coindesk.com
Vienna-based crypto broker Bitpanda is launching a new blockchain network aimed at bringing tokenized assets into Europe’s regulated financial system, as institutions look to move toward always-on markets.
The company said Wednesday that its "Vision Chain," built with the Vision Web3 Foundation and Optimism OP$0.1126, will provide infrastructure for banks and fintechs to issue and settle tokenized assets under EU rules such as MiCA and MiFID II.
The network uses compliant euro-denominated stablecoins for transaction fees to avoid the volatility tied 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 firms across global finance push deeper into tokenization to upgrade market plumbing for around-the-clock trading. The technology is widely seen as a way to streamline how assets are issued, traded and recorded, cutting reliance on fragmented legacy systems. It's potentially a massive market: tokenized assets could grow 53% a year, reaching $18.9 trillion by 2033 across asset classes, a joint report by Boston Consulting Group and Ripple estimated.
The initiative reflects a wider race among financial firms. Rival digital broker Robinhood (HOOD) is currently testing its proprietary blockchain dubbed Robinhood Chain, built specifically for tokenized stocks trading and connecting to decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. Wall Street behemoths such as Nasdaq and NYSE also work on their blockchain platforms for tokenized securities, merging crypto rails with the same compliance and safeguards as for traditional systems.
Bitpanda's chain fits into the firms broader strategy to bridge crypto rails 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 ready for this shift for years, but the infrastructure has been missing.
"With Vision Chain, we are building a public blockchain designed around Europe’s regulatory standards, combining the openness of public networks with the reliability institutions require," he added.
Read more: Crypto broker Bitpanda bets on banks and tokenization to expand globally ahead of IPO plans