Abstract
Drawing on Digital Assets Week London, held on 6 and 7 October 2026, this report examines how tokenized assets become usable in institutional transactions. It connects collateral eligibility and financing, custody responsibilities, digital money and settlement with the operating requirements of continuous markets. The analysis assesses interoperability, the cost of running conventional and digital infrastructure together, and the governance capabilities institutions need for production. Its central finding is that progress depends on complete, repeatable business processes and measurable funding and operational benefits. Conference remarks are paraphrased and distinguished from public announcements, pilots and future ambitions.
About this report
From Tokens to Working Markets brings together perspectives from asset managers, custodians, market infrastructures, banks, liquidity providers and technology firms on the path from token issuance to institutional use. The report's London Blockchain Week framing refers to Digital Assets Week London, held on 6 and 7 October 2026.
The 21-page synthesis examines the connections needed to make tokenized finance work in practice:
- Collateral and financing. The use of tokenized money market fund shares, contractual and regulatory eligibility, changes in control without moving an asset, and access to funding or liquidation under stress.
- Custody and institutional responsibility. The distinction between custody technology and regulated custody services, asset-specific controls, transaction authorization, recovery and integration with existing client services.
- Digital money and continuous markets. The different claims and roles of stablecoins, tokenized deposits and central bank money; delivery-versus-payment; and the separate operating hours of ledgers, custody, financing, cash settlement and redemption.
- Interoperability and transition costs. Technical, legal, commercial and operational connections between networks, the cost of adding chains, and the economics of running conventional and digital systems together.
- The institutional operating model. Governance, reusable capabilities, controls for automated transactions, and measures of funding costs, settlement failures, collateral reuse and client outcomes.
The report sets out implications for issuers, custodians, banks, liquidity providers, market infrastructures, collateral receivers and authorities. A watch list and an initiative register distinguish operating services, pilots, reported objectives and longer-term plans.
Conference remarks are paraphrased. Institutional names identify the perspectives expressed, rather than formal commitments unless supported by a public announcement. Public documentation clarifies project names, dates and regulatory references. The selection of themes and interpretations are the author's and do not represent the views of the organizers, participants or institutions discussed.