BNP Paribas and HSBC Join Canton Foundation to Advance Decentralised Financial Infrastructure

BNP Paribas and HSBC have become the newest members of The Canton Foundation, strengthening the growing institutional support for the Canton Network. Their participation follows the recent additions of Goldman Sachs, Hong Kong FMI Services Limited and Moody’s Ratings, underscoring the increasing strategic role of the network in the future of global financial infrastructure.

The Canton Network aims to enable tokenised finance through decentralised technology that safeguards data privacy, operational control and interoperability. Its Global Synchronizer provides the core infrastructure for connecting digital assets across permissioned blockchains, under the decentralised governance of a community of banks, fintechs and service providers.

With over 30 members now onboard, including Broadridge, Tradeweb and Digital Asset, the Canton Foundation continues to build a collaborative ecosystem. The inclusion of BNP Paribas and HSBC represents another step towards aligning global capital markets through a secure and scalable decentralised framework.

BlockFills and QIS Risk Partner to Enhance Institutional Portfolio Visibility and Risk Analysis

BlockFills, the digital asset trading and market technology provider, has partnered with QIS Risk, a portfolio monitoring solution for institutional crypto investors, to expand risk and performance analysis capabilities for their shared clients. The collaboration allows investors to gain a unified view of their portfolios across all asset classes, counterparties, investment types, and blockchain networks.

Through QIS Risk’s platform, BlockFills clients can now integrate their digital asset derivatives positions into a broader portfolio context. This consolidated perspective aims to improve decision-making by removing the limitations of counterparty-specific reporting and offering more comprehensive insights into overall exposure.

The partnership reflects growing institutional demand for digital asset options. BlockFills reported that its digital asset options volume in July rose 70% compared with the same month last year.

Gemini Space Station Files for IPO on Nasdaq Under Ticker “GEMI”

Gemini Space Station, Inc., the global crypto platform, has announced the launch of its initial public offering (IPO) of 16,666,667 shares of Class A common stock. The company has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The offering price is expected to be between $17.00 and $19.00 per share, with Gemini and selling stockholders granting underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,396,348 and 103,652 shares, respectively, to cover over-allotments.

Gemini has applied to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “GEMI.” The offering will be led by Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Citigroup, with Morgan Stanley and Cantor also serving as lead bookrunners. Additional bookrunners and co-managers include Evercore ISI, Mizuho, Truist Securities, and several others. The proposed offering remains subject to market conditions and SEC approval.

SBI Group and Chainlink Form Strategic Partnership to Advance Digital Asset Adoption in Japan and APAC

SBI Group, one of Japan’s largest financial conglomerates, has announced a strategic partnership with Chainlink to accelerate blockchain and digital asset adoption across global markets, starting with Japan and the wider Asia-Pacific region. The collaboration aims to combine SBI’s market expertise with Chainlink’s secure oracle and interoperability infrastructure, already widely used by financial institutions and decentralised finance applications.

A recent survey by SBI Digital Asset Holdings found that 76% of financial institutions intend to invest in tokenised securities, citing benefits such as lower costs and faster settlements. However, the absence of institutional-grade infrastructure remains a key barrier to broader adoption. The partnership will address this by delivering solutions such as cross-chain tokenised real-world assets, onchain net asset value (NAV) reporting for funds, and payment versus payment (PvP) for cross-border FX transactions.

Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), SmartData, and Proof of Reserve will play a central role in enabling secure, compliant, and transparent digital asset operations. The two organisations have previously collaborated under Singapore’s Project Guardian, further demonstrating their capability to develop institutional-grade blockchain solutions.

Archax Secures Strategic Investment from Stellar Development Foundation to Advance RWA Tokenisation

Archax, the UK-regulated digital asset exchange, broker and custodian, has formed a strategic partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), which includes a direct investment from SDF. The collaboration aims to strengthen Archax’s mission of bridging traditional finance with blockchain, leveraging Stellar’s layer-one network to expand tokenisation opportunities.

Archax has already integrated Stellar into its tokenisation engine and platform, recently completing projects such as tokenising an Aberdeen Money Market Fund. Through its established network of financial institutions, Archax plans to introduce more tokenised real-world assets (RWAs) onto the Stellar blockchain.

The partnership comes amid rapid growth in the tokenisation market, which has risen from $15.2 billion in December 2024 to over $24 billion by June 2025. Archax is also working with Lloyds Bank and Aberdeen Asset Management to enable tokenised money-market funds to be used as collateral for FX trades through its Nest collateral transfer network.

