Inside Digital Assets - Tokenization, Digital Assets and new market infrastructures

Key Themes:

▫️ Market Evolution – From 2017 crypto custody to today's regulated tokenized infrastructure

▫️ Client Transformation – Institutional demand shifted from simple access to full banking integration

▫️ Stablecoin Integration – Fiat and digital accounts coexisting, enabling seamless transitions

▫️ Money Market Funds On-Chain – Treasury revolution with real-time settlement and minute-based yield

▫️ Infrastructure Requirements – Custody systems, on-chain compliance, forensics, and blockchain-native risk management

▫️ Why Early Tokenization Failed – Missing secondary markets, stablecoin standards, and institutional liquidity

▫️ DeFi-TradFi Convergence – Permissioned blockchains enabling institutional participation with appropriate governance

▫️ Compliance and Innovation Balance – Gated product development ensures regulatory compliance without stifling growth

▫️ Liechtenstein's Advantage – EWR membership provides European market access; positioning as bridge to Swiss innovation

▫️ 10-Year Vision – Blockchain and tokenization becoming invisible infrastructure; stablecoins and tokenized assets as standard operations

Project Helvetia & Settlement Infrastructure

Public vs. Private Blockchains: The Central Bank Dilemma

The Shifting Financial System • Stablecoins: a real challenge to traditional banking, but not necessarily a threat • Tokenized deposits as banks' response to keep customers on-chain

Revolutionary Use Cases Beyond Replication

Ecosystem as Infrastructure

Key Themes:

Main Themes:

Tokenization, DLT and the next phase of market infrastructure

In this episode of Inside Digital Assets, Host Lidia Kurt speaks with Roland Chai, President European Markets and Head of Digital Assets at Nasdaq.

The discussion focuses on how tokenized assets, distributed ledger technology and regulated market infrastructure are developing in capital markets. Rather than looking at tokenization only as a topic for individual digital assets, the conversation explores its potential role in post-trade processes, collateral management, asset servicing and the broader lifecycle of financial instruments.

In this episode, the discussion covers

Key themes

Tokenized assets and regulated markets

The episode discusses tokenized assets as digital representations of financial instruments on distributed ledger technology. A central point is that tokenization is not only about creating digital instruments, but also about the infrastructure required to trade, hold, transfer and service them safely in regulated markets.

Post-trade infrastructure and asset lifecycle

Roland Chai highlights the relevance of tokenization for post-trade processes, collateral, balance sheet securities and asset servicing. Programmable assets and smart contracts are discussed in the context of the full asset lifecycle.

European market fragmentation

The conversation also addresses fragmentation in European capital markets. Cross-border issuance, custody and market access can be complex and costly when infrastructure remains organised across different jurisdictions. Digital infrastructure could offer a way to rethink these processes within regulated frameworks.

Interoperability and standards

A recurring topic is the need to avoid new digital silos. Interoperability, fungibility and standardisation are presented as key conditions for scaling tokenized assets across wallets, custody environments, central securities depositories and networks.

From experimentation to implementation

The episode also discusses a shift in market dynamics: tokenization is moving beyond proofs of concept and into more practical implementation. At the same time, broader adoption depends on regulatory clarity, resilient market structures, legal certainty and continued education across institutional markets.

Summer break: Inside Digital Assets is going on a summer break. New episodes will be available again from September.

Subscribe to Inside Digital Assets and stay tuned for new episodes from September.

In this episode of Inside Digital Assets, Lidia Kurt (CEO BX Digtial/Seturion) speaks with Frank Seibold (Managing Director and Global Head of Banking and Capital Markets at Chainlink).

The discussion focuses on how tokenized assets can move beyond digital representation and become usable within institutional capital markets. The episode covers trusted data, interoperability, smart contracts, settlement, corporate actions and the convergence between traditional finance and blockchain-based infrastructure.

