DBS Survey: Nearly Nine in Ten Tokenised-Money Adopters Cite Trade Corridor Expansion
Key points
- A DBS survey finds 78% of business respondents are diversifying their settlement currencies, with RMB adoption increasing across all markets covered.
- Almost nine in ten businesses that have adopted tokenised money link it to supporting expansion across new trade corridors, markets, and currencies.
- The survey was published by DBS, a Singapore-headquartered bank with a presence in 19 markets and credit ratings of 'AA-' and 'Aa1'.
- The simultaneous rise in multi-currency settlement and tokenised money adoption suggests corporate treasury flexibility is becoming a baseline requirement rather than a differentiator.
- RMB's broad-market gains indicate a structural shift in settlement preferences rather than isolated bilateral experimentation.
A DBS survey of businesses across Asia finds that treasury practices are shifting on two fronts: settlement currency diversification and adoption of tokenised money. Seventy-eight percent of respondents now use more than one settlement currency, with renminbi (RMB) adoption rising across all surveyed markets. Separately, close to nine in ten businesses that have adopted tokenised money cite support for expansion into new trade corridors, markets, and currencies as a driver.
The findings suggest that macro pressures on trade routes and the growing complexity of multi-currency operations are pushing corporate treasurers toward more flexible tooling rather than consolidation around a single currency or payment rail. RMB’s broadening footprint across markets points to deliberate hedging against dollar-centric settlement rather than opportunistic use.
For operators building or distributing tokenised payment and treasury infrastructure, the survey offers a demand signal: corporate clients are not adopting tokenised money as an experiment but as a practical response to the operational friction of entering new corridors. Whether that translates into durable infrastructure investment or remains contingent on trade-route stability is a question the survey does not resolve, but the direction of travel appears consistent across markets.