What Is Finternet? The Future of Digital Finance Explained

Finternet, short for “Financial Internet”, is more than a vision — it is the unfolding architecture of tomorrow’s finance. By drawing analogy to the Internet, it implies a network of interconnected financial ecosystems, enabling individuals and businesses to access, manage, and transfer financial assets with ease and transparency. The concept envisions a future where finance becomes as seamless, open and programmable as information flows today.

What is Finternet Concept and History?

The idea of the Finternet is clearly articulated in the working paper by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). In that paper, the Finternet is defined as “multiple financial ecosystems interconnected with each other, much like the internet, designed to empower individuals and businesses by placing them at the centre of their financial lives.”Historically, the financial system has been challenged by slow transaction times, high costs, limited access, and fragmented infrastructures. Advances in technologies — such as tokenisation, unified ledgers, digital identity and programmable contracts — now make it feasible to re-imagine finance in a digital-first way. The BIS paper outlines core architectural principles (interoperability, verifiability, programmability, modularity, scalability, security, privacy) that underlie the Finternet vision.Thus, the history of Finternet is a progression from legacy financial systems → digital innovation → an emerging architecture of interconnected ecosystems.

How Does Finternet Work?

At a high level, the Finternet works by combining three key pillars:

Economic and financial architecture — placing users (individuals and businesses) at the centre, offering access to a wide range of financial services and assets, cheaper, faster, more reliable.
Advanced digital technologies — unified ledgers (which bring together tokenised money, shares, bonds, real-estate rights, etc), smart contracts, digital identity, APIs and protocols for interoperability.
Robust regulatory and governance framework — ensuring that legal, regulatory, compliance and governance aspects keep pace with technological change and protect users.

In practice, a user may open a digital account on a unified ledger, hold tokenised assets, transfer these instantly across markets, interact with smart contracts, and benefit from seamless interoperability between multiple ledgers and platforms. The Finternet is thus akin to the Internet of value — assets flowing as freely (and safely) as information flows today.

Finternet in Practice: Finternet 2025

Finternet, aka Financial Internet, is more than a vision — it is the unfolding architecture of tomorrow’s finance. Organized by the Finternet Committee, the Finternet Asian Digital Finance Summit is an industry-leading annual event for the global digital finance community that strives to chart the path from TradFi to DigiFi.

Fundamentally, the philosophy of the Finternet revolves around connection. The brand vision of the Finternet Asia Digital Finance Summit is to forge connections between the world's innovators, decision-makers, and market participants who are united by shared aspirations, visionary dialogue, and pragmatic strategies. Guided by the philosophy "Bridge Ideas with Solutions," the summit is committed to transforming forward-thinking industry concepts into tangible solutions that drive market progress.

The inaugural Finternet 2025 - Asia Digital Finance Summit will take place in Hong Kong on November 4th at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. It will be guided by the objectives of "serving the real economy, building a global stage, and connecting the Web3 world," aiming to gather global wisdom to foster the industry's long-term growth. It is supported by a wide range of top-tier institutions, including OSL Group, InvestHK, the Financial Services Development Council of Hong Kong, Cyberport, as well as Visa, China Renaissance, King & Wood Mallesons, AWS, Morph, Banxa, Cobo and DigiFT.

Kevin Cui, Convener of the Finternet Asia Digital Finance Summit Committee and Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer of OSL Group, said:

"The essence of Finternet is the 'Financial Internet,' conceived to build a global compliance network that empowers ecosystem partners to collaborate efficiently, allowing capital to flow as freely as information. This vision is especially critical as we are at a historic turning point where the boundaries between traditional finance and the world of digital assets are rapidly converging.

The agenda of the inaugural summit is designed with 'compliant pathways to growth' as its focal point, exploring core industry topics such as regulatory frameworks, institutional adoption, real-world applications, Digital Asset Treasuries (DAT), and Real-World Assets (RWA). By gathering the world's most influential voices, we aim to translate consensus into action and chart a clear course for the long-term, stable development of global digital finance."

At the Finternet Asia Digital Finance Summit, ideas converge into strategies and visions are forged into actionable solutions. From Hong Kong, this dialogue extends to the world, bridging Web2 and Web3 to foster widespread prosperity. Through the synergy of capital, technology, regulatory guidance, and institutional collaboration, the summit unites the world's pioneers. Together, the mission is not simply to digitize finance, but to catalyze its fundamental transformation — forging the very Finternet that will power tomorrow's real economy.

Join us in empowering bold spirits through advanced technologies, collective intelligence, and genuine collaboration as we build a more inclusive, credible, and thriving digital finance era together.

The Future of Finternet

Looking ahead, the Finternet journey is still at its early stage. To fully realise this architecture, major challenges remain: legacy systems will need to be modernised, regulatory convergence across jurisdictions advanced, infrastructure upgrades executed, and user-centric models scaled.Yet the potential is enormous: finance that is inclusive, accessible, instant, programmable, global and low-cost. Emerging markets in particular stand to gain significantly from leap-frogging legacy models.In the years ahead, we might see:

Tokenisation of real-world assets becoming commonplace (real-estate, infrastructure, natural resources)
Seamless cross-border value flows, minimal friction, near-real-time settlement
Modular financial services, assembled like apps, enabling custom-tailored user experiences
Governance and compliance built into code and platforms rather than bolted on
A global network of ledgers and platforms forming the Finternet backbone, enabling finance to become as interoperable as the internet itself
For professionals, policy-makers, technologists and citizens alike, the imperative is clear: engage, experiment, collaborate. The Finternet is not merely a future concept — it is taking shape now. If we build it wisely, it may become the infrastructure that underpins the next era of real economy growth.