The company that settles payments in actual central bank money on a blockchain has just hired three of the people who used to run those central banks. Fnality, the London-based settlement firm backed by major global banks, announced Thursday that former Bank of England deputy governor Jon Cunliffe will chair its UK board as it builds new euro and US dollar payment systems.
By Amir Hassan | September 10, 2026
The Hook: Wall Street’s Blockchain Settlement Firm Goes Recruiting
Fnality is not a crypto startup chasing retail traders. It builds blockchain-based settlement systems that let banks pay each other using central bank money — the safest form of money that exists, the same type of funds banks hold directly at institutions like the Bank of England. Its sterling payment system launched in 2023 and is regulated by the Bank of England.
Think of it this way: when banks move money between themselves today, the final settlement usually happens through central bank systems that close at night and on weekends. Fnality’s blockchain version keeps the same ultra-safe money but moves it around the clock — like upgrading from bank branch hours to a 24/7 express lane.
Who Joined: A Trio of Central Bank Heavyweights
According to Thursday’s announcement, three former senior central bankers are joining Fnality’s leadership:
- Jon Cunliffe — former Bank of England deputy governor, named chair of Fnality’s UK board
- Jochen Metzger — former Deutsche Bundesbank director general for payments and settlement systems, joining the European subsidiary’s supervisory board, where he is expected to take the chair
- Ron Berndsen — former senior official at the Dutch central bank, also joining the board
Cunliffe, one of the most respected voices in global financial regulation, did not mince words about why he took the role. “As the tokenisation of financial markets gathers pace, settlement in the safest assets available will be crucial to maintaining financial stability,” he said in the announcement.
The Core Conflict: Two Continents, Two New Payment Systems
The hires are not decorative. Fnality is racing to expand beyond its UK sterling system, and the new board members map directly onto its geographic ambitions:
In Europe, Fnality has established a subsidiary in Eschborn, Germany, to develop its proposed euro payment system — which is presumably where Metzger’s Bundesbank expertise comes in. In the United States, the company has set up Fnality Bank U.S. in Stamford, Connecticut, where it is developing plans for a dollar system and, importantly, is already engaging with US regulators — Berndsen and Cunliffe bring exactly that kind of supervisory fluency.
The company says its blockchain settlement infrastructure is designed to support tokenized asset markets — financial instruments like bonds or funds represented as digital tokens — as well as banks’ activity in stablecoins and tokenized deposits. In plain terms: as more of finance moves onto blockchains, someone has to handle the final, safe transfer of real money. Fnality wants to be that someone.
Market Implications: Why Regular Investors Should Care
You will never open a Fnality account yourself — its customers are banks. But the underlying trend matters for anyone holding crypto or tokenized assets. When traditional finance builds serious settlement rails, it becomes easier for institutions to buy, sell and hold digital assets at scale. That is the plumbing behind every future ETF, tokenized fund and cross-border payment.
The money behind Fnality signals how seriously banks take this. The firm raised 136 million USD in a Series C funding round in September 2025, with participation from investors including Temasek, Euroclear and Goldman Sachs, according to data compiled by Traxcn. For market context, Bitcoin was trading near 77,900 USD and Ethereum around 2,462 USD at the time of writing, per CoinGecko data — but infrastructure stories like this one play out over years, not days.
The Verdict
Hiring the people who once supervised you is a classic move when a company needs regulatory trust — and Fnality needs plenty of it to launch euro and dollar systems. If those systems go live, banks on both sides of the Atlantic would gain a way to settle in central bank money around the clock on shared blockchain rails. That is a quiet revolution with no price chart — but it may matter more for the future of digital finance than any memecoin rally.
The cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
Cunliffe spent years at the BoE cautioning about crypto and now chairs a blockchain settlement firm. the revolving door never stops spinning
to be fair fnality settles in central bank money, which is exactly the thing he said crypto lacked. he is consistent if anything
sterling system live since 2023 and regulated by the Bank of England. this is the boring plumbing that actually matters, not another l2 airdrop
ex central bankers joining a settlement blockchain is either the biggest validation ever or the most elaborate revolving door. honestly could be both
meanwhile US Bank already moved a real cross border payment with USBDC on Stellar this week. the big bank consortium stuff is moving faster than people think
Fnality has been promising wholesale settlement in central bank money since 2019. Cunliffe is a serious hire but I will believe the euro and dollar systems when they process a live payment, not before.
The interesting part is the dollar leg. Sterling Fnality was always the pilot. If the USDC-adjacent infrastructure and Fnality dollar systems end up competing, banks will have real choices for the first time.