Written by: Anna Irrera, Emily Nicolle
Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News
The cryptocurrency and blockchain space is about to undergo a major transformation: new regulations implemented in Europe and the supportive stance of US President Trump towards cryptocurrencies have created conditions for large financial companies to boldly venture into this space.
This means that the top echelons of the traditional finance sector are closely evaluating the opportunities and challenges presented by this asset class. We posed a key question to the top executives:
What is the single most important change that will drive the widespread adoption of blockchain and crypto assets in the traditional finance sector? And why?
Naveen Mallela, Global Co-Head of Kinexys, JPMorgan Chase's Blockchain Platform
"Clearer regulatory frameworks, widespread industry collaboration, and robust public-private partnerships will be the key ingredients for scaling digital assets in traditional finance. Our business is built on a foundation of innovation, evolving just as the industries we serve. By closely partnering with clients, regulators, traditional financial institutions, and emerging fintechs, we can explore and build the future of finance and currency."
Mallela, along with Tyrone Lobban, leads JPMorgan Chase's blockchain business unit, Kinexys (formerly Onyx). Kinexys Digital Payments, a blockchain-based payment tool, processes over $2 billion in payments for bank clients daily.
Caroline Butler, Head of Global Digital Assets, BNY Mellon
"Blockchain and digital assets are increasingly becoming an integral part of the global financial landscape, driven by the accelerating shift from proof-of-concept to real-world commercial products. Looking ahead, the single most important change that will accelerate the adoption of these technologies will be the integration of an interoperable, institutional-grade infrastructure to connect the blockchain ecosystem with traditional finance systems. We expect to see an acceleration over the next 12 to 36 months, where digital assets mature and become more deeply embedded in the financial ecosystem, presenting opportunities for collaboration between banks, regulated financial market participants, global regulators, and policymakers."
Butler leads BNY Mellon's commercial and strategic plans for digital assets and tokenization, including its digital asset platform. BNY Mellon provides accounting, administration, and other services for most US digital asset exchange-traded products and their issuers. In 2024, the bank also acted as a custodian, paying agent, and investor in the European Investment Bank's digital bond issuance, and became the fund manager and custodian for BlackRock's tokenized money market fund, BUIDL.
Mike O'Reilly, President of Fidelity Digital Assets
"Education, or the lack thereof, is one of the biggest drivers or impediments to crypto adoption. Digital asset education is crucial for driving industry momentum and facilitating integration, whether from the investor, corporate, or regulatory perspective."
Fidelity Digital Assets provides trading execution and custody services for institutional investors in BTC, ETH, and LTC. As a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, it also powers Fidelity's crypto retail and wealth management businesses, enabling investors to buy, sell, and custody crypto assets. Fidelity Digital Assets custodies the tokens behind Fidelity's crypto ETFs, including the Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) and Ethereum Fund (FETH).
John O'Neill, Head of Digital Assets and Currencies Group, HSBC
"HSBC believes that secure, reliable forms of digital currency, such as tokenized deposits, can accelerate the adoption of digital assets."
O'Neill is responsible for HSBC Holdings' strategy in digital assets, central bank digital currencies, stablecoins, and cryptocurrencies. He has led the development of HSBC Orion, the bank's digital asset platform, which has been used to issue several native digital bonds, including a HK$1 billion native digital bond issued by HSBC in Hong Kong in 2024.
Robert Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets, BlackRock
"Public blockchains are clearly outpacing private blockchains in terms of activity and adoption. We believe the time has come for banks to shift their focus from private to public blockchains. We believe this will accelerate innovation, allowing more market participants to integrate into the digital asset ecosystem with banks as key service providers."
Mitchnick is responsible for driving BlackRock's digital asset strategy, which includes two crypto-focused ETFs. The iShares Bitcoin Trust is the fastest ETF in history to reach $50 billion in assets under management. BlackRock also manages a tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, on Ethereum, with around $1 billion in assets.
Jean-Marc Stenger, CEO of FORGE, a Société Générale Subsidiary
"The regulatory landscape in the US is likely to undergo a dramatic shift, which will be favorable for digital assets. Republican lawmakers view digital assets as key to the US's future economic leadership. In Europe, the Crypto Asset Markets (MiCA) regulation, effective December 30, 2024, opens a window of opportunity to create a unified regulatory framework for primary and secondary crypto asset markets."
Stenger leads Société Générale's crypto asset subsidiary, FORGE, which focuses on providing clients with digital asset issuance and management services. The subsidiary has been active in several digital bond issuances, including a €100 million bond for the European Investment Bank in 2021. In 2023, FORGE issued EURCV, the first euro-denominated stablecoin issued by a first-tier bank subsidiary.
John Whelan, Managing Director, Digital Assets, Corporate & Investment Banking, Santander
"Traditional finance needs clear regulatory permissions to use public blockchains, as that is where true innovation originates. These blockchains are the open-source, open-access operating systems for financial services, with their operating costs borne by third parties known as validators. This is the source of their disruptive potential."
Whelan joined Santander in 2016 and leads the bank's various initiatives in crypto and digital assets. His work includes projects in digital securities, digital collateral mobility, and digital cash. He also serves on the boards of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance and the blockchain company Fnality International Ltd.
