Visa has launched an institutional platform for asset tokenization

Spanish bank BBVA will use it to launch a pilot project on the Ethereum blockchain

25.09.2024 - 16:10

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What’s new? Payment company Visa has developed its own institutional platform to issue tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and test its use cases. It has already been used by the Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) and has tested the issuance, transfer, and redemption of an internal token on a testnet.

Material by Blockworks

What else is known? BBVA plans to launch a pilot with select customers in 2025. It will use the Ethereum blockchain for tokenization.

Visa’s head of CBDC and tokenized assets Catherine Gu said that enabling instant cross-border transfers is a priority for banks, and blockchain technology can help solve it.

Visa’s head of crypto Cuy Sheffield believes banks could offer customers a fiat currency-backed token to buy tokenized commodities or government debt securities with instant settlement.

In August, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) urged local issuers to use blockchain to tokenize bonds and policymakers to develop a regulatory framework.

Steno Research later said that the total value locked (TVL) of DeFi protocols could update the record in the first half of 2025, largely due to the growing popularity of tokenized RWAs.

In September, the Hedera network team launched the Asset Tokenization Studio (ATS) tool to configure, issue, and manage tokenized RWAs in compliance with anti-tokenization regulations.

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