A look at regulated issuance, tokenized securities and the infrastructure Europe still needs to scale
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:
how Cashlink evolved from a payments startup into regulated tokenization infrastructurewhy Germany has become an important market for tokenized securitieswhat financial institutions can learn from early issuance projectswhere scalability is starting to emerge in the marketwhy hybrid infrastructure models are likely to remain the norm for years to comeMichael Duttlinger (CEO and Co-Founder, Cashlink)
Cashlink: https://cashlink.de/en/
Lidia Kurt
BX Digital: https://bxdigital.ch/
Seturion: https://group.boerse-stuttgart.com/de/seturion/
Tokenized securities in EuropeThe role of regulated intermediariesGermany’s crypto securities registrar modelIssuance infrastructure and market fragmentationFrom pilot transactions to scalable implementationHybrid models in future capital marketsListen to the full episodeDiscover the full conversation in this episode of Inside Digital Assets.
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