Nadine Chakar, managing director, global head of DTCC Digital Assets
This year was a pivotal year for digital assets, and we’re seeing strong momentum toward adoption. More and more institutional investors – on both the buy- and sell-side – continue to be getting engaged with this technology. We also saw a lot of progress on the regulatory front, with the SEC’s approval of Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs in the US in 2024, and the first stages of the EU’s MiCA, the first-ever blockchain-related asset regulation, coming into effect.
We still have our work cut out for us in 2025 and beyond. While we’ve clearly proven the merits of this technology, it’s time to put real applications on the ledger using tokenisation. As we move beyond pilots and start putting projects into production, we’ll need to make sure we’re collectively driving toward an end goal: building an efficient digital market infrastructure and standards. Collaboration is the core ingredient that will help us capture the promise that digital assets hold.
In 2025, we will continue to focus on establishing the digital market infrastructure of the future, showcasing how we can deliver the same efficiencies for digital assets as we do in traditional markets today, while also ensuring smooth market operation, transparency and liquidity.
Rob Hale, head of financial markets, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets
Digital assets look poised to gain traction in wholesale markets next year, driven not only by increased issuance but also by the transformative application of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and smart contracts. While digital asset issuance will continue to expand, the real innovation lies in how DLT and smart contracts have the ability to revolutionise collateral management, moving beyond proof-of-concept to regular market use.
In derivatives markets, collateral agreements are fundamental for managing credit risk. When two parties enter into a contract under a collateral agreement, they agree to post collateral as market movements change the exposure between the counterparties. This process, currently conducted daily, involves complex calculations, bilateral agreement, and operational execution. With trillions of dollars of collateral exchanged daily, disputes, delays, and some inefficiencies are common and can be costly.
DLT and smart contracts offer a paradigm shift. By automating collateral posting, these technologies eliminate disputes through fixed valuations. More importantly, they enable intraday collateral exchanges – potentially four or more times a day – compared to the current end-of-day standard. This increased frequency would significantly enhance operational efficiency, provide instantaneous settlement, and lower the capital buffer required to cover credit exposures.
The benefits are clear: fewer disputes, faster processes, and a reduced operational burden. As these technologies mature, we can expect to see them adopted more broadly, creating a more efficient, transparent, and resilient financial ecosystem. Next year may well be the year when the promise of digital assets in wholesale markets becomes a reality.
David Mercer, chief executive, LMAX Group
The market for digital assets is poised for exponential growth, driven by breakthroughs in blockchain technology, tokenisation and long-awaited regulatory clarity worldwide. A shift from speculative interest to real-world utility will be a core driver and the inflexion point toward mass adoption by institutional investors and corporates more broadly. The ability to tokenise assets—making trading efficient, fungible and accessible—will revolutionise markets. Fractional ownership and instantaneous transfer of title will democratise access, enabling every tier of market participant to transact seamlessly at scale.
Stablecoins and other digital fungible collateral, backed by reputable frameworks will underpin this transformation. By acting as a bridge between fiat and digital currencies, the world’s monetary systems can become more intertwined with the broader digital assets ecosystem. To achieve this vision, systemic risks such as market concentration and regulatory uncertainties must be addressed. Doing so will encourage more innovation in this space whilst providing investor protections and enable greater participation from real money to fuel these developments.