According to Cointelegraph, a strategic partnership between digital securities distribution platform Assetera and Financial Conduct Authority-regulated digital securities exchange Archax will provide investors in United Kingdom-based Abrdn and other global investment companies access to 91 tokenized funds. The collaboration aims to address challenges within the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market, including regulatory uncertainty, limited liquidity, and technological complexities.
The Assetera platform will initially offer tokenized access to money-market funds from Abrdn, which manages 506 billion British pounds ($662.4 billion) in assets. Funds from other asset managers are expected to follow. An Assetera spokesperson highlighted Archax’s status as a UK-regulated digital asset exchange and Assetera’s regulatory compliance in Europe with the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2014 and the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation. These regulatory frameworks aim to support regulated RWA trading.
The partnership enables access to digital assets listed on Archax via the Assetera platform, including funds and structured products, facilitating both primary sales and secondary market trading. Nick Donovan, chief revenue officer at Archax, stated that the collaboration sets a new benchmark for digital asset distribution in the European Union and the European Economic Area (EEA), integrating Archax’s regulated digital infrastructure with Assetera’s regulated decentralized finance market, further advancing the adoption of tokenized assets in Europe.
The Assetera spokesperson added that the two companies plan to collaborate to build relationships with fund companies and onboard more tokenized funds to the Assetera platform. Opportunities for tokenizing assets span traditional financial markets, real estate, commodities, art, intellectual property, and cash and deposits. While discussing ways to effectively meet Europe’s increasing liquidity demands, the Assetera spokesperson emphasized prioritizing distribution in the early stages of the tokenized securities space for long-term success. Proper distribution ensures that the assets are accessible, compliant, and known to a large enough audience, setting the stage for a liquid market to emerge.
Additional efforts include enabling cross-border distribution through compliant channels, maintaining sustained investor engagement, and creating market awareness. Assetera currently lists a range of tokenized financial instruments, including transferable securities, fund units, and derivatives, alongside traditional RWAs like real estate and art. On Sept. 25, Assetera announced it would deploy in-house-developed smart contracts on the Polygon blockchain. Assetera executes trading activities directly on the Polygon network as part of the initiative, utilizing stablecoins for purchase, clearing, and settlement through atomic swaps.