Assetera, a regulated trading platform based in Austria, introduced an API that allows cryptocurrency exchanges to offer tokenized financial products like stocks and government bonds without applying for their own MiFID license.
The tool is designed to plug a gap in the European market, where strict financial rules have made it difficult for crypto platforms to support tokenized securities. It allows exchanges to integrate these offerings directly into their platforms while Assetera manages all compliance, including know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering checks.
The API supports over 60 tokenized securities at launch, including U.S. Treasury bonds, blue-chip equities and ETFs. It’s also compatible with tokens issued by Backed Finance and other providers. These offerings are legally compliant across all 30 EU and EEA countries under Assetera’s existing licenses.
There is a watershed moment in the adoption of tokenized securities. Following Backed Finance’s announcement of xStocks — featuring 55+ tokenized stocks and ETFs on Kraken — the race is on for exchanges to offer tokenized securities to their users, Assetera said in a press release.
“This effectively smashes the two-tier system that’s allowed only the largest players (like Robinhood, Kraken, and Gemini) to fast-track tokenized stock listings in Europe. With Assetera, any exchange can now legally launch tokenized securities in weeks instead of years, while Assetera handles all compliance, custody, and settlement on the back end,” a representative for the company said via email.
Assetera says it’s in talks with a number of top-20 global crypto exchanges and expects up to 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in trading volume in its first year. That kind of scale could make tokenized securities a mainstream feature of crypto investing in Europe.