Bermuda Commercial Bank’s chief compliance officer has called stablecoin a “killer app” for cross border transactions.

Speaking at the Salt Bermuda Digital Finance Forum, Hugo Rogers said BCB’s entire purpose is to link Bermuda to the rest of the world.

While the Hamilton bank does not issue its own stablecoin, it does support stablecoin-based payment rails.

“We have on-off ramps into digital assets within us and with partners offering a direct stable coin channel to do cross-border payments,” he said, adding that stablecoin is a disrupter for every single cross-border international business you can think of, such as insurance, reinsurance, trade finance, paying suppliers and more. Stablecoin payments are here to stay.”

Robb Layfield, managing director, head of digital assets at Customers Bank — among the top 80 largest bank holding companies in the US — agreed that stablecoin was transformational for cross-border transactions, but questioned its value in the American domestic arena.

“I am failing to see how they are going to work all that well,” Mr Layfield said. “We have real-time payments that work fast.”

He said in the falling rate environment, stablecoin could have to adopt a fee structure that mimics Visa and Mastercard.

Mr Rogers contrasted his outward‑looking perspective with the relatively self‑contained US payments landscape.

“I recognise that the US is ring fenced and there is a reaction within the regulatory environment and within many of the Fed exchanges and elsewhere to try and match that 24/7 promise,” he said. “But you have got to reach out beyond that. It's a big old world out there.”

Fahmi Syed, founder of the Midnight Foundation, referred to blockchains as the missing truth layer between trust and transparency.

The Midnight Foundation is an independent charity dedicated to supporting the growth of the Midnight blockchain. It allows developers to build decentralised applications while keeping the confidentiality of user data while still meeting regulatory compliance standards.

Wasim Khouri, chief commercial officer of Monument Bank in London, said his bank was using the foundation to help them serve the “forgotten, vacated middle”.

“There are a lot of great products for ultra, high-net-worth people, but if you are not spending a million, you are not getting access to the best investments that exist today,” he said.

Monument saw an opportunity to bring these sort of investments in partnership with the Midnight Foundation to allow access to create liquidity, and efficiency.

As more of a wealth bank, Monument was thinking about how to give access to interest‑bearing assets, he said.

Monument is leaning into tokenisation, starting with a £250 million tokenised savings programme.

Mr Khouri argued that tokenisation could bring institutional‑grade products to clients investing as little as £5,000 or £10,000, without the fees on fees that could lose 70 per cent of gains in traditional structures.