For years, crypto communities circulated a popular idea: that coins like XRP, HBAR, ALGO, and XDC were “ISO 20022 compliant.” The claim implied these tokens had been pre-approved for future adoption once global banks completed the ISO 20022 migration. But the facts told a different story.
ISO 20022 was never a payments network, and certainly never a registry of assets. It was a messaging standard used to format data for systems like SWIFT, Fedwire, and TARGET2. Until recently, ISO 20022 had no built-in support for digital tokens or blockchain wallets.
That changed in 2025. In two official documents, the European Central Bank (ECB) and Deutsche Bundesbank confirmed confirmed the first major implementation of a sweeping update: ISO 20022 messages are being upgraded to natively support digital tokens, tokenized units, and blockchain wallet identifiers. This isn’t about coin branding. This is a fundamental change to the financial messaging layer that underpins trillions in daily settlements.
The Myth: ISO 20022 “Compliant Coins”
The idea of “ISO 20022 tokens” stemmed from a misunderstanding. Some blockchain projects promoted their networks as ISO-ready, suggesting their design could be mapped into standard banking infrastructure. That compatibility was useful for messaging alignment—but alignment isn’t inclusion.
No tokens were ever part of the ISO 20022 repository. There was no field for token quantities. There was no schema for wallets. At a technical level, ISO 20022 didn’t recognize digital assets at all. What mattered wasn’t whether a coin could be described with ISO messaging—it was whether the ISO standard could describe tokenized financial instruments in the first place.
In 2025, that changed. ISO 20022 didn’t select specific cryptocurrencies. Instead, the standard itself evolved to recognize the building blocks of tokenization.
The Reality: ECB and Bundesbank Confirm the Shift
ECB ISO 20022 Unfreeze Strategy (June 26, 2025)
In the ECB’s ISO 20022 Message Unfreeze Strategy, most of the content discusses migration planning. But hidden in Annex B is a pivotal change request:
CR-1374 – “Update financial instrument quantity type to report on digital tokens in reporting messages.”
This change modifies TARGET2-Securities (T2S) reporting formats to include tokenized instruments. For the first time, ISO 20022 explicitly recognizes digital tokens as valid instruments in Europe’s securities messaging layer. T2S processes hundreds of billions in daily securities settlement. Adding token support here marks a foundational shift.
Bundesbank ISO 20022 Maintenance Requests (2024–2025)
The Bundesbank provides additional detail in its change log. It confirms:
- CR-1373 – “Digital Assets have emerged as a new security type… T2S messages must be updated to include Blockchain Address or Wallet Identification.”
- This change introduces a new field in ISO 20022 messages that allows institutions to specify a blockchain wallet or address instead of a traditional account. It formally recognizes wallets as valid safekeeping locations in Europe’s securities messaging infrastructure. This enables custody and settlement instructions to reference on-chain destinations directly—without needing off-ledger translations.
- CR-1374 – Updates
FinancialInstrumentQuantity33Choiceto include a new option:<Token Unit>- This allows holdings, balances, and settlements to be reported in tokenized units rather than shares, face value, or nominal amounts. It provides a standardized way to represent token-based assets within ISO 20022 reporting and reconciliation workflows. As a result, financial institutions can manage tokenized securities using the same data models they already use for traditional instruments.
Together, these updates prove ISO 20022 hasn’t just become compatible with digital assets. It has been structurally upgraded to carry token-native data.
Why This Is Bigger Than the Myth
Scale of TARGET Services
These changes aren’t theoretical. They apply to the backbone of European finance, but ISO 20022 is a global standard:
- T2 (Payments) – ~€1.8 trillion settled daily
- T2S (Securities Settlement) – ~€700–800 billion daily
- TIPS (Instant Payments) – millions of transfers settled in under 5 seconds
Together, these services handled over €1 quadrillion in value in 2024. These systems now support messages that reference blockchain wallets and tokenized assets natively.
This opens the door for:
- Tokenized bonds issued directly into T2S
- Fund units and structured products reported using Token Units
- Blockchain wallets used as custody endpoints
- Tokenized collateral integrated into ECMS
- Central bank digital currency (CBDC) or Exploratory Cash Tokens (ECT) settling alongside traditional euros
This is no longer about crypto speculation. This is infrastructure-level tokenization in real financial markets.
Beyond “ISO Tokens”: Institutional Tokenization at Scale
This development is not about favoring a few coins. It’s about enabling regulated tokenized instruments to operate across trusted infrastructure. By embedding wallet identifiers and tokenized quantity types into ISO 20022, institutions can issue, hold, and report digital assets without building custom solutions.
Banks can process settlement instructions where the receiving party is a wallet, not an account. Securities firms can show token balances on custody statements using the same ISO formats they use for equities. Even central banks can model tokenized liquidity and collateral using standard reporting schemas.
With these changes, Europe’s financial rails become natively interoperable with tokenization.
The Bigger Picture: Europe’s Tokenized Future
The ISO 20022 upgrade aligns first with European initiatives, but also fits into global ISO and SWIFT tokenisation efforts:
- EU DLT Pilot Regime – A sandbox for testing tokenized securities under supervision from ESMA.
- ECB’s Exploratory Cash Tokens (ECTs) – Research into euro-pegged settlement tokens for wholesale transactions.
- SWIFT’s Tokenisation Strategy – Trials using ISO messages to coordinate activity between ledgers.
In each case, ISO 20022’s role is critical. It provides the shared messaging format that bridges legacy infrastructure and new token-based workflows. The upgrade makes Europe’s trillion-euro systems capable of integrating with on-chain activity while preserving compliance and standardization.
Not “Compliant Coins” — Compliant Infrastructure
No cryptocurrency has ever been officially certified as ISO 20022 compliant. The idea that certain tokens were pre-approved misunderstood the purpose of ISO 20022. It is a messaging standard—not an endorsement mechanism.
What changed in 2025 is more meaningful. ISO 20022 has been structurally upgraded to support digital finance. It now recognizes digital tokens as financial instruments, token units as quantity types, and blockchain wallets as valid destinations.
These changes are being integrated first into Europe’s core systems—T2, T2S, TIPS, and ECMS—which process over €2 trillion daily—and, through ISO 20022’s global maintenance cycle, into financial infrastructures worldwide. With this upgrade, the same backbone that powers traditional finance is now ready to support tokenized assets.
This shift isn’t about elevating specific tokens. It’s about embedding tokenization into the foundation of regulated finance. ISO 20022 now provides the structure needed for compliant, scalable adoption of digital assets across the European financial system.
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