Monument Bank Founder Expects Midnight Deposit Announcement Within Days

Monument Bank founder Mintoo Bhandari pointed to an imminent announcement about the bank’s tokenized deposit rollout on Midnight. Asked about the timeline at Digital Asset Summit London on November 11, Bhandari told the audience the bank had been testing the product internally and expected an announcement “in a matter of days, probably not even weeks.” The remarks appeared in a panel clip shared by StakeWithPride.

Monument Reports Sign-Ups for Testing

In a separate clip from the same panel shared by Angry Crypto Show, Bhandari described the bank’s outreach to a selected group of customers. He reported that 80% of the customers Monument approached about testing had signed up to participate. Bhandari described whom the bank approached but gave no headcount or figures for the deposits those customers might bring into the program.

In September, Bhandari told CoinDesk that Monument was targeting a November rollout. He attributed the delay to the search for a custodian that could meet U.K. regulatory requirements and support Midnight’s privacy technology. Monument had selected a Canadian provider and had yet to disclose its name.

How Monument’s Tokenized Deposits Would Work

Under the plan announced by the Midnight Foundation in March, each token would represent an equivalent amount in pounds sterling held at Monument. The underlying deposits would continue to earn interest, remain redeemable in sterling, and retain coverage under the U.K.’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme, subject to the scheme’s rules and limits.

Midnight would provide the infrastructure for recording the tokenized deposits while shielding customer data. The foundation’s plan calls for a later phase to add tokenized investments through Monument’s app, followed by lending that would allow customers to borrow against those investments.

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First Customer Access Awaits an Announcement

Bhandari’s estimate followed internal testing and came in response to a question about rollout timing. He left the scope of initial customer access open. As of November 14, Monument Bank and the Midnight Foundation had yet to announce a launch date, explain how the first customers would gain access, or confirm that a customer deposit had been tokenized on Midnight mainnet.