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Fiat-on-Chain

Fiat-on-Chain vs bank-consortium networks

Bank-consortium networks, and what differs here

Partior, Fnality and Kinexys settle among member banks. The differences are in who can issue, who can hold, and who runs the rules.

The two paths

Positioning is our assessment of public product descriptions as of September 2026. Grey: bank consortia and public infrastructure. Red: private stablecoin issuers.

By the numbers

  • Who can issue

    member banksbanks + payment institutions

  • Who can hold

    member banks' clientsany conformant participant

  • Rules

    consortium, privatepublished, Member Council

  • Standard

    proprietaryopen, CPMI-IOSCO-aligned

Side by side

Where they differ.

Each dimension scored from the institution's side: green serves it, red works against it, amber depends.

Settlement asset
Bank consortiaYes: Central bank money or a single bank's deposit
Fiat-on-ChainYes: Central bank money (pooled account or RTGS synchronization)
Who can issue
Bank consortiaNo: Member banks only
Fiat-on-ChainYes: Banks and licensed payment institutions
Who can hold
Bank consortiaNo: Member banks' customers
Fiat-on-ChainYes: Any conformant participant — exchanges, funds, insurers, treasuries — through an issuer's account
Identity
Bank consortiaPartial: Each bank's own KYC
Fiat-on-ChainYes: Identity attestation: one institution's verified check reused under each institution's rules
Assets
Bank consortiaPartial: Limited to the consortium's scope
Fiat-on-ChainYes: Any register that implements the asset-leg interface
Rules
Bank consortiaPartial: Consortium governance
Fiat-on-ChainYes: Published specification; Member Council of issuers with binding rulebook rights; company-owned operator replaceable on failure
Standard
Bank consortiaNo: Proprietary or consortium
Fiat-on-ChainYes: Open (FoC-P), written to the CPMI-IOSCO principles
Dimensions in the institution's favour
Bank consortia: 1 of 7
Fiat-on-Chain: 7 of 7

The verdict

The consortia are closest on the money axis; the difference is reach and rules.

Where a consortium is strong — finality in central bank money — the design agrees with it. Where it is closed — bank-only issuance, member-only holding, private rules — the protocol opens the door: payment institutions issue, participants join, and the rulebook is public and member-governed.

What we do not claim

  • Several of these networks are potential adopters of the protocol rather than competitors; the specification is written so that an existing infrastructure can run it as its settlement layer.
  • We do not claim technical superiority on finality; we claim a different membership and governance model.
  • Positioning is our assessment of public product descriptions as of September 2026.

Follow one dollar through both.

The interactive explainer steps through every ledger entry under each design. Two minutes, no jargon.

Open Follow the dollarRequest a briefing