After the initial rush of the first day of Money20/20 , Day 2 saw the fintech festival settle into its usual rhythm. AI was still an undercurrent in many of the sessions, however more space was afforded to staples of the fintech conversation: crypto, open banking, and CBDCs.

Attendees also heard the much-anticipated contribution from former French President Francois Hollande, who stress the need for investment to focus on climate tech and social value.

Check out our highlights from day two below 👇

Quote of the Day:

“You must invest in the common future. We must win together, or we will lose separately.” These were the final words of the day from former President of France Francois Hollande. This captures a common theme for Money 2020 as large financial institutions, infrastructure players and emerging innovators come together.

The future of crypto regulation

Day 2 opened with a session chaired by Sifted reporter Tom Matsuda featuring Sonia Shaw , President at CoinW and Kaushik Sthankiya , Global Head of Banking & Payments at Kraken Digital Asset Exchange . Shaw set out the challenge that is clear for companies acting in the space “We’re repairing our reputation among consumers and regulators.” This was a task that Sthankiya is also taking on, stating that Kraken is “serious about operating in this space” and speaking to the regulation-first approach to exchange takes across jurisdictions. As the volume comes back into the market, players who have succeeded in building a trusted reputation will win during the next phase of growth.

The next steps for open banking regulation

For UK-based firms, the announcement of the general election will have resulted in frustration. The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill was scrapped as a result, meaning delays to legislating on key provisions for progressing open banking such as smart data. It was therefore not an easy task for Henk Van Hulle , CEO of Open Banking , to provide an update on the future of regulation. Van Hulle embraced this uncertainty, however, to issue a call for post-election clarity on the new government’s position towards the technology. He made clear that “we haven’t even reach base camp yet” in the implementation of open banking, with the need for collaboration being the red thread running through his contributions.

Van Hulle did provide an important update on the work of the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee in establishing the UK’s future open banking entity, outlining that a report was ready to be published as soon as the new government can sign it off. Expect this early in the second half of 2024.

What to expect in CBDC development

The UK’s election has disrupted more than progress on open banking, with the country’s plans for a CBDC also stalled until after July 4th. This was made clear in conversations throughout the day, with the Bank of England pulling out of speaking on the topic. However, we did get clarity on the ECB’s approach to creating a digital Euro from Evelien Witlox , Digital Euro Director at the European Central Bank . Witlox outlined the ECB’s view of a digital Euro as a “public good”, outlining that legislation would make it legal tender and require merchants to accept it if they accept other forms of digital payments. Cash-only merchants would be exempt. With a progress report due later this month, followers of the ECB’s progress can expect more detail on how the ECB is moving forward on privacy, procurement, and user experience as it designs its CBDC.

You can’t get away from payments at Money 20/20 and it seems that every other company is making it faster and more seamless to move our money around. One area is that space that has been slower on the uptake when it comes to innovation is B2B payments and Business Insider’s Calum Burroughes put it well when he said, “Every time you see some tap their phone to get on the tube, someone in B2B payments is cursing.” This was during a panel on B2B payments during which FIS’ Executive Vice President, Seamus Smith , said it’s about “being the CFO’s best friend.”  This is an audience first way of thinking that is useful for anyone trying to communicate about the complexities of payments.

Talking of complexities, one of the highlights of the day from a payments perspective was payabl. CEO Ugnė B. turning to the crowd during her panel and saying “let me translate”, showing shows that even for an industry crowd it can get a bit dense. It’s always good to take a second to consider the best way to land an argument on such