Four conditions for turning digital asset strategy into execution

Four factors shaping digital asset success

Traditional finance and crypto are converging

Tokenization does not constitute a new class of services, but rather a change in technological dimension, affecting post-trade infrastructure, settlement and delivery and registry management, which is neither intended to be visible nor perceptible to the end client.

Crypto-native players have embraced this: they are obtaining banking or equivalent licenses, aligning with institutional standards (qualified custody, asset segregation, industrial SLA1s), and partnering with traditional players for the cash leg, custody and settlement. Conversely, traditional financial institutions are progressively integrating public or permissioned blockchains into their roadmaps, not to “do crypto” but to modernize existing processes (issuance, distribution, corporate actions, collateral, Delivery versus Payment).
This convergence is giving rise to a hybrid model in which the quality of the client experience must remain standard, erasing the boundaries between securities accounts, wallets, tokenized securities and traditional instruments. Over a 3 to 5-year horizon, this “rail-agnostic” finance—where the client no longer arbitrates between traditional finance (TradFi) and on-chain finance, but benefits from both—is set to become the dominant model.

Regulation is both an opportunity and a challenge

MiCA is both a blessing and a barrier at the same time. For a player already structured like a bank, it is a clear accelerator: it enhances the credibility of the offering and filters out part of the market noise. But for many mid-sized players, capital and compliance requirements are simply disconnected from their economic model. In the short-term, MiCA does not select the best innovators, it selects the best-capitalized.
- Crypto infrastructure / service player, Western Europe

Expertise is becoming the key differentiator

As digital assets move from experimentation to implementation, expertise is emerging as one of the most critical factors for success. 

Among less mature organizations, the development of internal capabilities is widely seen as a priority. Without an internal team mastering digital assets, technical decisions (choice of blockchain, choice of custodian, STP  integration) and regulatory decisions (license extensions, dialogue with regulators) remain risky. It is this expertise that makes IT and regulation actionable and opens the path to production.

Progress is often fastest among institutions that can bring together a broad range of skills, combining traditional financial expertise with technology, risk management and regulatory knowledge. 

This cross-functional approach helps organizations better assess opportunities, navigate operational and compliance challenges, and translate digital asset strategies into concrete business initiatives. In an increasingly competitive market, building and retaining this expertise is becoming a key source of differentiation and long-term value creation.

New expectations for securities services providers

There is a clear convergence of expectations toward securities services providers, with the ability to offer institutional custody and regulated crypto fund depositary services coming first, followed by fund unit tokenization services, on-chain settlement in EUR stablecoins and MiCA regulatory support.

On-chain KYC, real-time valuation, the reduction of minimum investment thresholds, particularly for private equity or real estate through on-chain fractionalization, and the innovation potential resulting from on-chain product structuring were mentioned to a lesser extent.

All these services are expected to emerge rapidly. And although some remain theoretical at this stage, they alone justify the remarkable momentum observed in fund tokenization.

Enabling the seamless exchange of fund units between investors on an on-chain secondary market, without going through subscription/redemption with the fund, is clearly the condition for unlocking the full benefits of tokenization as liquid platforms, market makers and active institutional buyers emerge.

In this context, the expected differentiator is the ability to deliver an integrated end-to-end offering, operated with the quality standards of the traditional world and the agility of the crypto-native world, with a “seamless” experience connecting both.

Matthieu Brunhammer, Product Engineer, Digital Solutions, Societe Generale Securities Services

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To better understand these challenges, SGSS conducted 30 in-depth interviews with asset managers, banks, fintechs, private equity firms and public institutions across Europe. The study provides a detailed analysis of digital asset strategies and the key topics shaping market discussions.

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