BIS Taps IMF Digital Money Expert Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli to Lead Innovation Hub From 2026

Quick Breakdown

• BIS appoints digital money authority Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli as head of its Innovation Hub starting March 2026.
• His mandate will focus on CBDCs, tokenized assets and next-generation financial infrastructure.
• The appointment signals a push toward regulated digital currency models rather than unregulated stablecoins.

BIS Names IMF’s Mancini-Griffoli as next innovation hub chief

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has appointed Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli, one of the most influential global thinkers on digital currencies , as the next head of the BIS Innovation Hub, with his term beginning in March 2026.

Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli has been appointed head of the #BISInnovationHub for a five-year term starting on 1 March 2026. More details here: pic.twitter.com/LEkn4obq1y

— Bank for International Settlements (@BIS_org) November 25, 2025

The appointment, announced Tuesday, positions him to lead the central banking community’s major technology and digital money experiments. His portfolio is expected to encompass ongoing efforts in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), tokenized financial instruments, and modernized market infrastructure.

Mancini-Griffoli currently serves as assistant director in the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, where he oversees work on payments, digital currencies and financial stability. He has long advocated for public-backed digital money frameworks and repeatedly cautioned that unregulated stablecoins pose systemic risks.

A long-time advocate for public-backed digital money

Across various global policy forums, Mancini-Griffoli has pushed for models that blend private-sector innovation with public-sector oversight.

He is widely known for promoting synthetic CBDCs, a design in which private firms issue digital money fully backed by central bank reserves. According to him, this hybrid model offers innovation without sacrificing safety or settlement finality.

In recent commentary, he argued that stablecoins backed by risky assets or governed without strict oversight expose users to liquidity crunches, value instability and potential runs, risks central banks can’t afford to ignore.

Innovation hub poised for high-impact digital currency projects

His arrival comes as the BIS ramps up some of its most ambitious digital asset experiments. Key ongoing projects include the cross-border CBDC settlement network mBridge, the tokenized deposit infrastructure Agora and real-time payments and interoperable CBDC rails called Project Nexus. 

 

These initiatives reflect the BIS’s push to re-engineer traditional finance with blockchain-inspired designs. With Mancini-Griffoli taking charge, the Innovation Hub is expected to accelerate its work on tokenized deposits, global CBDC interoperability and cross-border digital settlement systems.

 

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