David Birch at Money Motion 2026 on digital assets, identity, and verifiable credentials
MC
Mirela Ciobanu
09 Jun 2026 / 5 Min Read
At Money Motion 2026, The Paypers spoke with financial services expert David Birch about digital assets, identity, and the future of trust in the digital economy.
The conversation explored how the digital assets landscape is evolving beyond crypto speculation into more practical use cases. David Birch highlighted the growing importance of stablecoins, CBDCs, and tokenised deposits, noting that stablecoins are addressing real economic needs in emerging markets.
While crypto remains largely driven by speculation, he pointed out that in regions such as Latin America and Africa, users are seeking stability in digital dollars rather than exposure to volatility. He also underlined that CBDCs can add value, especially through offline capabilities, if strong KYC and AML frameworks remain in place.
A key takeaway from the discussion was that payments themselves are rarely the focus for users, but choice and flexibility are. This creates the need for a more modern approach to money, one that is safe, secure, and built on a solid digital identity layer. Dave stressed that such a layer must extend beyond individuals to include businesses and non-human entities, ensuring trust across increasingly complex ecosystems.
On digital identity, Birch reiterated that identity alone is becoming less relevant than what can be proven. The shift toward verifiable credentials marks a fundamental change, where the emphasis moves from collecting personal data to enabling trusted, minimal disclosure. While the European Digital Identity Wallet is setting an important benchmark for human identity, the real challenge lies in managing non-human identities such as devices and AI agents. Progress in KYC and KYB remains essential to unlocking this next phase.
Feel free to watch the full video and share your feedback with us.
About author
David is Principal at advisory practice 15Mb Ltd. and Global Ambassador for Consult Hyperion, the consulting arm of Fime. He is Non-Executive Chairman of Digiseq Ltd and holds several board-level advisory roles with leading organisations in Europe and the US, including OneID, PaymentWorks, Au10tix, and the HMRC Payments Advisory Board. He is Honorary President of EEMA (European e-ID Association), Senior Research Fellow at King’s Business School in London, Digital Fellow at the University of Exeter Business School’s DIGIT Lab, and Senior Research Fellow at the Qatar Centre for Digital Finance.
Recognised globally as one of the most influential voices in banking, fintech and payments, he has been named among the top fintech influencers worldwide and Europe’s leading commentator on emerging payments. A Forbes contributor and columnist for Financial World, he has written for The Financial Times, The Guardian, and numerous industry publications. He is a frequent media commentator on the BBC, Sky, and international channels.
His latest book, Money in the Metaverse (2024), explores the intersection of virtual worlds, digital assets, and financial services.
The Paypers is a global hub for market insights, real-time news, expert interviews, and in-depth analyses and resources across payments, fintech, and the digital economy. We deliver reports, webinars, and commentary on key topics, including regulation, real-time payments, cross-border payments and ecommerce, digital identity, payment innovation and infrastructure, Open Banking, Embedded Finance, crypto, fraud and financial crime prevention, and more – all developed in collaboration with industry experts and leaders.
