BMO said it plans to roll out tokenized cash and deposit capabilities with CME Group and Google Cloud, targeting institutional workflows across trading, margin, and settlement. The platform is built on Google Cloud Universal Ledger and uses a permissioned network, with the main aim of keeping value moving beyond traditional banking hours and supporting 24-hour operations.
Tokenized cash is aimed at clearing and margin activity
Under the plan, institutional clients will be able to convert U.S. dollars into tokenized cash instruments for use inside CME Group’s clearing environment. That would let firms meet margin calls and settle trades without waiting for standard banking cycles. In existing collateral processes, delays in moving funds can affect capital efficiency and limit how quickly firms respond to market activity.
Suzanne Sprague, Chief Operating Officer and Global Head of Clearing at CME Group, said tokenizing cash at CME Clearing would allow firms to meet margin requirements and settlement obligations in real time, releasing capital that would otherwise sit idle until traditional banking windows reopen.
Tokenized deposits broaden the use case beyond clearing
BMO also plans to introduce tokenized deposits, allowing clients to hold and transfer bank-issued digital representations of fiat currency. The bank said those instruments are intended for wider use, including business-to-business payments and treasury management. Unlike stablecoins issued outside the banking system, tokenized deposits remain inside a regulated bank framework, which may fit more closely with current compliance and risk controls.
Derek Vernon, Head of North American Treasury and Payment Solutions at BMO, said clients would be able to move funds continuously when markets require it rather than when banking hours permit, reducing funding gaps and operational friction while supporting a shift toward programmable financial systems.
Google Cloud provides the permissioned ledger foundation
The infrastructure runs on Google Cloud Universal Ledger, a distributed ledger built for institutional use. Access is restricted to approved participants, keeping the network permissioned rather than open to the public. For financial institutions, that controlled setup is often easier to align with compliance requirements while still allowing programmable features.
James Tromans, Managing Director of Web3 and Digital Assets at Google Cloud, said the enterprise-ready foundation of Google Cloud Universal Ledger is intended to help BMO and CME Group improve capital efficiency and cut operational friction across global markets.
Round-the-clock settlement is attractive, but rollout still faces hurdles
Pressure for always-on settlement is rising as trading hours extend across global markets and some asset classes already operate continuously. Payment and settlement systems, though, were largely designed around limited banking windows. Tokenized cash is meant to close that gap by allowing value transfer at any time, which could improve liquidity management and reduce the need to pre-fund accounts across time zones. Real-time settlement can also reduce exposure to counterparties and price moves between trade execution and completion.
The rollout still depends on regulatory approval and institutional adoption. Firms will need to determine how these systems connect with existing infrastructure and compliance processes, and interoperability remains a central issue. Permissioned networks offer control, but they can also remain isolated from other platforms. As transaction volumes rise, the system will also need to show that it can maintain performance and reliability across a broader range of institutional use cases.