Bitpanda, a Vienna-based cryptocurrency broker, is launching a new blockchain network aimed at bringing tokenized assets into Europe’s regulated financial system, as institutions look to move towards always-on markets.
The company said Wednesday that its “Vision Chain,” built with the Vision Web3 Foundation and Optimism will provide infrastructure for banks and fintechs to issue and settle tokenized assets under EU regulations such as MiCA and MiFID II.
The network uses euro-denominated stablecoins that comply with transaction fee regulations to avoid the volatility linked to typical crypto payments on public chains. It also relies on Optimism’s Ethereum-based infrastructure to handle settlement and scaling.
The move comes as global finance companies delve into tokenization to improve the market system for 24-hour trading. The technology is widely seen as a way to optimize the way assets are issued, traded and registered, reducing reliance on fragmented legacy systems. It’s potentially a huge market: Tokenized assets could grow 53% a year, reaching $18.9 trillion by 2033 across all asset classes, a joint report by Boston Consulting Group and Ripple estimated.
The initiative reflects a broader race among financial companies. Rival digital broker Robinhood (HOOD) is currently testing its proprietary blockchain called Robinhood Chain, created specifically for trading tokenized stocks and connecting to decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. Wall Street giants like Nasdaq and NYSE are also working on their blockchain platforms for tokenized securities, merging cryptocurrencies with the same compliance and safeguards as traditional systems.
Bitpanda’s chain fits into the company’s broader strategy to bridge the lanes of crypto and traditional finance, offering banks and financial institutions blockchain plumbing to provide digital asset services to their customers.
“Tokenization is expected to redefine capital markets,” Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, CEO of Bitpanda, said in a statement. “European financial institutions have been prepared for this change for years, but the infrastructure is missing.
“With Vision Chain, we are building a public blockchain designed around European regulatory standards, combining the openness of public networks with the reliability that institutions require,” he added.
Read more: Cryptocurrency broker Bitpanda bets on banks and tokenization to expand globally ahead of IPO plans
