Onigiri Weekend Digest: Institutional Lens #16

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Good weekend, and welcome to this week’s Stablescope.

This week captures a decisive shift in how digital finance is being institutionalised. We close the week with two developments that, when viewed together, mark a true structural inflection point: global professional services firms are now formally underwriting stablecoins as regulated financial infrastructure, while systemically important banks are deploying tokenized money natively within institutional-grade blockchain networks. What was once explored at the edges of innovation is now being embedded at the centre of the financial system.

Recap this Week's Headliners

SS #63 - PwC Goes All In on Digital Assets Following New Stablecoin Laws 
SS #64 - JPM Coin Integrates Natively With Canton Network

These are not isolated announcements. They reflect a broader reclassification of stablecoins—from experimental crypto instruments to compliant, auditable, and programmable money rails suitable for banks, corporates, and capital markets. This is not incremental progress; it is the quiet normalization of stablecoins within the core architecture of global finance.

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🍙Onigiri Take

The headlines from PwC and JPMorgan Chase converge on a single theme: stablecoins are no longer optional experiments. They are becoming required infrastructure for payments, settlement, and tokenized markets.

PwC’s aggressive expansion following the GENIUS Act reflects a regulatory regime mature enough for auditors, tax advisors, and risk committees to treat stablecoins like banking products. In parallel, JPM Coin’s native integration with the Canton Network demonstrates how regulated digital money is being embedded directly into market plumbing.

Together, these moves signal a shift from crypto adoption to financial system redesign—where stablecoins function as programmable dollars, not speculative assets.

🍙Winners & Losers: Institutional Outlook

🍙Under the Hood: From Legal Clarity to Atomic Settlement

PwC Goes All In on Digital Assets
PwC’s pivot is driven by a simple reality: the GENIUS Act reclassifies payment stablecoins as regulated financial instruments rather than securities. This resolves a long-running jurisdictional conflict between U.S. regulators and unlocks institutional adoption at scale. PwC is now positioning stablecoins as:

• Audit-ready payment rails, not balance-sheet anomalies

• Programmable settlement instruments for tokenized assets

• Tax- and compliance-integrated infrastructure suitable for banks and exchanges

The likely domino effect across Deloitte, EY, and KPMG will standardize stablecoin audits, controls, and disclosures—turning compliance from a bottleneck into a growth catalyst.

JPM Coin Integrates With Canton Network
JPM Coin’s native deployment on Canton moves digital cash out of closed bank ledgers and into a shared, privacy-enabled institutional environment. The critical innovation is atomic settlement: digital cash and tokenized assets exchange simultaneously, eliminating counterparty and settlement risk.

This architecture bridges historically siloed systems—private blockchains, legacy market infrastructure, and public ledgers—while remaining compliant with banking, privacy, and reporting requirements. Over time, this model positions Canton as a connective layer between bank-issued money and infrastructures such as DTCC.

🍙Stablecoin ≠ Crypto — The Rise of Regulated Digital Money

Stablecoins are increasingly distinct from crypto-assets. They are:

• Liability-backed, not price-discovered

• Regulated, not permissionless

• Utility-driven, not narrative-driven

In this new regime, stablecoins resemble programmable bank deposits more than tokens. Their value lies in settlement finality, compliance, and integration with real-world financial obligations—not in volatility or yield.

🍙Institutional Risks & Unknowns

Despite regulatory momentum, several uncertainties remain:

1. Concentration Risk: Bank-issued stablecoins may entrench incumbents and limit competitive diversity.

2. Interoperability Gaps: Deposit tokens across banks must converge on shared standards to avoid fragmentation.

3. Regulatory Divergence: U.S. clarity contrasts with slower alignment in parts of Asia and Europe.

4. Operational Complexity: Atomic settlement introduces new failure modes in smart contract and liquidity design.

Onigiri Capital (onigiri.vc), a US$50 million blockchain-focused investment fund, launched by Saison Capital, the venture arm of Japan’s Credit Saison. Onigiri Capital is on a mission to chart the next chapter of finance and invest in seed and Series A blockchain startups in stablecoins, payments, RWAs, DeFi and financial infrastructure. The fund’s strategy emphasizes connecting startups to Asia’s growing digital asset markets.

If you'd like to discuss or contribute to the next Institutional Lens, contact us at [email protected]

Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.