What she says: Former 21Shares co-founder Ophelia Snyder argues that crypto and traditional finance talk past each other when it comes to tokenization.
- Tokenization solves real problems around settlement rails and moving assets, Snyder said.
- The bigger challenge is integrating blockchain-based assets with the systems banks, brokerages and asset managers already use.
- Existing discussions often overlook the operational processes that occur after a trade is executed and before the assets are fully settled.
- Snyder joined CoinDesk’s Jennifer Sanasie on public keys.
The gap: Snyder said blockchain companies have largely addressed transaction throughput, but not the broader operational requirements of financial institutions.
- Questions remain about how tokenized assets fit into book and record systems, compliance workflows and regulatory reporting.
- Financial institutions will also need to rethink risk management frameworks if tokenized assets can be traded around the clock.
- Many firms rely on third-party software providers that have not yet adapted their systems for blockchain-native transactions.
Why it’s important: Snyder believes the industry’s biggest challenge is scale, not functionality.
- A tokenization project can work on a limited scale and still struggle to support the volume of US capital markets.
- “A billion dollars is nothing when it comes to traditional financial flows,” Snyder said.
- Moving large amounts of digital bearer assets on behalf of clients requires significantly more oversight and control than existing electronic systems.
