Latest news with #Centrifuge
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Exporting Trust: How Blockchain Finance Can Redefine Trade Agreements
Programmable contract on blockchain While the spotlight in Web3 remains fixed on ETFs, token listings, and stablecoin frameworks, a quieter but equally consequential evolution is taking shape at the edge of global commerce. In the last six months alone, the Bank for International Settlements expanded its cross-border wholesale CBDC pilot, Project mBridge, to include over 26 observing members. Meanwhile, the Monetary Authority of Singapore extended Project Guardian, testing tokenized trade finance and digital asset settlement with banks including JPMorgan, DBS, and Standard Chartered. Hong Kong Monetary Authority also launched Project Ensemble to develop innovative financial market infrastructure enabling seamless interbank settlement of tokenised money, initially focusing on tokenised deposits to support the growth of Hong Kong's tokenisation market. On the protocol side, DeFi-native projects like Centrifuge are tokenizing invoices and short-term credit, while firms like Enclave Markets are developing encrypted execution environments for confidential trading. These aren't isolated experiments - they're signs of a maturing thesis: that programmable finance can redefine the foundations of international trade. Today's trade infrastructure is a patchwork of legal fictions and trust intermediaries - letters of credit, bills of lading, third-party guarantees - many of which exist solely to simulate trust. Each one adds friction, cost, and settlement lag. Blockchain-based systems flip that dynamic by anchoring records on cryptographically secure, shared ledgers. This is more than just a technical upgrade. As David Wells, CEO of Enclave Markets, puts it: 'When counterparties from different jurisdictions can rely on cryptographically secured records rather than opaque intermediaries, the trust barrier that typically adds friction and cost to international trade diminishes significantly.' He adds that, 'At Enclave, we use secure enclave technology to enable privacy-preserving verification. This means counterparties can validate critical deal terms or performance metrics without exposing sensitive business data. It's a foundational shift - you get transparency and confidentiality at the same time, something legacy systems just aren't built for.' Where platforms like the now-defunct TradeLens stumbled due to governance limitations, decentralized or privacy-preserving infrastructure offers an alternative. Enclave, for instance, uses secure enclave hardware to enable private yet verifiable trades - part of a broader movement that includes confidential computing platforms and zero-knowledge middleware. Beyond data transparency, programmable finance introduces automatic enforceability. Smart contracts don't just log terms - they execute them. When conditions are met (e.g., delivery confirmed via oracle or IoT sensor), payment flows instantly. If conditions fail, penalties or reversions execute without legal intervention. This mechanism is already live in parts of the DeFi world. MakerDAO and Centrifuge have deployed real-world asset vaults tied to tokenized invoices and short-term credit. As reported, Maker's RWA vaults now account for a significant share of its fee income. Denis Petrovcic, CEO of Blocksquare, frames it this way: 'Banks shift from paperwork gatekeepers to liquidity nodes, and insurers underwrite only risks the code can't cover.' He continues: 'In our real estate tokenization work, we've shown how anchoring legal agreements - like mortgage registration or loan collateralization - on-chain creates enforceable economic rights that are provable in real time. This reduces the need for buffer escrows and limits disputes. When you apply this to cargo or trade finance, it's easy to imagine similar benefits.' His company recently completed one of the first legally notarized tokenized real estate deals tied to a national land registry - a model that could extend to warehousing, shipping hubs, and other trade-linked assets. The Dubai Land Department (DLD) has also launched the MENA region's first government-backed tokenized real estate platform, Prypco Mint, which enables fractional ownership of Dubai properties by minting real estate title deed tokens. This is supported by Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), marking the first time a government real estate authority in the Middle East has implemented a public blockchain-based tokenization of property title deeds, pioneering a more accessible, transparent, and efficient real estate market. Perhaps the most profound shift is this: trade agreements, once enshrined in legalese and negotiated by diplomats, are now being expressed as code. Project mBridge envisions programmable cross-border CBDC rails. MAS' Project Guardian is piloting asset tokenization and real-time DvP with institutional players. And emerging trade finance platforms are layering compliance, risk, and audit rules into smart contracts rather than spreadsheets. This isn't hypothetical. 'We're already seeing smart contracts do things that used to take banks days or weeks to handle,' says Nicolas Vaiman, CEO of Bubblemaps. 'Instant escrow, peer-to-peer lending, collateral management. The technology simply offers more. And we're just scratching the surface - as more data sources and real-time proofs come online, I think blockchain-based finance will become the default operating system for trade, not an optional enhancement.' The results: fewer intermediaries, faster time to cash, and real-time visibility across jurisdictions. For decades, the global trade system relied on institutional credibility: the issuing bank, the national regulator, the trusted auditor. But programmable finance rewires that system to depend on logic, not legacy. To be clear, this transition is still in its early innings. Regulatory coordination, technical standards, and enterprise integration remain uphill challenges. But the pieces are aligning: on-chain attestation, tokenized RWAs, fiat-backed stablecoins, and decentralized identity protocols are rapidly evolving into an interoperable trust stack. The result isn't just digitized trade. It's a new form of enforceable, exportable trust—written in code, and verified on-chain.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Centrifuge Expands Tokenized RWAs to Solana, Starting With $400M Treasury Fund
