Architecture is the hidden battleground of digital money. In this solo episode of BFRR (Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock’n’Roll), co-host Michael Blaschke argues that the choices being made right now—inside central banks, commercial banks, fintechs and protocol teams—will shape the global financial system for the next 30–50 years. Too often, the people who must make it all work (enterprise architects) are pulled in after strategic bets are already placed.

Michael opens with a question from the IMF: what is the “TCP/IP equivalent” for digital assets? He revisits early computer networking, when proprietary protocols didn’t scale and point-to-point integrations exploded in complexity. The lesson: interoperability comes from layered design and shared standards—not from forcing everyone onto one stack.

He then introduces the IMF’s ASAP framework—Access, Service, Asset, Platform—a shared vocabulary for conversations that currently happen in silos (blockchain vs. RTGS vs. DeFi vs. bank IT). The key insight is counterintuitive: platform diversity is here to stay, so standardization effort pays off most at the asset and service layers. Jasper–Ubin is the proof point: different DLTs, one shared service protocol (HTLC) enabling atomic exchange.

Next comes today’s “platform war”: vertically integrated “corp chains” versus open, permissionless networks. Michael explores the trade-off between turnkey efficiency now and strategic freedom later—and why closed stacks risk becoming “islands of harmony in a sea of diversity.” He also highlights emerging approaches like MAS’s Purpose Bound Money as hints of where practical standards may form.

Finally, stablecoins take center stage as the ultimate stress test: multi-chain deployments, brittle bridges, fragmented standards, and real systemic consequences.

LinkedIn Michael Blaschke

IMF Working Paper: ASAP: A Conceptual Model for Digital Asset Platforms

Opinion: The trillion-dollar battle for money's operating system

Article: The Path to Seamless Blockchain-Based Retail Payments: The Role of Interoperability

ECB Macroprudential Bulletin: Stablecoins' role in crypto and beyond: functions, risks and policy

Market Data: Market size of non-USD fiat-backed stablecoins up to September 2025

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