Tokenized Capital Markets: Value, Risks and the Future

Tokenized capital markets: real value, risks and next steps

Overview

Tokenization has moved from a fringe concept to a central Wall Street theme. In this MERGE Madrid panel, Texture Capital (with the Choreium layer 1), Raiffeisen Bank International and Acetera analyze where tokenization creates real value in capital markets, what is holding it back and how to move forward responsibly, with institutional, banking and infrastructure perspectives.

What you'll learn

• Where the value is: asset fractionalization and tokenized funds
• US vs Europe: different paces and the role of the Genius Act and MiCA
• Who benefits: institutions today, retail users in the medium term
• What holds it back: technology, regulation, consumer protection and readiness
• Interoperability and standards: the challenge of connecting chains, KYC and token standards
• How to move forward: attractive products, secondary markets and dialogue with the regulator

Session summary

The tokenization moment: it notes that big names (NASDAQ, S&P, Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon, DTCC) and Robinhood itself are pushing tokenization, which is no longer theoretical but a reality in motion.

Where the value is: from the banking side (Raiffeisen Bank International) it highlights the fractionalization of high-value assets (real estate, art, commodities) to open them to more investors; from infrastructure (Texture Capital) it stresses the value of having ownership and money on the same ledger and the current adoption of tokenized funds by institutions.

US vs Europe: from Acetera (with prior experience at the London Stock Exchange Group) it discusses the different paces, the expected boost from the Genius Act in the US to solve the “cash leg” with stablecoins and Europe's progress in private markets.

What holds it back: it cites large organizations' risk aversion, caution around public networks, consumer protection and regulatory pressure; from infrastructure it explains how to address risk at the protocol level (clawbacks, ISO 20022 messaging, AML monitoring).

Innovation and regulation in banking: it proposes an innovation framework with KPIs, proofs of concept, early dialogue with the regulator and the use of sandboxes (such as the DLT pilot regime) to combine compliance and innovation.

Interoperability and the future: it identifies the lack of standardization (chains, KYC, token standards) as a major challenge and argues for competing against the “analog world” rather than between platforms; as next steps it calls for attractive products, secondary markets, more regulatory clarity (MiCA and MiFID) and leveraging the stablecoin momentum, with cases such as a tokenized VC fund in El Salvador and an estimated horizon of 5 to 10 years.

Watch the full talk

Watch the full recording on MERGE's YouTube channel, with Texture Capital, Raiffeisen Bank International and Acetera on tokenized capital markets.

FAQs

What real value does tokenizing capital markets add?
According to the panel, the fractionalization of high-value assets, tokenized funds and, in the future, having ownership and money on the same ledger.

What is holding back adoption today?
Institutions' risk aversion, caution around public networks, consumer protection, the lack of standardization and regulation.

Who benefits first?
Today, mainly institutions (with tokenized funds); the value for retail users would arrive in the medium term, according to the talk.

Is this investment advice?
No. This content is informational and summarizes what was presented in the panel; it does not constitute investment advice. Consult a professional for your specific situation.