Angelini: DLT adoption shows tentative progress
Paolo Angelini, Senior Deputy Governor of Banca d'Italia, stated that Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and stablecoin adoption is making tentative progress. He noted that while full disruption has not occurred, production-grade projects are emerging across finance and payments, with stablecoins being the most mature application.
Beyond pilots, into production
DLT-based infrastructure is moving beyond pilots into production-grade projects, according to Angelini.
A market observatory identified 378 blockchain projects globally among traditional companies in 2025, a 27 percent increase from the previous year, with nearly three quarters in the financial sector.
Initiatives like Nasdaq's tokenized stock pilot, Boerse Stuttgart's Project Seturion, and consortia like Qivalis for euro stablecoins demonstrate this traction.
BlackRock's BUIDL fund grew to nearly USD 2.9 billion by mid-2025, and Clearstream's D7 DLT platform saw new issuance exceed €78 billion.
Broadridge's Distributed Ledger Repo platform now handles over US$360 billion daily, indicating significant practical application in post-trade and collateral management.
Heterogeneity and fragmentation persist
Despite progress, DLT adoption shows wide heterogeneity across use cases, with some projects rapidly expanding while others remain experimental.
New DLT projects often complement, rather than replace, existing processes, with adopters prioritizing operational continuity and risk management.
Hard data on DLT adoption is limited and often sourced from industry reports, making a reliable picture of diffusion and economic value challenging.
Furthermore, permissionless DLT platforms are inherently fragmented, leading to interoperability issues and potential vulnerabilities.
Even permissioned DLTs face limited interoperability, risking that efficiency gains within institutions could be offset by frictions across them, hindering broader scale-up.
Progress, but no revolution
Angelini offers a 'tentative yes' to DLT's scalability, stressing gradual momentum over a 'big bang' disruption.
This signals DLT is maturing and finding practical applications, especially in stablecoins and payments.
However, significant hurdles remain for widespread, seamless integration, requiring continued regulatory clarity and robust interoperability solutions.