In this episode

Key themes:

Trusted data and the oracle problem: The episode explains the importance of reliable data for smart contracts. In blockchain-based systems, external data such as prices or net asset values must be provided in a way that is accurate, verifiable and suitable for automated execution.

Interoperability and market infrastructure: The conversation also looks at the need to connect different blockchain networks, traditional financial systems and on-chain environments. Instead of replacing existing infrastructure overnight, the discussion points to a gradual convergence between traditional finance and distributed ledger technology.

Regulated digital market infrastructure: For BX Digital, the topics discussed in this episode are closely linked to the development of regulated market infrastructure for digital assets and tokenized assets. Reliable data, interoperability, settlement and compliance are important foundations for institutional adoption.

Links

Subscribe to Inside Digital Assets for further conversations on digital assets, tokenization, blockchain infrastructure and regulated capital markets.

Inside Digital Assets: A Conversation with Ivica Aračić, CTO of SWIAT

How can digital assets scale in regulated capital markets and what kind of infrastructure is needed to make that happen?

In this episode of Inside Digital Assets, host Lidia Kurt speaks with Ivica Aračić (CTO of SWIAT), about distributed ledger technology, tokenized securities, shared ledgers and the future of regulated financial market infrastructure.

The conversation explores why DLT is not only about digitizing individual financial instruments, but about creating shared infrastructure where issuers, banks, trading venues, settlement infrastructures, payment providers and other market participants can interact more efficiently.

Ivica explains SWIAT’s vision for regulated digital asset infrastructure, the move from pilot projects to real-value transactions, and why the industry is now entering a phase where digital assets need to become part of everyday capital markets.

Topics covered in this episode

Over the past decade, the digital asset ecosystem has evolved significantly. Early discussions around blockchain in finance were often focused on proofs of concept and pilot transactions. Today, the focus is increasingly shifting toward productive solutions, real-value transactions and scalable infrastructure.

Ivica Aračić explains how SWIAT was founded out of an initiative by DekaBank and how the company develops infrastructure for regulated digital assets. Its work includes tokenization, settlement, delivery versus payment and the technical foundation for digital securities in regulated financial markets.

Why shared ledgers matter

A central theme of the episode is the idea of shared ledger infrastructure.

According to Ivica, the future is unlikely to be based on one single global ledger for the entire financial market. Instead, the goal should be a consolidated and interoperable set of ledgers. Such infrastructure could allow different market participants to collaborate on a shared process and data model while still maintaining competition on the layers above.

This raises important questions around governance, openness, neutrality, compliance and risk management — especially for regulated financial institutions.

Regulated Layer One

The episode also takes a closer look at Regulated Layer One.

The idea behind Regulated Layer One is to provide a neutral, open and regulatory-compatible base layer for digital financial market infrastructure. This base layer should not be the main area of competitive differentiation. Instead, competition should take place on top of it, in digital assets, applications, services and financial services.

For regulated institutions, clear governance, responsibility and risk management are essential. Ivica explains why these aspects are central to making shared infrastructure usable for the financial industry.

Central bank money and the cash leg

For digital assets to scale in capital markets, tokenized securities alone are not enough. The cash leg is equally important.

Many traditional securities transactions are settled in central bank money. If digital assets are to become part of mainstream financial markets, comparable settlement capabilities are needed in the DLT ecosystem.

In this context, the episode discusses initiatives such as Appia and Pontes, as well as the broader question of where central bank money and market-issued digital assets can meet.

What is still missing?

Despite strong progress, Ivica points out that DLT-based financial instruments still need to be further aligned with traditional securities from a regulatory and operational perspective.

One important topic is eligibility. Tokenized securities need to become “first-class citizens” in financial markets, particularly when it comes to eligibility criteria, collateral management and access to central bank liquidity.

Only when digital assets are treated on equal terms with their traditional counterparts can DLT fully unlock its potential in regulated capital markets.

