Regarding the first wave of crypto-assets which have been brought to the market, they are not a claim on any natural or legal entity, they do not have a guaranteed fixed exchange rate with the currency issued by the central bank and they rely extensively for their circulation on blockchain, a distributed ledger technology system using cryptographic techniques. A second wave might develop in the form of « stablecoin » with a potentially global reach, some of which sponsored by large technology or financial firms, whose distinctive feature, beyond their potentially large size and reach, is that they seek to stabilize their value by linking it to an asset or a pool of assets. What are the specific benefits of such blockchain-based initiatives? First, the blockchain technology and more broadly the DLT could help answer market’s needs and demands. There is in particular a strong demand for quick and safe cross-border payment solutions, available 24h/24, enabling smooth exchanges. There are a number of local instant payment solutions already in place in a number of countries in particular in Europe, available 24/7, settling retail payment orders up to 15 000 euros in less than 15 seconds. A i ns t 2/6  BIS central bankers' speeches  certain number of initiatives follow the European Payment Council SCTi ns t scheme. The Eurosystem has even launched its own service, under the name of TIPS to help ensure a panEuropean reach.
This improvement in the functioning of payment systems represents a huge step for liquidity circulation. Third, a broader range of participants: the payments market has expanded to include competition from big techs and major retailers, which are following a wide range of strategies in this respect. The flipside of this trend is that the increasingly global nature of the market is raising sovereignty issues, including those relating to the control of data when the providers are located outside the region or jurisdiction where they offer their services. Last, the crave for blockchain technology: all around the world, market participants and big techs have launched or are preparing to launch new projects for tokens designed to serve as means of payment or settlement using the blockchain technology. We all have in mind firstgeneration crypto-assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but there are now many others coming or foreseen, like the JP Morgan Coin, the UBS’ Utility Settlement Coin or The Facebook’ Libra. 2- The development of crypto-assets are part of the innovations fueled by these underlying trends affecting payment instruments and systems, combining the search for anonymity, management of non-intermediated peer-to-peer payments and the use of entirely web-based technologies. But they also have their specificities. Actually, they have unique financial, monetary and  technical features which set them apart from the currencies and payment instruments issued by financial institutions and central banks.