Digital assets research
Tokenised instruments, stablecoins and distributed ledgers are being tested and adopted across payments, markets and custody. This page sets out how The Global Risks Alliance (GRA) researches the risks they bring to the financial system and supports professional learning about them. It is research and education only. GRA does not trade, hold, issue, custody, list or recommend any digital asset, and it operates no ledger, exchange or wallet. This page is part of financial technology and transformation.
- 01InstitutionThe Global Risks Alliance (GRA)
- 02Service levelR0: information and enquiries
- 03In briefThe short answer
- 04Risk areasWhat digital assets change for financial risk
- 05RulesThe prudential and market rules for digital assets
- 06Systemic questionsLinks to the traditional financial system
- 07Professional learningBuilding understanding across the profession
GRA · Institution · service level R0
The short answer.
Digital assets research at GRA examines the risks that tokenised instruments, stablecoins and distributed ledgers bring to payments, markets and custody, and supports professional learning about them. It is research and education only: GRA does not trade, hold, issue, custody, list or recommend any digital asset.
Draft to published version.
Fig.How a finding is reviewed before it is published. Design, not a record.
Digital demand and connectivity in California.
Urban demand centres and the hubs that anchor digital and data infrastructure, shown for California as an example geography for this subject.
What digital assets change for financial risk.
Run and redemption risk
Instruments that promise par redemption can face runs if confidence in their reserves falls, with spillovers to the assets those reserves hold.
Technology and custody
Key management, self-executing ledger code and ledger operations introduce new operational failure points and loss channels.
Conduct and crime
Fraud, market manipulation and illicit finance can move quickly across platforms and borders.
The prudential and market rules for digital assets.
| Instrument | Body | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Prudential treatment of cryptoasset exposures (SCO60) | Basel Committee | Bank capital for tokenised traditional assets, stablecoins and unbacked cryptoassets |
| Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) | European Union | Issuance and service providers, including asset-referenced and e-money tokens |
| FATF Recommendation 15 and the travel rule | FATF | Anti-money-laundering duties for virtual asset service providers |
| PFMI applied to systemically important stablecoin arrangements | CPMI-IOSCO guidance (2022) | Settlement and governance expectations |
Links to the traditional financial system.
- Where do digital-asset arrangements hold reserves, and what happens to those markets under stress?
- Which banks, payment firms and custodians provide services to digital-asset businesses?
- How would a failure in a widely used ledger or bridge affect settlement and payments?
- Which exposures are visible to supervisors, and which are not?
- How do tokenised versions of traditional assets change settlement, collateral and legal certainty?
These questions connect to payments and market infrastructure and systemic stability.
Building understanding across the profession.
- 01
Foundations
How distributed ledgers, tokens and consensus mechanisms work, drawing on distributed ledgers and digital assets in the STEM Commons of The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI).
- 02
Risk assessment
How to frame liquidity, operational, legal and conduct risks for an institution considering exposure.
- 03
Governance
What boards, risk committees and auditors should ask before and after adoption.
Learning materials open only when their programme is in place, as described on skills and professional learning. Completion is recorded only when verified and confers no licence.
Research only, never a market activity.
Nothing on this page or in GRA's digital assets research is a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or issue any token, coin or instrument. GRA does not evaluate projects, list assets, introduce investors or take any pay tied to a transaction. Readers make their own decisions with their own advisers, under the law that applies to them.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Stablecoin | A crypto-asset designed to hold a stable value against a reference such as a currency, often backed by reserves. |
| Tokenised security | A security whose ownership is recorded as a token on a distributed ledger. |
| Digital asset | A digital representation of value or rights that can be transferred or stored electronically, such as a crypto-asset, a tokenised security or a stablecoin, regulated according to its function. |
| FSB crypto-asset framework | The FSB's high-level recommendations for regulating crypto-asset activities and global stablecoin arrangements. |
Where this page's references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
- BCBS prudential treatment of cryptoasset exposures (SCO60)
- EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), Regulation 2023/1114
- FATF Recommendations, including revised Recommendation 16 on payment transparency (June 2025; implementation by end-2030)
- CPMI-IOSCO Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures (2012) and cyber resilience guidance (2016)
Questions and answers.
Does GRA hold or accept digital assets?
Can GRA assess whether a token is a security?
Does GRA support a particular ledger or protocol?
Where can I ask a research question?
Around GRA.
Start with an enquiry.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.