About the guest

Ivica Aračić is Chief Technology Officer at SWIAT. He has a background in computer science, enterprise application integration and financial market technology. Before joining SWIAT, he worked at DekaBank and was involved in blockchain and digital asset initiatives within the financial industry.

About the podcast

Inside Digital Assets is a podcast about the future of capital markets, tokenization, digital assets and the technologies that power them. The podcast is a joint project by BX Digital and Seturion.

**Making the Eiffel Tower Investable via DLT? A Conversation with Tom Rieder (ISP Group)

In this episode of Inside Digital Assets, host Claudio Tognella speaks with Tom Rieder (Head of Digital Assets at ISP Group) about the practical implementation of tokenization and the role of digital assets in the future of capital market infrastructure.

Together, they explore why tokenization should not be an end in itself, how issuers can evaluate whether an asset is suitable for tokenization, and why secondary markets, custody, distribution and settlement are essential for the next phase of adoption.

What this episode is about

Tom Rieder explains that tokenization means the digital representation of rights on a blockchain or distributed ledger technology. These rights can include value rights, ownership rights, usage rights or other financial claims. By representing them as tokens, they can become more easily transferable, accessible and transparent.

However, the episode makes clear that technology alone is not enough. Before an asset is tokenized, issuers need to understand the business case, the target investors, the rights being represented and the concrete benefits for all parties involved.

Key topics covered:

From experimentation to real use cases

Examples discussed in the episode include tokenized real estate projects, pre-IPO shares, private equity participations and other asset classes that are traditionally difficult to access. Tokenization can potentially lower minimum investment amounts and open new distribution channels.

At the same time, Tom stresses that an asset does not become more attractive or more liquid simply because it is tokenized. The underlying business model must make sense.

Why secondary markets matter

Tokenized securities need more than a smart contract. They require investors, distribution, custody solutions, market makers, regulated trading venues and reliable settlement infrastructure. Without these components, liquidity remains limited.

This is where regulated market infrastructure becomes essential. BX Digital is discussed as a trading venue for tokenized securities, while Seturion is positioned as infrastructure for the settlement of digital assets.

Together, such solutions address key requirements of digital capital markets: tradability, regulatory integration, settlement and institutional connectivity.

Banks, custody and the investor experience

For broader adoption, investors should be able to access tokenized securities as easily as traditional securities. They should not necessarily have to manage wallets, private keys or the technical details of blockchain infrastructure themselves.

Banks, brokers, custodians and other regulated market participants can therefore play an important role in making digital assets accessible to a broader investor base.

Featured guest

Host

About Inside Digital Assets

The podcast brings together experts, market participants and infrastructure providers to discuss how digital assets are moving from experimentation into regulated financial markets.

Links

Listen and subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0gHCvwyeuAP6yssca2E2Kj?si=89c6b88f126b4ef2

In dieser Folge von „Inside Digital Assets” spricht Lidia Kurt, CEO von BX Digital und Seturion, mit Dirk Grunert, Managing Director bei Morgan Stanley, über den technologischen Wandel im Kapitalmarkt, strukturierte Produkte und die Frage, warum Europa eine neue Finanzmarktinfrastruktur benötigt.

Ein Schwerpunkt der Episode liegt auf der Entwicklung des Wertpapierhandels: von physischen Urkunden und manuellen Prozessen über elektronische Buchungssysteme bis hin zu Online-Banking, Neobrokern und digitalen Marktmodellen. Dabei wird deutlich: Technologie hat den Kapitalmarkt schon mehrfach grundlegend verändert und die Tokenisierung könnte der nächste grosse Schritt sein.

Themen dieser Episode:

Die Folge zeigt, dass Tokenisierung weit mehr ist als ein technisches Schlagwort. Es geht um die Modernisierung zentraler Kapitalmarktprozesse, um effizientere Abwicklung, neue Anlageklassen und die Frage, wie Banken, Emittenten und Investoren künftig mit digitalen Vermögenswerten umgehen werden.

