Reviews
Part of Crypto and stablecoin guide: a layer-by-layer overview
Digital money forms compared: cryptocurrency, stablecoin, tokenized deposit and CBDC
Digital money forms compared by issuer, liability, value anchor, reserves, ledger, redemption, custody, settlement, insurance, availability, and key risks.
What to take away
- A payment rail and the liability moving across it are different things.
- Native cryptocurrency may have no issuer or redemption promise.
- A stablecoin is an issuer or protocol arrangement targeting a reference value.
- A tokenized bank deposit remains a bank liability if structured as a deposit.
- Central bank money is a central bank liability, whether represented physically or in eligible account balances.
Digital does not mean economically identical. Compare who owes what to whom, then examine the technology.
Comparison table
Native cryptocurrency
- Issuer
- Protocol may have no legal issuer
- Liability
- May not be anyone's liability
- Value
- Market supply and demand
- Redemption
- Usually sale or exchange
- Ledger
- Public or permissioned network
- Custody
- Keys or platform account
Fiat-linked stablecoin
- Issuer
- Company, bank, or protocol arrangement
- Liability
- Depends on terms and structure
- Value
- Targets anchor through reserves or mechanism
- Redemption
- Issuer redemption may exist
- Ledger
- Network plus issuer records
- Custody
- Keys, platform, and issuer controls
Tokenized bank deposit
- Issuer
- Depository institution
- Liability
- Bank liability
- Value
- Denominated as deposit currency
- Redemption
- Bank customer claim under terms
- Ledger
- Bank records and token platform
- Custody
- Bank account and token controls
Central bank money
- Issuer
- Central bank
- Liability
- Central bank liability
- Value
- Unit of account
- Redemption
- Cash or eligible central bank account process
- Ledger
- Notes and central bank accounts
- Custody
- Physical possession or eligible account
Native cryptocurrency
A base-network asset can pay network fees, reward validation, or transfer value under protocol rules. Its market price may move sharply. A holder commonly exits by selling to another market participant rather than presenting the asset to an issuer for par redemption.
Questions include supply rules, validator concentration, governance, finality, network security, wallet key control, liquidity, venue risk, and tax treatment.
Fiat-linked stablecoin
A fiat-linked stablecoin targets a fixed value, often one U.S. dollar. The mechanism can use off-chain reserves, crypto collateral, or other methods.
Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr's 2025 stablecoin speech stresses reliable par redemption, reserve quality and liquidity, and the absence of deposit insurance and central-bank liquidity for stablecoin issuers, while also discussing tokenized deposits as a distinct bank-based model. The speech reflects the governor's views and must not be turned into a guarantee about one token.
Compare direct-redemption rights, eligible users, reserve assets, disclosures, custodian, contract powers, secondary markets, and off-ramp.
Tokenized deposit
A tokenized deposit represents a bank deposit through a token or distributed-ledger record. If properly structured as a deposit, the customer claim is against the bank rather than a separate stablecoin issuer.
Ask:
- which bank owes the liability;
- who may hold and transfer the token;
- whether it is transferable outside the bank's platform;
- how it maps to the bank's core ledger;
- settlement and reconciliation rules;
- deposit-insurance treatment under the facts and limits;
- what happens if the token platform is unavailable.
The label tokenized does not change insurance limits or prove eligibility.
Central bank money
Central bank money includes physical notes and reserve balances held by eligible institutions. A proposed wholesale central bank digital currency would be a different technical representation only if authorized and implemented.
The Federal Reserve's analysis of wholesale CBDC and central bank money describes central bank money as a central-bank liability and notes that wholesale access is limited to eligible entities. It analyzes possibilities rather than announcing a U.S. CBDC.
Do not call a commercial-bank deposit or stablecoin central bank money because dollars or Treasury securities support it.
Liability and rail matrix
Conventional rail
- Central bank
- Cash, reserve-account transfer
- Commercial bank
- Deposit account, ACH, wire
- Nonbank issuer
- Stored balance
- No issuer claim
- Market-traded asset record
Tokenized rail
- Central bank
- Potential central-bank token arrangement
- Commercial bank
- Tokenized deposit
- Nonbank issuer
- Issuer-backed stablecoin
- No issuer claim
- Native cryptocurrency
The same ledger technology can carry different liabilities. The same liability can move through different rails.
Liability and Rail Matrix
Conventional rail
- Central bank
- Cash, reserve transfer
- Commercial bank
- Deposit, ACH, wire
- Nonbank issuer
- Stored balance
- No issuer claim
- Market-traded asset
Tokenized rail
- Central bank
- Potential token arrangement
- Commercial bank
- Tokenized deposit
- Nonbank issuer
- Issuer-backed stablecoin
- No issuer claim
- Native cryptocurrency
Failure comparison
Native cryptocurrency
Price collapse, key loss, network attack, fee spike, or venue failure.
Stablecoin
Depegging, reserve loss, redemption delay, issuer failure, contract freeze, or market illiquidity.
Tokenized deposit
Bank, account, operational, access, reconciliation, or platform failure, with applicable banking protections determined by facts.
Central bank money
Physical loss or payment-system access and operational issues, rather than issuer credit risk in the ordinary sense.
Common questions
Is a stablecoin central bank money?
No. It is generally a private arrangement even when linked to a sovereign currency.
Is every tokenized deposit insured?
Do not assume so. Confirm the bank, account structure, ownership category, eligibility, and limits.
Does blockchain determine the legal claim?
No. Contracts, statutes, account structures, and issuer obligations matter.
Is a CBDC currently available to U.S. retail users?
The cited Federal Reserve paper analyzes wholesale possibilities and does not announce a retail U.S. CBDC.
