The tokenization industry has a problem: everyone agrees the technology works, but nearly a decade after the first security token experiments, we’re still waiting for the network effects that would make it transformative. The barriers aren’t technical—they’re structural, regulatory, and cultural.
The Crypto Valley Association recently convened a panel at GenTwo’s Zurich offices to examine this gap between promise and reality. The discussion brought together practitioners building tokenization infrastructure from different angles: a major Swiss bank managing digital asset custody, a lending firm bridging DeFi and traditional liquidity, the team behind Switzerland’s first DLT trading facility, and GenTwo Digital creating the securities that enable it all to work within existing regulatory frameworks.
What emerged was a realistic assessment of where the industry stands. While tokenization remains “still an experiment” even in Switzerland—arguably the world’s most progressive jurisdiction for digital assets—the panel identified both the obstacles and the pathways forward. Jurisdictional fragmentation, missing stablecoin infrastructure, and vested interests in traditional finance create genuine barriers.
But on the bright side, 2025 has marked a turning point: RWAs are decoupling from crypto market volatility, regulatory clarity is emerging, and improved tooling promises to unlock exponential inflows.
More on GenTwo: www.gentwo.com
More on our offering for digital investors: www.gentwo.com/digital-investors
Altenburg Capital: altenburg.capital
BX Digital: bxdigital.ch/en/home/
Cryptovalley Association: cryptovalley.swiss
SDX: www.sdx.com
ZKB: zkb.ch/de/private.html (German)
Key Topics Covered
Why tokenization hasn’t scaled despite working technology: The network effects that would make tokenization transformative only kick in with cross-border interoperability and major institutional adoption—progress requires regulatory harmonization across jurisdictions
Switzerland’s infrastructure challenge: The absence of a Swiss Franc stablecoin or tokenized deposit creates a fundamental gap, though experiments are underway with Sygnum, Bitcoin Suisse, and Frankencoin exploring different approaches to tokenized money
Building regulated infrastructure takes stamina: BX Digital’s journey from first FINMA conversations to license took two years, with another six months to go live—a timeline that demonstrates the patience required, though it establishes clear precedents for others to follow
Solving the operational puzzle: Beyond regulation and technology, the industry must address practical challenges like dividends, voting rights, and KYC for tokens moving between wallets—Nasdaq’s recent SEC filing to trade tokenized securities on the same order book as traditional shares offers a potential model
The U.S. regulatory shift: Recent clarity through the CLARITY Act, Stablecoin Act, and GENIUS Act has eliminated the dual SEC/CFTC regime for stablecoins, showing how regulatory evolution can unlock innovation
Switzerland as a liquidity bridge: The Swiss regulatory framework uniquely allows bridging traditional finance and DeFi liquidity, enabling access to stablecoin liquidity while maintaining compliance—a model that could inform other jurisdictions
GenTwo’s pragmatic approach: Since global regulatory harmonization remains distant, creating ISINs for tokenized assets provides the traditional securities passport that works across all jurisdictions today
The wishlist for acceleration: Industry practitioners want tokenized money, access to traditional finance liquidity for tokenized assets, removal of structured product restrictions on DLT facilities, and harmonized stablecoin treatment across jurisdictions
Panelists
Mark Arasaratnam, Managing Director at GenTwo Digital
David Arnold, Managing Partner at Altenburg Capital
Andri Gmünder, Senior Digital Asset Expert at Zürcher Kantonalbank
Dominik Eberle, Principal Product Owner at BX Digital
Moderator: Chris McAteer, Head Financial Crime & Digital Compliance at SIX, Chair of CVA’s AML & Compliance Working Group
Tom Lyons, GenTwo