Über den Podcast:

„Inside Digital Assets” ist ein Podcast von BX Digital und Seturion über die Zukunft des Kapitalmarkts, Tokenisierung, digitale Vermögenswerte und die Technologien, die sie antreiben. Im Podcast spricht Lidia Kurt mit Menschen, die diesen Wandel gestalten, über aktuelle Projekte, digitale Innovationen und die Frage, wie der Kapitalmarkt von morgen aussehen könnte.

Weiterführende Informationen:

Fixing Europe’s Issuance Problem: A conversation with Michael Duttlinger (Cashlink)

How can Europe build a scalable infrastructure for tokenized securities?

In this episode of Inside Digital Assets, host Lidia Kurt speaks with Michael Duttlinger (CEO and Co-Founder of Cashlink) about one of the most important bottlenecks in Europe’s digital asset market: issuance.

The conversation explores why the future of capital market infrastructure will likely be hybrid rather than fully decentralized. While blockchain technology can reduce friction, increase efficiency, and remove parts of the traditional infrastructure stack, regulated capital markets still require trusted intermediaries, legal certainty, and compliant control mechanisms.

A key focus of the episode is the role of the crypto securities registrar in Germany. Michael explains why this function is more than just another intermediary layer: it helps bridge blockchain-based securities with the operational and regulatory realities of institutional finance. Topics such as KYC, AML, sanctions compliance, asset control, and smart contract responsibility are central to this discussion.

The episode also looks at the wider European market structure. While trading and settlement frameworks are gradually evolving, the issuance of tokenized securities remains shaped by national regimes. Michael shares why this fragmentation matters, which jurisdictions are especially relevant, and why solving Europe’s issuance problem is essential for scaling digital assets across borders.

Another important theme is the transition from pilot projects to real implementation. The conversation highlights why institutions do not learn tokenization through theory alone: real progress comes from actual issuance, involving not only innovation teams but also compliance, legal, operations, and change management functions.

Listeners will also hear:

Guest:

Host:

Key topics

Discover the full conversation in this episode of Inside Digital Assets.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to Inside Digital Assets and share it with colleagues interested in tokenization, market infrastructure, and the future of post-trade.

In dieser Episode von Inside Digital Assets spricht Host Lidia Kurt mit Christoph Hock, Head of Tokenisation and Digital Assets bei Union Investment, über die nächste Entwicklungsphase digitaler Vermögenswerte und die Frage, warum der Markt gerade jetzt an Dynamik gewinnt.

Im Gespräch geht es um die Faktoren, die Tokenisierung derzeit vorantreiben: Regulierung, neue Impulse aus den USA, zunehmenden Wettbewerb durch Fintechs, Fortschritte bei der Cash-Seite und die wachsende Relevanz von Marktinfrastruktur.

Christoph Hock erläutert, warum technologische Umbrüche für etablierte Marktteilnehmer strategisch relevant sind, weshalb tokenisierte Geldmarktfonds als wichtiger Anwendungsfall gelten und wie sich Themen wie 24/7-Handel und instantanes Settlement auf die Finanzwelt auswirken könnten.

Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt der Episode ist die Frage, warum offene und partnerschaftliche Infrastruktur entscheidend ist, damit tokenisierte Wertpapiere nicht in isolierten Einzellösungen stecken bleiben, sondern breiter im Markt ankommen.

Themen in dieser Folge

Darum lohnt sich die Folge:

Die Episode bietet eine fundierte Einordnung aktueller Marktentwicklungen und zeigt, welche Bausteine entscheidend sein könnten, damit Tokenisierung im Kapitalmarkt breiter skaliert.

Im Gespräch:

Christoph Hock

Host:

Union Investment: https://www.union-investment.de/

Wenn dir die Folge gefallen hat: Abonniere „Inside Digital Assets“ und empfiehl uns weiter.