Laurence Arnold, Global Head of Innovation, Client Operations, Performance & Reporting, AXA Investment Managers
"We believe that the creation of digital currencies with legal tender status is the single most important change that can accelerate the process. These digital currencies can be private or public, but they need to have the same characteristics as fiat currency to enable settlement and reconciliation between the parties to a financial transaction (cash and digital assets). This requires a collaborative ecosystem where participants collectively seek solutions, with market participants clearly defining their roles and responsibilities, particularly in addressing the interoperability and liquidity challenges of blockchain technology. AXA Investment Managers is actively engaged in the work of the European Central Bank on central bank digital currencies, which is a positive and important step in the right direction."
Arnold leads the innovation initiatives of the investment management company, including its blockchain and digital asset projects, which involve participating in the European Central Bank's work on central bank currency settlement. This work includes a €3 million investment in a digital sovereign bond issued by the Republic of Slovenia on behalf of AXA France, and the use of blockchain technology to enable instant subscriptions to the AXA Court Terme fund by the Axa Group.
Artem Korenyuk, Head of Digital Assets, Citi
"We are encouraged by the increasing focus in the US on establishing clear regulatory frameworks for digital assets. Clear, consistent rules are crucial for fostering innovation, protecting investors, and enabling the safe integration of digital assets into the broader financial ecosystem. We are optimistic that this clarity will be prioritized in the near term, paving the way for a more transparent and resilient digital asset market."
Foresight News Korenyuk leads the corporate digital asset team at Citigroup, which works across all business lines to develop new digital asset services and capabilities. The team closely collaborates with the bank's services business to develop Citi Token Services, a tokenized deposit application that allows some of the bank's corporate clients to use blockchain technology for payments. Jez Mohideen, CEO of Laser Digital "The biggest obstacle to institutional adoption of digital assets is the lack of industry expertise. Many still conflate cryptocurrencies, Web3, digital assets, and tokenization. While they are interconnected within the same ecosystem, each has distinct market propositions and unique benefits. Through targeted education to deepen understanding of the opportunities and advantages of blockchain-enabled products and services, institutions can more effectively engage and drive faster, broader adoption." Mohideen co-founded Laser Digital, Nomura Holdings' digital asset subsidiary, with former colleague Steve Ashley in 2022. Laser Digital has 100 employees globally and provides a range of digital asset services including trading, asset management, and fund management. It also makes equity investments, with portfolio companies including custodian Komainu and Crossover Markets. Julian Sawyer, CEO of Zodia Custody "The globally integrated traditional financial system operates under cross-market governance frameworks like the Travel Rule. The digital asset industry has lacked such a framework, historically focusing on jurisdiction-specific regulatory frameworks rather than global governance. Traditional financial institutions will not venture into digital assets until they can ensure compliance with existing complex operational requirements. This means that global governance - a broader set of standards and structures agreed by stakeholders including governments, industry trade bodies, and industry working groups - will ultimately drive institutional adoption of digital assets." Sawyer heads Zodia Custody Ltd, which is backed by Standard Chartered Bank and supported by SBI Holdings, Emirates NBD, Northern Trust, and National Australia Bank. Its clients include Invesco as well as ETF issuers 21Shares and Bitwise. Jorgen Ouaknine, Head of Innovation and Digital Assets at Euroclear Group "In a nutshell: standardization. Standardization has been a key factor in the successful scaling of almost every major technological and financial innovation throughout history. From the Industrial Revolution to the digital age, the establishment of common standards has enabled interoperability, improved efficiency, and driven mass adoption. The same applies to the convergence of digital assets and traditional finance." Ouaknine leads the group's post-trade innovation and digital assets work, including recent efforts to leverage distributed ledger technology to enhance market liquidity, such as bond issuances, and make collateral more fluid and efficient. The group participates in blockchain initiatives across the industry, such as the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Project Guardian, and operates a platform for issuing traditional securities using blockchain. Nadine Chakar, Global Head of Digital Assets at The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) "Simply put: we can no longer operate in silos and must start collaborating across the industry to fully unlock blockchain's potential in financial services. While we have clearly demonstrated the benefits of the technology, the time has come to work together to deploy real-world applications on the ledger. In doing so, we need to ensure we are all moving towards a common end goal: building efficient digital market infrastructure and standards. Collaboration is the key element to help us realize the potential of digital assets." Chakar joined DTCC after the company acquired blockchain startup Securrency in 2023 and has been leading the company's efforts to provide blockchain technology and services for post-trade processing of tokenized assets. In 2024, DTCC partnered with WisdomTree to offer real-world assets in token form through the WisdomTree Prime mobile app and launched a sandbox to facilitate greater industry collaboration on blockchain market infrastructure development. Sandy Kaul, Head of FIRST and Digital Assets & Industry Advisory Services at Franklin Templeton "The single most important shift that has begun to emerge is that US regulators have changed direction and are now actively seeking to support the adoption of public blockchains, and to position our firms at the forefront of the new capital markets. This can eliminate existing barriers to the integration of traditional and crypto ecosystems, and create new solutions to old problems, including digital identity, new approaches to KYC/AML, and liquidity of markets and collateral." Kaul oversees the industry advisory services team at Franklin Templeton, evaluating the firm's innovation agenda. This involves gathering expertise on emerging technologies like AI and blockchain to support Franklin Templeton's strategic initiatives, such as digital asset infrastructure and the Benji token product line. Hyder Jaffrey, Head of Principal Investments and Strategic Investments at UBS Group "Defining how digital assets are handled and compliance standards is key." Jaffrey has been at the forefront of UBS Group's efforts to transform wholesale and institutional financial business models through digital assets and blockchain technology since 2015. He has represented UBS in various market initiatives, including digital bond issuances, the Fnality global payments system, digital repo, and digital margin trading.
