We are moving towards a multi-rail, multi-money world, where different forms of money and payment systems coexist. Interoperability matters, but so do the integrity and resilience of the financial system. How can policymakers advance these priorities together, and are there trade-offs to be made?

This session examines what it will take to build a trusted multi-rail financial system, and whether interoperability, inclusion, consumer protection and resilience can advance together — or whether some priorities must come first. With financial systems developing at different speeds across markets, the discussion asks where policymakers should focus their efforts today to deliver the greatest benefits for users and businesses. 

The financial system is evolving towards a world where different forms of money coexist and move across increasingly interconnected networks. Fiat money and commercial bank deposits continue to underpin the global financial system, while new forms and representations of money — including tokenized deposits, payment stablecoins and central bank digital currencies — are introducing different characteristics, capabilities and ways of transacting. As traditional finance, with its established institutions, infrastructure and scale, intersects with a growing decentralised finance ecosystem, the challenge is to ensure these different forms of money and financial systems can work together.

Building on the morning’s discussion of what should come first, this panel turns to the practical realities of a multi-money, multi-rail world. How can different forms of money connect across traditional and decentralised financial systems? What infrastructure, standards and regulatory approaches are needed to enable interoperability across borders, while safeguarding monetary sovereignty, financial stability and trust?

As financial systems become more digital and interconnected, new technologies are reshaping the risks to their resilience. Quantum computing could eventually undermine the cryptography securing today’s financial infrastructure, frontier AI is changing the scale and sophistication of cyber threats and fraud, and the growth of tokenised money raises new questions about the reliability of the infrastructure on which it depends.
This session brings together perspectives from central banking, financial regulation and digital money to examine how the financial system can prepare for these risks before they materialise. What needs to happen now to ensure that emerging technologies strengthen financial infrastructure rather than create new points of failure?