Citi surveyed 500 market participants for its latest securities services white paper. It found that 65% of respondents plan to use non-CBDC options, like stablecoins, tokenized deposits, money market funds and digital payment systems to support cash and liquidity requirements for digital securities settlements by 2026, versus just 15% who plan to use CBDCs. This is a stark contrast to the previous year where CBDCs were the preferred form of digital money at 52%.Transformation is being driven in part by wider adoption of distributed ledger technology. Sixty-four percent of sell-side respondents expect to use private networks (managed by banks, technology companies and FMIs) as the tokenization of assets gain momentum. However, on the buy-side, asset managers are focusing on public blockchains for fund tokenization and the distribution opportunities. Okan Pekin, head of securities services, Citi, says: “The move to T+1 has taken center stage in the post-trade industry over the last few years. Our latest whitepaper - the largest since its inception in 2021 - focuses on the next frontier for the industry which is the growing applicability of technologies. This includes distributed ledger technology and digital assets, and the significant potential for tokenization to scale. These developments will continue to transform the securities landscape as we continue to move towards shorter settlement cycles across multiple markets worldwide.”The research finds that the global shift to T+1 remains an onoing headache for market participants, with 33% of related project work still to be undertaken. All told, 44% of total respondents cited significant impact from T+1 going live, higher than 28% in 2023. Relative to other regions, European respondents were most impacted with 60% indicating significant impact.The survey also found changing expectation for accelerated settlement: 40% expect real-time, atomic settlement within the next decade, with Asia most bullish at 42%.Amit Agarwal, head of custody, securities services, Citi, says: “The accelerating convergence of traditional and digital assets and operating models reinforces the need for modern platforms, reliable data, and real-time information. We expect to see continued investments into automation, cloud infrastructure, and APIs as well as solutions that integrate with DLT networks. In response to these trends, Citi continues to innovate and leverage our integrated product offering to serve clients in today’s dynamic ecosystem."