The director of Deutsche Börse Group said that tokenization is a natural evolution of market infrastructure and not a threat to customary markets, and added that the exchange operator is preparing to integrate tokenized and customary assets.
Carlo Kölzer, director of digital assets at Deutsche Börse and CEO of the group’s 360T trading platform, expressed an sanguine view on real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, predicting a future in which digital and customary markets operate in a tightly connected ecosystem.
“Our role as the Deutsche Börse Group is not just to build a bridge between two separate worlds, but to create a truly hybrid marketplace,” Kölzer told Cointelegraph, describing the company’s vision for a unified trading environment.
The comments appeared shortly after 360T integrated Kraken-backed xStocks, the premier tokenized stock platform, will allow customers to trade tokenized shares of companies including Nvidia, Google and Circle on February 9.
The role of customary market infrastructure is crucial
“Tokenization increases the flexibility and efficiency of the capital market not by making traditional market infrastructures obsolete, but by changing the way they perform their core functions,” Kölzer said, adding:
“In a tokenized environment, trusted institutions remain essential to manage risk, oversee and ensure order in markets, and the technology requires even greater resilience and transparency.”
Deutsche Börse sees this change as a strategic evolution and does not see it as a threat.
“For us, tokenization is an opportunity to pioneer new models and drive market transformation, while ensuring the same trust that we bring to our markets today,” he said.
Tokenization Risks and Regulatory Concerns
As tokenized assets continue to expand, with the market growing approximately 18% year-to-date, some analysts have noted that he repeated concerns about support for RWAs and commodity-based stablecoins.
Critics too pointed to the lack of a clear regulatory framework across jurisdictions, warning that investor rights and protection may vary depending on the structure and place of business.
In early February, the Securitize tokenization platform warned that the European Union risks falling behind the United States by calling on lawmakers to overhaul the bloc’s DLT pilot system to address restrictive asset scopes and ponderous regulatory updates.
Despite these concerns, Deutsche Börse and 360T remain sanguine about tokenization in Europe, citing progress within established regulatory frameworks such as the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID).
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“We welcome the ongoing work to evolve the initial approach and adapt it to market demand to enable growth and accelerate tokenization efforts,” Kölzer said, adding that this will ensure Europe continues to attract innovation.
The executive also addressed criticism about “paper Bitcoin,” a term used to describe synthetic or derivative-based exposure to Bitcoin through futures contracts, perpetual swaps, exchange-traded funds and some centralized exchanges.
“This issue highlights the critical importance of market integrity and regulated infrastructure,” he said, adding that Deutsche Börse and 360T aim to offer regulated access so that clients can gain exposure to assets without uncertainty about trading venues or service providers.
“Our approach remains the same for crypto assets and tokenized products. Our goal is to provide robust, trustworthy and fully regulated services,” he added.
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