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European Securities and Markets Authority report: Tokenized stocks may lead to liquidity fragmentation

According to Ledger Insights, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) recently published the "Trends, Risks, and Vulnerabilities Report for the First Half of 2026," in which digital assets and prediction markets occupy three chapters. Regarding crypto assets, the report warns that the increasing ties between cryptocurrencies and the traditional financial sector pose risks. Concerning tokenization, the report points out that issuing different tokenized versions of the same stock may lead to fragmented liquidity.As for prediction markets, the report believes that prediction markets have not yet seen significant development in Europe. This is because major platforms do not yet hold EU licenses, and in most cases, they need to obtain licenses. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) outlines some potential advantages of tokenization, including increased efficiency, expanded investor access, programmability, and atomic settlement. On the other hand, ESMA also questions how much these advantages are actually realized within these encapsulated structures.Since the ownership of the underlying stocks is off-chain, there is no single data source on-chain, and self-custody can only be achieved indirectly through these structures. Tokenization structures also introduce additional layers of intermediaries, leading to complexity and risk. The settlement advantages are also difficult to realize. Even if token transfers occur on-chain, the cash portion of the transaction is usually settled separately, whether through bank payments or other channels. This means that for certain transactions, the promised atomic settlement (i.e., simultaneous delivery of securities and cash) has not yet been achieved.

first_img Maharashtra, the richest state in India, plans to tokenize its electricity assets for financing

The wealthiest state in India, Maharashtra, is formulating policies to tokenize state government assets (including power transmission infrastructure), with the funds raised to be used for constructing new transmission lines and energy storage facilities. The Chief Minister's Chief Economic Advisor and CEO of the Maharashtra Transformation Institute (MITRA), Praveen Pardeshi, introduced this plan at an invitation-only event called "The Box Launch," hosted by the real estate tokenization company RealX and MST Blockchain at the Mumbai World Trade Center.Pardeshi stated that transmission lines could be partially tokenized, for example, 40% to 50%, allowing investors holding tokens to receive a portion of the revenue from Maharashtra Transco. The new funds generated from token sales could be used to build more transmission lines and solar energy storage centers. He pointed out that the state currently has a significant surplus of solar power but lacks the grid capacity to deliver it to where it is needed; distribution companies must pay high prices of 16 to 18 rupees per unit during peak hours, while the price during surplus periods on the power exchange is only 2 paise per unit.He also illustrated the practice of real estate tokenization with the example of the Mumbai Express Towers commercial building tokenized under a REIT structure, emphasizing that tokenization does not equate to privatization but rather allows more citizens to participate in the development activities of public asset creation. Additionally, the state is drafting the Maharashtra Digital and Land Token Asset Trading Act (DELTA Act), which, if passed, will make it the first state in India to legislate for blockchain-based property tokenization.

first_img India's SEBI tokenized bond pilot fundraising exceeds 100 million USD

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) announced on Thursday that three issuers raised a total of 102.5 million rupees (approximately 10.72 million USD) through its Demat 2 pilot program by issuing tokenized corporate bonds. This pilot utilizes distributed ledger technology to issue, hold, and settle corporate bonds.REC Ltd. was the first to issue on September 7, raising 50 million rupees (approximately 5.23 million USD) from 18 investors; L&T Ltd. raised a similar amount from 4 investors on September 9, and IIFL raised 25 million rupees (approximately 2.6 million USD) from 1 investor on the same day. SEBI stated that the pilot infrastructure records corporate bonds in the form of native digital tokens on a distributed ledger owned by the depository and achieves atomic settlement of bonds and funds through a unified market interface connected to the Reserve Bank of India’s wholesale central bank digital currency.This mechanism can reduce settlement risks arising from the separation of securities and funds transfer, allowing issuers to receive funds on the same day as the bidding, whereas the existing process typically takes two to three days. The regulator noted that the information of bondholders on the shared ledger is instantly visible to all authorized entities, and at maturity, e₹ payments will go directly into the bondholders' central bank digital currency wallets. SEBI clarified that this pilot does not create a new category of corporate bonds; tokenized bonds retain the same ISIN, issuer obligations, coupon, maturity, covenants, ratings, and investor rights as traditional paperless bonds. The pilot will be implemented in three phases, with the first phase covering institutional issuance, while secondary trading and retail access will be conducted in subsequent phases within SEBI's regulatory sandbox.