Eurex Clearing Launches First DLT-Based Collateral Mobilisation Service with J.P. Morgan and PGGM

Eurex Clearing, part of Deutsche Börse Group, has become the first central counterparty (CCP) to introduce a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)-enabled collateral mobilisation service. In its first live transaction, J.P. Morgan successfully transferred securities collateral on behalf of Dutch pension fund PGGM from a separate custody location to Clearstream Banking S.A. for use as margin collateral at Eurex Clearing. The service is powered by HQLAX’s DLT platform and involves collaboration with Clearstream.

This new system allows clients to access and move securities across locations instantly, improving collateral mobility and operational efficiency. The service received regulatory non-objection from BaFin and forms part of Eurex Clearing’s broader digital transformation strategy. It represents a significant development in modernising collateral management through technology and industry collaboration.

Canton Network Expands On-Chain Collateral Initiative with Leading Liquidity Providers

The Canton Network has announced the inclusion of B2C2, Cumberland DRW, FalconX, and GSR as new design partners in its on-chain collateral initiative for bilateral derivatives. These firms join existing partners Flowdesk and QCP to support the development of an application designed to streamline collateral and margin management. Scheduled to launch in Q3, the application will be open to all OTC bilateral derivatives traders.

The collaboration aims to address inefficiencies in the crypto derivatives market by offering a cost-effective alternative to current over-collateralised and tri-party agent models. Using the Canton Network’s privacy-preserving architecture, the solution will enable automated smart contract-based collateral agreements compliant with ISDA CSA standards. Key features include real-time data sharing among transaction parties, instant tokenised collateral pledging, and 24/7 margining capabilities, offering improved operational efficiency, risk reduction, and support for novel collateral types.

Northern Trust to Trial Carbon Credit Tokenisation in Australia’s Project Acacia

Northern Trust will participate in Australia’s Project Acacia to test the interoperability of tokenised carbon credit transactions with traditional bank payments. The bank plans to demonstrate the simultaneous settlement of a carbon credit token transfer and a conventional payment using its blockchain-based Northern Trust Carbon Ecosystem. This simulation will be conducted in collaboration with Swift.

Project Acacia is led by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) to explore various forms of tokenised money and assets, including wholesale CBDCs, tokenised deposits, and stablecoins. Northern Trust’s involvement underscores its ongoing commitment to digital finance initiatives, having previously contributed to blockchain projects in Singapore and Hong Kong. The firm is also a founding shareholder in Zodia Custody and manages $17 trillion in assets under custody.

Standard Chartered Launches Institutional Crypto Trading Platform with Spot Bitcoin and Ether Services

Standard Chartered has introduced a fully integrated digital assets trading service for institutional clients, marking a significant step in its digital finance offerings. Following the earlier launch of its custody service, the bank now offers spot trading for Bitcoin (XBT/USD) and Ether (XET/USD) via its UK branch, with non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) trading to be added soon. This makes it the first globally systemically important bank to provide deliverable spot cryptoasset trading to institutional investors, corporates, and asset managers.

The service is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing FX platforms, enabling clients to trade digital assets through familiar systems while choosing their preferred custody solution, including Standard Chartered’s own. As a UK FCA-registered cryptoasset service provider, the bank offers clients the reliability of a regulated institution with strong risk controls and a robust financial base. This launch expands Standard Chartered’s digital asset capabilities across trading, custody, and tokenisation.

SDX and Banque Pictet Complete Pilot Tokenising Corporate Bonds for Asset Management Portfolios

SDX, part of SIX, and Banque Pictet & Cie SA have completed a joint pilot project that successfully tokenised corporate debt instruments and allocated fractional amounts to portfolios managed by Pictet Asset Management SA. The initiative focused on EUR- and CHF-denominated corporate bonds, which were held in custody at SIX SIS and tokenised on the SDX platform. These tokenised bonds were then distributed in fractional units to investor portfolios, allowing for greater customisation and operational efficiency than traditional methods.

The pilot demonstrates the practical benefits of digital securities in mutual fund management, such as automated rebalancing, smaller investment sizes, and enhanced diversification. By enabling tailored strategies and broader access to asset classes like corporate bonds, the collaboration highlights the potential of tokenisation to transform the asset management industry through scalable, flexible digital infrastructure.