worldcoinindex.com
CME Group, a leading derivatives marketplace, is teaming up with Google Cloud to explore tokenization as a means to enhance capital market efficiency. The collaboration will leverage Google Cloud’s Universal Ledger, a newly introduced private and programmable distributed ledger technology, to test streamlined clearing and settlement processes.
According to a press release on Tuesday, the two firms plan to engage market participants in direct testing later this year, with a full launch of new services targeted for 2026. The initiative aligns with the growing trend of tokenization, which is gaining traction among both crypto-native and traditional financial institutions. Banks and asset managers are increasingly looking to blockchain technology to modernize financial transactions, aiming for real-time, low-cost, and round-the-clock settlements.
Industry reports from firms like BCG, McKinsey, and Bernstein project the tokenized asset market could expand into a multitrillion-dollar industry by the decade’s end. Terry Duffy, CME Group’s Chairman and CEO, emphasized the strategic importance of this partnership, stating, "As the President and new Administration encourage Congress to advance market structure reforms, we are excited to work with Google Cloud to innovate low-cost, digital value transfers. The Universal Ledger holds the potential to drive major efficiencies in collateral, margin, settlement, and fee payments as markets move toward 24/7 trading."
This move reinforces the growing convergence between blockchain technology and traditional finance, signaling a major step toward the future of digitized capital markets.