The broader tokenised asset market has seen significant institutional momentum yet this momentum has not translated to SME capital markets. Despite years of proof-of-concept activity in tokenised receivables and invoice instruments, a fragmented market with poor interoperability risks limiting the potential benefits of tokenisation, with different ledgers by various providers competing for market power and preventing the reduction of frictions that tokenisation promises.
Many DLT platforms cannot transmit and share data with each other, and there is currently a lack of tested market infrastructure to establish interoperability, reproducing the silos of traditional SME finance at higher infrastructure cost. Meanwhile, the asset classes with the strongest case for tokenisation, those where programmability creates genuinely new economics such as milestone-linked revenue instruments, ESG-triggered transition loans, and blended finance tranches requiring real-time risk redistribution, have seen almost no production deployment.
This roundtable will examine:
- Which tokenised SME asset classes have reached production, and what legal and regulatory conditions made deployment viable?
- What ownership structures, custody models, and transfer right frameworks are prerequisite for institutional capital allocation in EMDE markets?
- What standardised processes and protocols for interoperability and legal compliance are needed, and what combination of regulatory mandate or DFI coordination is required to establish them?
- Where does programmability create genuinely new investor economics, and what would it take to bring ESG-triggered or blended finance instruments to production?
- What role should multilateral institutions play in anchoring first-mover liquidity to demonstrate viability and attract institutional follow-on capital?
Tokenised SME Assets: Pilot to Portfolio
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