Trade digitalisation does not have a technology problem; it has an adoption problem. There is a need to pivot away from trying to find novel use cases to prove technology works, and focus on removing the friction that incentivises clients to change how they work. This was the main theme of the panel “Is global trade ready for tokenisation at scale?” moderated by KPMG International’s Robert Sledge and featuring Adoniro Cestari (Citi), Sofia Hammoucha (Standard Chartered Bank), Bhrigu Singh (HSBC), and Elizabeth St-Onge (TD Bank) on Day 2 of Sibos 2026.
The panel talked about the commercial readiness of digital trade instruments by reviewing real-world pilots and outlining steps for broader market adoption.
Beyond the pilot phase
The panel discussed that tokenised trade infrastructure is no longer just a theoretical concept. Adoniro Cestari highlighted that the market has reached an inflection point where early adopters are moving beyond small-scale pilots. By starting with straightforward use cases, such as accelerating supplier payments and managing cross-border collections, institutions can build meaningful flows with key counterparties even before full global interoperability is achieved.
Moving beyond pilots requires focusing squarely on client pain points rather than technology for its own sake. Sofia Hammoucha pointed out that clients do not wake up asking for tokenisation. They want faster settlement for their suppliers and reliable mechanisms to handle cross-border payments, particularly in emerging markets facing foreign exchange shortages where receiving stablecoins offers a practical solution.
Navigating trade tokenisation and fragmentation with “Trade Web”
Reflecting on a decade of evolution in the digital asset space, Elizabeth St-Onge shared key lessons for financial institutions navigating trade tokenisation. She emphasised that success starts with rigorous problem clarity and client focus, noting that if product teams cannot clearly articulate the specific client problem they are solving, they shouldn’t be building a solution for it. Institutions must ensure they understand both who the client is and whether that client truly values having that specific pain point addressed.
She cautioned against taking a “wait-and-see” approach, advising firms not to wait for market conditions to become perfect. Instead, institutions should take incremental steps by targeting a specific initial use case, assembling a “minimum viable ecosystem” of key partners and collaborators, and executing a clear roadmap. Once a solution is proven and scaled in one defined area, banks can then build on that foundation to expand into broader, more complex trade finance workflows.
Bhrigu Singh stressed that trade digitalisation does not have a technology problem; it has an adoption problem. He acknowledged that fragmentation is an inevitable byproduct of early innovation, as various institutions independently proved their specific technologies could work. However, given the vast scale of global commerce and shifting geopolitical dynamics, expecting the entire industry to coalesce behind a single proprietary platform is unrealistic. Instead of chasing a single universal system, global commerce requires an interconnected “trade web” focused on the seamless, frictionless exchange of data across platforms.
A successful ecosystem requires a “minimum viable ecosystem” comprising corporates, banks, customs, and logistics providers. Rather than searching for novel use cases, the industry must focus on removing friction through standardised, open-source APIs and broader alignment with frameworks such as the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR).
