“FRANKFURT. For more than 15 years, proponents of blockchain technology have promised a revolution in the global financial system: the ability to trade fractional shares of assets (tokenization) around the clock, programmable cash flows, near-perfect market transparency, and real-time settlement of cash against assets—the ambitions remain as grand as ever.
In reality, however, the world remains far from any genuine adoption of public blockchains by central banks, major commercial banks, or state institutions. According to Silvio Micali, a computer scientist and founder of the blockchain platform Algorand, this is not (solely) due to institutional inertia or a desire to protect vested interests; rather, it stems from the current architecture of blockchain technology.
A blockchain—a database structured such that data is recorded in a series of interconnected blocks—generally comes in two forms: public (like Bitcoin or Ethereum) or private (such as R3).
Public blockchains are open to anyone for transactions, and anyone can participate in the consensus mechanism—the process by which new blocks of transactions are validated and added to the chain.
In private blockchains, this validation is handled by a small, select group of participants.
For Micali, the solution must be public. He argues that those who do not participate in validation decisions have no reason to trust a network. Public blockchains, he contends, serve as an infrastructure that facilitates trade and fosters trust, whereas a private blockchain creates only localized trust. If built correctly, a public blockchain could endure for generations.
The problem, however, is that public blockchains are dependent on volatile digital assets—assets that anyone wishing to participate in validation must deposit in significant quantities—a risk that banks, for instance, would be required to hedge against, if only for regulatory reasons. That is, assuming they are even permitted to do so.
Furthermore, there is a glaring disproportion between the volume of assets intended to be traded via a blockchain and the amount of cryptocurrency available to support them. If, for example, a chain held assets worth one trillion dollars, while the market capitalization of the underlying cryptocurrency stood at only ten billion dollars, a potential attacker would need to invest just five billion dollars to gain control over validation decisions and compromise the network's security. "Imagine a bridge certified for a load of one hundred kilograms, onto which you place one hundred tons of cargo," Micali remarked recently at the Crypto Assets Conference held in Frankfurt in April.
Moreover, who can guarantee that, ten years from now, there will still be enough honest validators willing to forgo more lucrative alternatives in order to keep the network running? Market logic simply suggests otherwise.
Micali’s solution is the "Fiatchain"—a name that alludes to "fiat money," or conventional, state-guaranteed central bank currency.
He argues that if one accepts two axioms, the network's security is assured.
First, the majority of the money is held by honest parties—a condition that holds true in any functioning economy.
Second, honest individuals seek to earn money through honest means.
From this, it follows that the majority of validators on such a chain are highly likely to act honestly.
If a public blockchain operates using public currency, it offers three decisive advantages for institutional use. The limitation imposed by market capitalization is removed, rendering the network theoretically infinitely scalable—and thus secure for tokenized assets of any scale.
The use of exclusively digital fiat currency represents a gain in national sovereignty, and regulatory hurdles are lower.
Validation on the "Fiatchain" is carried out by a committee of variable size, with members selected randomly and rotated periodically. This accelerates further development.
Validators are required to pay a fee, but they earn a share of the network fees.
Furthermore, in light of the long-term threat posed by quantum computers, the Fiatchain has been designed for quantum resistance from the outset; it is intended to launch with a capacity of twenty thousand transactions per second, with the potential for further scaling. Buyers and sellers can view bids in an open order book, eliminating the need for off-chain transactions.
However, as compelling as Micali’s concept may be, there is little evidence of it in practice. The mathematician had originally projected a minimal version to be ready by the end of the second quarter of 2026. Most recently, Micali described the algorithm as "state ready"—theoretically complete. Overall, it appears that the Fiatchain is currently still a visionary research idea.” [1]
1. Die Blockchain ist ohne Krypto besser dran: Blockchains gibt es schon lange, doch sie setzen sich nicht durch / Ein Forscher sieht ein Problem in den Kryptowährungen. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Frankfurt. 11 Aug 2026: 23. MARTIN HOCK
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