first_img India launches a pilot program for the tokenization of corporate bonds worth 620 billion USD, with digital rupees participating in the settlement

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched the Demat 2 pilot this week, issuing corporate bonds in the form of digital tokens on a distributed ledger operated by regulated market institutions, and settling through the wholesale digital rupee of the Reserve Bank of India. The size of India's corporate bond market is approximately $620 billion.The state-owned power financing institution REC raised ₹50 billion (approximately $56 million) through this system, engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro refinanced ₹50 billion, and non-banking financial institution IIFL Finance raised ₹2.5 billion (approximately $2.8 million), totaling around ₹102.5 billion. The bonds retain fixed interest rates, maturity dates, and investor rights, but the tokenized bonds can be settled simultaneously with the digital rupees used for purchase, thereby reducing transaction risk.Subsequent phases will introduce smart contracts to handle corporate actions such as interest payments and redemptions, and there are plans to open secondary market trading, ultimately allowing retail investors to participate. India maintains a cautious attitude towards private cryptocurrencies, and this pilot is an attempt to introduce tokenization into its controlled financial system.

first_img Monument Bank delays retail tokenized deposits due to regulatory issues in the UK

According to CoinDesk, London challenger bank Monument Bank has postponed its £250 million (approximately $330 million) project to tokenize UK retail bank deposits for several months, as the bank has been unable to find a local crypto custodian that meets the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) standards and can handle zero-knowledge privacy proofs.Mintoo Bhandari, founder of Monument Bank, stated that the bank originally planned to tokenize customer deposits on the privacy public chain Midnight, hoping to launch the world's first tokenized deposits two months ago, but it is now expected to take another two months, with a retail customer launch in November. To meet regulatory requirements, the bank expanded its search for custodial partners to overseas, ultimately finding a Canadian custodian approved by the FCA.Midnight is a privacy-first Layer 1 blockchain project funded by Charles Hoskinson, which keeps customer information within the Monument system through zero-knowledge proofs while allowing the bank to prove compliance on-chain and provide audit records to regulators. Monument Bank announced the project in March this year, planning to offer tokenized private equity, structured products, and automated Lombard loans to "mass affluent" customers with investable assets ranging from £50,000 to £5 million.Bhandari stated that customer deposits will continue to earn interest, fully backed by Monument, and can be exchanged at a 1:1 ratio for pounds, protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), with a limit of £120,000 per person or company.

first_img Institutions like Nasdaq have written to the European Union, requesting the cancellation or increase of the tokenization cap

According to CoinDesk, European financial and cryptocurrency industry organizations have written to the EU Council and the European Parliament, urging lawmakers to remove the cap on the scale of tokenized securities platforms or set it at least at €1.5 trillion (approximately $1.74 trillion), arguing that the €100 billion cap proposed by the European Commission will hinder industry development. Signatories include the French Digital Asset Association Adan, Crypto Council for Innovation, the European Ethereum Institute, as well as companies like Nasdaq and Boerse Stuttgart.The EU's distributed ledger pilot regime allows operators to test the trading and settlement of tokenized stocks, bonds, and investment funds while exempting some existing financial rules. After observing "moderate" participation, the European Commission proposed to expand the pilot framework and raise the current €6 billion cap to €100 billion. Adan stated that considering the development of the global market, this increase is still insufficient, and their preferred option is to completely remove the cap or at least set it to €1.5 trillion, which is 15 times the proposed cap.The joint letter pointed out that some existing European projects have reached a scale of €350 billion and plan to grow further, but did not disclose specific projects or calculation methods. The letter also emphasized that the relevant threshold targets the market capitalization of admitted securities rather than trading volume and opposed giving central securities depositories a significantly higher differentiated cap than other blockchain market operators, arguing that this would be detrimental to emerging service providers.The alliance also compared the restrictive measures in Europe with an unnamed mainstream settlement platform in the United States, which can tokenize assets like stocks without a trading volume cap; if the cap is retained, the alliance hopes the Commission can flexibly raise it as the market grows, without presetting a maximum limit.
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