutions, 79% planned to use third-party providers for their stablecoin infrastructure, and only 5% planned to build all capabilities themselves.
Recreated in TreasurUp branding from EY-Parthenon, September 2025.
That middle path holds only if governance comes with it. In Madrid, governance was treated as the entry ticket for any bank-grade digital asset service: on-chain KYC, selective disclosure of client data, custody policy controls and reporting. For the bank, that means limits, approvals and an audit trail under its own control, designed in from the start rather than inherited from a provider.
The same test applies to AI in business banking. When an agent prepares a sweep or a conversion across fiat and digital money, nothing moves until a person approves it, and the bank’s business rules decide what may move at all. That is the principle behind TreasurUp’s Agentic Business Banking, in fiat and digital assets alike.
4. MiCA gave clarity, not uniformity
MiCA gave European banks one rulebook. It did not give them one supervisor. The transitional period for existing crypto-asset service providers ended across the EU on 1 July 2026, and earlier in some Member States, as ESMA’s April 2026 statement on the end of the transitional periods sets out. National supervisors still differ in speed and interpretation, and ESMA’s own July 2025 peer review of a national authorisation process was carried out “to enhance convergence and harmonisation” across the EU.
For banking groups active in several countries, that unevenness has a practical side. Jurisdiction and provider choice become strategic decisions rather than administrative ones, and banks that stay provider-neutral keep their options open.
Outside the EU, the calendar is now fixed as well. The US GENIUS Act takes effect on 18 January 2027, after the OCC finalised its rule in October. Canada’s Stablecoin Act received Royal Assent in March 2026. In the UK, the FCA published its final rules in June 2026, and the new regime takes effect on 25 October 2027. For banks with international business clients, most of the remaining regulatory dates now fall in 2027.
Compiled by TreasurUp from DLA Piper, ESMA, OCC and FCA sources.
5. The ramp is the first concrete ask
When conversations moved from strategy to product, one use case came first: the on-ramp and off-ramp. Business clients want to move between fiat and digital money with the pricing, FX and controls they already trust, in the portal they already use.
The pain behind that ask is well documented. Companies in the EY-Parthenon 2026 survey named delayed settlement (56%) and high FX costs (52%) as their main cross-border pain points. Capgemini puts the total cost of a typical cross-border B2B payment at 2% of its value, with about 3.5 days from origination to reconciliation.
Recreated in TreasurUp branding from Capgemini, World Payments Report 2027.
The value runs in both directions. For the bank, the ramp brings new conversion income, and client flows that have passed its own KYC stay inside the bank. For its business clients, it means one portal and no new silo: digital money becomes another currency line next to their fiat accounts, under the same approvals.
Clients ask for outcomes rather than tokens. They want faster payments, 24/7 settlement and better use of their liquidity, and they would rather not see the technology at all. That also cools the debate between tokenised deposits and stablecoins. The choice depends on client need: money that stays inside the bank, or money that reaches public networks. A bank that can offer both from one platform does not have to choose for its clients.
What these digital asset trends mean for business banks
Read together, the five trends describe one sequence. Start from client demand, which most often points to the ramp or to wallet balances shown next to fiat accounts. Keep the client, the brand and the governance inside the bank. Source the infrastructure from providers you are not locked into. Then put the first use case live in the channel your business clients already use, before someone else becomes their route into digital money.
That is the layer TreasurUp builds. Our orchestration layer for digital assets sits between a bank’s core banking systems and the providers it has chosen, and runs each use case white-labelled in the bank’s own portal, APIs and mobile app.
Questions banks ask about digital asset trends in business banking
What are the main digital asset trends in business banking in 2026?
Five trends stood out at MERGE Madrid 2026. Programmes slow down on execution inside the bank, not on technology. Waiting has become the bigger risk, because business clients already hold digital assets elsewhere. Banks want to keep the client and the risk while sourcing infrastructure from partners. MiCA settled the rules but not how each supervisor applies them. And the on-ramp and off-ramp is the first use case clients ask for.
Why do digital asset programmes at banks stall when the technology works?
Because the remaining work sits inside the bank. Business, technology and risk teams need to align, compliance has to sign off on a new type of money, and the service must run around the clock on an operating model built for office hours. Connecting the infrastructure to core banking systems and the business banking channel adds to that. Treating the date of the first live use case as the main measure keeps the scope manageable.
How many banks are already scaling digital money?
Still few. In Capgemini’s World Payments Report 2027, only 21% of the 300 banks surveyed are actively scaling at least one new digital money instrument. Demand is moving faster: in EY-Parthenon’s October 2026 survey, 18% of companies had already used stablecoins, roughly double the share a year earlier, and 63% would likely adopt through their current bank or payments provider.
Should a bank offer tokenised deposits or stablecoins?
Often both. Tokenised deposits keep money inside the bank’s own perimeter, while stablecoins reach public networks and counterparties beyond it. Which one a business client needs depends on the payment and the counterparty. A platform that supports both lets the bank match the instrument to the use case, instead of choosing one for every client.
When do the main stablecoin rules take effect?
In the EU, the MiCA transitional period for existing crypto-asset service providers ended on 1 July 2026, and earlier in some Member States. Canada’s Stablecoin Act received Royal Assent in March 2026. The US GENIUS Act takes effect on 18 January 2027, and the UK’s new cryptoasset regime on 25 October 2027.
Where should a bank start with digital assets?
Start from client demand. In Madrid, the on-ramp and off-ramp between fiat and digital money was the first concrete ask, because business clients can use it with the pricing, FX and approvals they already know. Wallet visibility is the other common starting point. Put one live first, and add the next on the same orchestration layer.
Download the playbook
If digital assets are on your bank’s 2027 agenda, our playbook Digital Assets in Business Banking is the practical place to start. It covers the five use case families, from wallet visibility to the on-ramp and off-ramp, explains where digital asset programmes actually stall and where TreasurUp sits between your core systems and your provider, and ends with a readiness check for your architecture and payments teams.
→ Download the playbook at treasurup.com/digital-assets
Would you rather talk it through first? Get in touch with our team through the contact page.
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