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The rational for a shared ledger - a conversation with Ivica Aračić, SWIAT [EN]
How shared ledgers, central bank money and regulated infrastructure could shape digital 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.
View all episodes
By BX Digital und SeturionHow shared ledgers, central bank money and regulated infrastructure could shape digital 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.