Tokenized asset platform Centrifuge said it's expanding services on the Solana blockchain, starting with the $400 million tokenized U.S. Treasury fund managed by Anemoy (JTRSY). The expansion builds on Centrifuge's token standard — dubbed "deRWA tokens" — that allows token holders to freely transfer and use tokenized instruments across decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. In this case, the deJTRSY token can be swapped, lent, or used as collateral in, enables Solana users to earn yield from short-term Treasuries natively in Solana DeFi platforms, first on decentralized exchange Raydium, lending platform Kamino, and yield aggregator Lulo. The rollout underlines Solana's growing momentum in the tokenized RWA space, a red-hot sector that aims to brings traditional financial instruments like bonds, funds and credit onto blockchain rails. It's a huge opportunity: Boston Consulting Group and Ripple projected that the tokenized asset market could reach $18.9 trillion by 2033. This week, Solana Foundation partnered with bank-focused blockchain tech firm R3 to bring real-world assets to Solana, while Securitize-issued tokenized fund of Apollo credit assets is also being introduced to Solana-based DeFi protocols. "Tokenizing assets is just the starting point," said Bhaji Illuminati, CEO of Centrifuge. "What truly matters is giving real-world assets utility onchain: making them usable across the DeFi stack from day one."Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Coin Geek
05-05-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
RWA tokenization to hit $50 billion in 2025: report
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) will hit a $50 billion market cap by the end of this year, with U.S. Treasuries dominating the sector, a new report projects. Titled 'The Great Tokenization Shift: 2025 and the Road Ahead,' the report compared the ongoing tokenization of the financial market to the overhaul that the 2009 ETF revolution introduced to the financial market. Compiled by digital currency market-making firm Keyrock and tokenization platform Centrifuge, the report projects a $50 billion market this year in a bullish scenario, driven by regulatory clarity, institutional adoption and DeFi integration. Source: Keyrock 'All assets will eventually be tokenized because all assets will be digital,' Keyrock CEO Kevin de Patoul told CoinGeek. 'Tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) is not just an improvement, but a profound shift in how real value moves across global systems, be it U.S. treasuries, equities, commodities, or private credit.' The tokenized real-world asset market is currently valued at $18.85 billion according to analytics platform The sector has recorded steady growth over the past four years, but is still way off some of the industry's ambitious projections, such as Boston Consulting Group's (BCG) $18.9 trillion by 2030. Private equity dominates the sector, accounting for 55% of all tokenized RWAs, with U.S. Treasuries and commodities as the other major assets. However, according to the Keyrock report, U.S. Treasuries will flip the table, surging to a $28 billion market. Despite being a $28 trillion sector, it still suffers from inefficiencies, including slow settlements, fragmented liquidity and costly intermediaries. Despite lagging behind private credit, tokenized U.S. Treasuries recorded accelerated growth in 2024, surging from $775 million to $3.97 billion. In the first three months of this year, their market cap has shot up nearly 30%. Despite having an overwhelming lead today, private credit is expected to record modest growth for the rest of the year, according to the report. A bullish prediction places its market cap at $17.5 billion. However, tokenization could transform the sector, which is still marred by illiquidity, hefty investment minimums that lockout retail investors and unflexible multi-year lockups. On the flip side, tokenized equities could become a mainstay despite only accounting for a $15 million market today. Limiting laws, infrastructural deficiencies, and regulatory scrutiny have stifled the sector's growth. However, the Trump administration could roll out new friendlier laws that could allow investors to access tokenized stocks, catapulting the industry into a $1 billion sector, says the report. The report excluded stablecoins, which have dominated the tokenized assets ecosystem. Despite recent market volatility, stablecoins boast a $229 billion market cap and an estimated 159 million holders. However, regulators have been tightening regulations around stablecoins, from MiCA in the EU to proposed bills in Hong Kong, South Korea, the U.K. and the United States. BIS: Tokenization is the future Elsewhere, the General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Agustín Carstens, hailed tokenization as the future of finance. Carstens was part of a panel discussion at the IMF Spring Meetings in Washington this week, alongside Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michelle Bullock and European Central Bank board member Piero Cipollone. 'Tokenization can really be the future of a financial system with a sophistication that today we cannot imagine,' he told the attendees. Tokenization has been most prevalent in payments, Carstens went on. As they are conducted today, digital payments are cumbersome and costly as messaging, reconciliation and settlement are separate. Due to these disparate processes, 'many mistakes can be made, controls can be lost, especially on KYC,' he noted. Tokenization can solve this, enabling instant settlement. Carstens, who leaves the BIS later this year, believes that tokenization can be the foundation of the unification of all financial processes. He pointed to the tech sector as a prime example: just over two decades ago, users needed different devices for the cameras, surfing the internet and making calls. Today, all this can be done from a single device. 'If we can do that in the financial system, we would make a huge breakthrough.' Central banks must be at the frontline of the tokenization revolution, ECB's Cipollone remarked. While the technology would change how banks and consumers interact with financial systems, the role of the central banks must remain intact to protect consumers, prevent credit risk and mitigate system fragmentation. Watch: Tokenized was built with blood, sweat and tears title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Time Out
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
7 can't-miss events at San Antonio's Fiesta celebration
There's no better place to party than an actual carnival, and Fiesta Carnival has got you covered. The event is packed with thrilling rides, carnival games and over-the-top snacks (hello, turkey legs and funnel cakes). Get your thrills on the Centrifuge, or test your luck at classic game booths like big basketball and the water race. No matter what you decide to do, you're in for a night of bright lights, big laughs and fairground fun.
