Banks' drive to 'tokenise' assets moves slower than expected
By Elizabeth Howcroft
AMSTERDAM, June 5 (Reuters) -Banks which for years have talked about creating 'tokenised' versions of assets like bonds and currencies say a shift to blockchain-based trading is taking longer than expected, with some investors cautious about the idea.
By creating tokenised assets - usually blockchain-based tokens to represent holdings of mainstream assets such as currencies or bonds - banks hope to make it more efficient, faster and cheaper to trade, and easier to record who owns want.
Consultants and digital asset executives predict that a significant proportion of the world's assets will be tokenised via blockchain - HSBC and Northern Trust said in a note last year they expected 5% to 10% of all assets by 2030.
But executives speaking at the Money20/20 fintech conference this week said the shift to digital versions of assets was moving slowly.
"It's taken longer than I expected, to be honest, to get to the point where we are in this space," Ryan Rugg, Head of Digital Assets for Citibank's trade and treasury solutions business told the Amsterdam event.
"We've experimented with money markets and bonds but nothing that's live and scaling right now, the only application that we have live is a tokenised deposit."
Despite this, Rugg said she remained enthusiastic about tokenisation with the aim to create a tokenised deposit that can be sent 24/7, 365 days a year, avoiding cut-offs in different timezones or for banking holidays.
Clients are requesting it and the token has been live since last year, Rugg added.
While there have been various experimental projects - for example, to create blockchain-based bonds - tokenised trading lacks a liquid secondary market.
Having spent seven years attempting to re-build its software platform around blockchain, Australia's stock exchange eventually "paused" the project and announced last year the upgrade would no longer involve the technology.
Monica Long, president of U.S. crypto firm Ripple, told Reuters that many U.S. banks have "put digital asset services a bit on hold".
Ripple last year acquired crypto custody firm Metaco and Long said it was going well - pointing to a recent partnership with HSBC.
One of the main impediments to trading traditional assets via blockchain is that banks are working on their own networks, executives say, making it difficult to trade across platforms.
"Fragmentation slows down adoption, as investors don't want to connect to dozens of different networks," said Julien Clausse, head of BNP Paribas' digital asset platform AssetFoundry ahead of the event.
"More likely than not, we will continue to operate in a hybrid world for years to come, with some domains more actively tokenised because of the perceived benefits, and some others remaining in a the traditional world," Clausse said.
Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft
Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Ros Russell
Mga Kaugnay na Asset
Pinakabagong Balita
Disclaimer: Ang mga kabilang sa XM Group ay nagbibigay lang ng serbisyo sa pagpapatupad at pag-access sa aming Online Trading Facility, kung saan pinapahintulutan nito ang pagtingin at/o paggamit sa nilalaman na makikita sa website o sa pamamagitan nito, at walang layuning palitan o palawigin ito, at hindi din ito papalitan o papalawigin. Ang naturang pag-access at paggamit ay palaging alinsunod sa: (i) Mga Tuntunin at Kundisyon; (ii) Mga Babala sa Risk; at (iii) Kabuuang Disclaimer. Kaya naman ang naturang nilalaman ay ituturing na pangkalahatang impormasyon lamang. Mangyaring isaalang-alang na ang mga nilalaman ng aming Online Trading Facility ay hindi paglikom, o alok, para magsagawa ng anumang transaksyon sa mga pinansyal na market. Ang pag-trade sa alinmang pinansyal na market ay nagtataglay ng mataas na lebel ng risk sa iyong kapital.
Lahat ng materyales na nakalathala sa aming Online Trading Facility ay nakalaan para sa layuning edukasyonal/pang-impormasyon lamang at hindi naglalaman – at hindi dapat ituring bilang naglalaman – ng payo at rekomendasyon na pangpinansyal, tungkol sa buwis sa pag-i-invest, o pang-trade, o tala ng aming presyo sa pag-trade, o alok para sa, o paglikom ng, transaksyon sa alinmang pinansyal na instrument o hindi ginustong pinansyal na promosyon.
Sa anumang nilalaman na galing sa ikatlong partido, pati na ang mga nilalaman na inihanda ng XM, ang mga naturang opinyon, balita, pananaliksik, pag-analisa, presyo, ibang impormasyon o link sa ibang mga site na makikita sa website na ito ay ibibigay tulad ng nandoon, bilang pangkalahatang komentaryo sa market at hindi ito nagtataglay ng payo sa pag-i-invest. Kung ang alinmang nilalaman nito ay itinuring bilang pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, kailangan mong isaalang-alang at tanggapin na hindi ito inilaan at inihanda alinsunod sa mga legal na pangangailangan na idinisenyo para maisulong ang pagsasarili ng pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, at dahil dito ituturing ito na komunikasyon sa marketing sa ilalim ng mga kaugnay na batas at regulasyon. Mangyaring siguruhin na nabasa at naintindihan mo ang aming Notipikasyon sa Hindi Independyenteng Pananaliksik sa Pag-i-invest at Babala sa Risk na may kinalaman sa impormasyong nakalagay sa itaas, na maa-access dito.
