The growing collaboration between policymakers and payments innovators is accelerating the adoption of digital assets and tokenisation across European markets.
That was the message at the 2024 Digital Assets Week which took place in London between 2 and 3 October.
This year’s summit featured senior figures from the Bank of England, House of Lords and senior executives at asset managers, banks, payments institutions and trading platforms.
In her address to delegates at the event, Sasha Mills, executive director for Financial Market Infrastructure at the Bank of England, commended the speed of innovation that has become the norm in the digital assets ecosystem in the UK.
“Facilitating innovations in digital assets and payments in a safe way requires adapting to changing landscapes, in particular the technologies which enable the exchange and settlement of assets, and how money is used in an increasingly digital financial system,” she said.
“Capitalising on new technology could have great benefits for the financial system. In a tokenised world, firms are effectively working from the same data. This standardisation, coupled with using shared ledgers, could improve the efficiency of processes involved in reconciliation, trading and settlement and introduce more automation, reducing errors and costs.”
BCB Group’s CEO and co-founder, Oliver Tonkin, said the increasing speed of adoption of these innovative approaches is allowing the companies that have embraced regulation to gain an advantage over competitors who have not.
“I remember when we first started the business, so many businesses were being advised that they didn’t need a licence. There has been a 180 degree volte-face from that mentality.
“People now understand that if you want to get traction and want credibility, you have to be onshore and you have to have a licence. To get on board with people like us, you have to be willing to embrace that.”
BCB Group has invested considerable time and resources in building its regulatory status in Europe in recent years.
In the UK, the group has a subsidiary which is an FCA-authorised payment institution. In Europe, the group is authorised by the ACPR and AMF to act as an e-money institution and digital assets service provider (DASP).
Tonkin says the forthcoming Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) – due to come into force across the EU in December 2024 - will again offer BCB Group the opportunity to show the work it has put in to ensure its clients have peace of mind.
“Part of what BCB has been doing in getting these new regulatory licences, is making the point that you can use us for payments, but you can also use us for crypto with one integration leveraging the licences and products we have. People want integration and multiple use cases.
“In years gone by, you needed to go to one partner for each of those things. I suspect everybody wants a bit of redundancy. We have the licences, the partnerships, and we have the tech. The opportunity for us is to be the infrastructure provider of choice.”
In her speech to Digital Assets Week, Bank of England director, Sasha Mills, noted the potential that exists from a broader swathe of market participants embracing innovative payment technologies.
“Small efficiency gains can add up to large benefits in aggregate; by making things faster, cheaper, and more straightforward, these changes could help financial market participants like pension funds, or companies that use capital markets to finance investment,” she said.
BCB Group’s CEO welcomed the enthusiasm from the Bank of England director and noted that he is encouraged by the growing number of real world assets being tokenised.
“Part of that is having comfort around custody,” he said. “You have to make sure that is looked after in the right way. MiCA is going to help that. We remain a trusted, reliable partner and we are committed to growing with our customers, evolving when they do.”
Media Contacts – BCB Group
Sam Shrager sam@bcbgroup.io 07877940652
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