Designing the Future of Payments Systems | Konstantin Richter & Tom Zschach

This episode explains how tokenized money, agentic payments, and SWIFT-driven integration can modernize cross-border finance—if regulators embed clear rules and compliance in tokens.

Key Takeaways

  • Embed compliance and legal rules in tokens: encode KYC, regulatory classification, settlement instructions and geographic holding restrictions so on‑chain algorithms can execute and auditably enforce policies.
  • Design agentic payments with human-controlled governance: set roles, permissions, approval flows, explainable models, and auditable controls before automating execution.
  • Expect hybrid rails: tokenized deposits, stablecoins, CBDCs and SWIFT will interconnect—legacy systems won't disappear but will adapt to faster settlement and new services.
  • Regulatory clarity will unlock institutional adoption: laws like a 'Clarity Act' could shift pilots to production within ~12 months; banks need explicit rules to proceed.
  • Banks will remain central service providers: faster settlement removes float revenue, forcing banks to offer new services, liquidity sequencing, and custodial signing solutions.
  • Prioritize dollar access and global stablecoins: users in Argentina, Manila, Lagos prefer holding dollars over yield; Tether leads global stablecoin usage.

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Designing the Future of Payments Systems | Konstantin Richter & Tom Zschach

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