The "Standard" of Bitcoin in the Tokenization Boom and the Regulatory Clash over CBDCs — A Perspective Clash at the Davos World Economic Forum

Source: Cryptonews Original Title: Tokenization boom pits Bitcoin ‘standard’ vs CBDC guardrails at the World Economic Forum Original Link:

From Concept to Deployment of Tokenization

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Banque de France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau stated that tokenization has become “the buzzword of the year,” promising “global financial progress, delivery on delivery, and lowering financial transaction costs.”

Central bankers and CEOs unanimously agree that tokenization has entered the deployment phase. The pilot project in collaboration with Euroclear aims to tokenize the French commercial paper market, valued at approximately €300 billion. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse noted that tokenized assets on the XRP Ledger surged over 2200% last year.

Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters said the industry is now at a “major turning point,” and he is “not in doubt” that ultimately “everything will exist in digital form,” although policies from over 60 regulators will influence the speed of this process.

Democratization, Bitcoin Standard, and Sovereignty Disputes

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong emphasized that the most powerful aspect of tokenization is “investment democratization,” pointing out that about 4 billion adults worldwide lack access to or cannot invest in high-quality assets like the US stock market or real estate. He proposed that cryptocurrencies are “a new monetary system I call the Bitcoin standard rather than the gold standard… returning to sound money and anti-inflation measures.”

Villeroy de Galhau openly opposed this: “I am somewhat skeptical of the idea of a Bitcoin standard,” warning that “monetary policy and money are part of society,” and losing the public role means losing “key functions of democracy.” He insisted that money remains a “public-private partnership,” anchored by CBDCs, and that “tokenized private currencies” must be strictly regulated, or they risk falling under the “Gresham’s Law” — bad money drives out good.

Stablecoin Scale and Regulatory Battles

Garlinghouse highlighted the growth of stablecoins, the “poster child” of tokenization: “Stablecoin trading volume in 2024 is $19 trillion… expected to reach $33 trillion in 2025, an increase of about 75%.” Tokenized assets on the XRP Ledger grew over 2200% last year.

Garlinghouse pointed out that the US has shifted from being “quite openly hostile” to cryptocurrencies to electing a “more pro-crypto, pro-innovation Congress,” with industry hopes for “clarity… which is better than chaos.”

Armstrong criticized the stalled US CLARITY Act and ongoing stablecoin reward disputes, accusing what he calls lobbying groups of trying to “suppress competition,” and insisted that consumers should “earn more from their money.” He also warned that offshore stablecoins and China’s interest-bearing CBDCs mean that banning rewards will only push activity overseas, weakening US and European competitiveness.

Villeroy de Galhau rejected the idea of digital euros earning interest, calling “unregulated innovation” a “serious trust issue” and a potential root of “financial crises.” He stated that the public goal is to “maintain the stability of the financial system,” and CBDCs are “not intended to attack the banking system and its deposits.”

Emerging Markets, Dollarization, and Capacity Issues

The panel repeatedly returned to the Global South. Winters warned that tokenization could mean some emerging economies become “completely dollarized,” despite bringing “significant cost savings” in cross-border transactions. Villeroy de Galhau pointed out that some G20 emerging giants openly advocate that “we should ban cryptocurrencies,” a path he considers sacrificing innovation for sovereignty concerns. Meanwhile, he noted that countries like Brazil and India have become global leaders in the fast payments space, though they remain cautious about on-chain currencies.

Regarding whether blockchain tokenization can coexist with AI’s energy demands, Garlinghouse emphasized: “Not all layer-one blockchains are created equal,” noting that proof-of-stake systems use “99.9% less energy than proof-of-work,” and “most stablecoin activity today is on more efficient blockchains,” such as Ethereum after its merge.

Market Overview

The Davos debate occurs against a backdrop of Bitcoin approaching a six-figure psychological threshold. As of January 22, 2026, Bitcoin’s trading price is approximately $89,800–$90,000, roughly flat or slightly up in the past 24 hours. Ethereum hovers near its increasingly supported narrative of tokenization, trading around $3,000 per ETH. Tether’s USDT, as the largest stablecoin and the primary settlement track for much of the ecosystem’s trading, is nearly pegged at $0.9992, with a market cap close to $186.9 billion.

These figures underscore the central tension in the panel: a multi-trillion-dollar crypto market already operating at scale, while policymakers, bankers, and builders openly debate who will ultimately set the rules for the future of tokenization.