Hong Kong approved round-the-clock secondary trading of two tokenised money market funds, while Clearstream gained Luxembourg authorisation to oversee tokenised fund issuance. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) also launched its tokenisation service, with 20 participants signing access agreements to use tokenised representations of securities held at its depository.

Aviva committed GBP 50 million ($66 million) to a tokenised sterling liquidity-fund share class, while BNY expanded institutional custody. US and European securities regulators are also sharpening their focus on tokenisation, including the resilience of market infrastructure and the use of tokenised collateral during stress.

Read more on the week’s key developments:

1. Hong Kong opens 24/7 secondary trading of tokenised money market funds

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) approved what it described as the world’s first secondary trading of tokenised public funds on an SFC-licensed virtual asset trading platform. Round-the-clock trading of the ChinaAMC HKD Digital Money Market Fund and ChinaAMC USD Digital Money Market Fund began on 26 October through PantherTrade, Futu Holdings’ licensed platform. ChinaAMC launched its HKD fund in February 2025 and its USD fund that July. Investors can now trade designated tokenised shares against their respective currencies outside the funds’ subscription and redemption hours.

Singapore had already authorised a tokenised money market fund for retail distribution, with Franklin Templeton launching the offering with DBS in November 2025. Hong Kong’s approval adds 24/7 secondary trading on a licensed virtual asset platform under the SFC’s 20 April 2026 circular on secondary trading of tokenised SFC-authorised investment products. The service includes indicative net asset value displays, price-deviation alerts and a five-minute cooling-off mechanism, while primary subscriptions and redemptions remain subject to the funds’ dealing terms.

2. DTCC launches tokenisation service with 20 participants signed up

DTC, DTCC’s depository subsidiary, launched the DTCC Tokenization Service on 28 October. Twenty participants have signed access agreements, including Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Fidelity Investments, JP Morgan, State Street and UBS. Eligible users can create tokenised entitlements to securities held at DTC and convert them between conventional and tokenised forms while retaining ownership rights and investor protections. The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) December 2025 no-action letter covers Russell 1000 constituents, exchange-traded funds tracking major indices and US Treasury securities.

The launch follows July’s limited-production transactions involving more than 30 firms, which tested securities lending, Treasury repo, equity settlement and central counterparty margin. In Europe, securities issued through Clearstream’s D7 DLT became eligible for Eurosystem collateral operations in June 2026. While D7 supports digitally native issuance, DTCC enables tokenisation of entitlements to existing depository holdings. DTCC’s service initially connects to Canton and its private Besu network, with additional blockchain connections planned for 2027.

3. Cboe Clear US receives temporary securities-clearing registration

Cboe announced on 23 October that Cboe Clear US had received temporary SEC registration as a covered clearing agency, following an order issued on 22 October. The registration extends its capabilities beyond futures and swaps clearing under Commodity Futures Trading Commission supervision. Its initial securities products will be binary options on corporate key performance indicators (KPIs), planned for launch through Cboe Options Exchange and Robinhood in the fourth quarter. Contracts settle at $1 or zero depending on whether a company’s reported metric meets the specified condition.

The contracts will initially clear through Cboe Clear US, while the Options Clearing Corporation continues to clear Cboe’s traditional equity options. The SEC’s separate 13 October approval of the KPI contracts addresses changes to options listing and market-data arrangements to accommodate the additional clearing agency.

4. Clearstream gains Luxembourg authorisation for tokenised fund issuance

Clearstream announced on 28 October that Luxembourg’s Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) had authorised it to act as a control agent under Blockchain Law IV. Acting on behalf of fund issuers, it will maintain the central issuance account on a distributed ledger, track holdings across participating account keepers and reconcile outstanding shares against recorded positions. The integrated distributed-ledger platform supporting the service remains subject to completion of CSSF regulatory processes.

Managers will be able to tokenise selected share classes within existing UCITS or alternative investment fund structures while retaining their transfer agents, administrators, custodians and depositaries. Clearstream follows Luxembourg fintech Investre, which already holds control-agent authorisation.

5. HKEX extends fund platform into nominee and administration services

HKEX launched Platform and Nominee Services on its Integrated Fund Platform on 28 October, adding master distribution, nominee and administrative functions. The new services cover holding and administering fund units, settlement, reconciliation and reporting, extending the platform beyond order transmission. They follow the Fund Repository introduced in December 2024 and Order Routing Service launched in July 2025.

The platform’s overall participant base has grown from 33 firms at the order-routing launch to more than 60 distributors, fund houses and transfer agents. Euroclear FundsPlace provides an international precedent, combining order routing, settlement and custody, with fund holdings registered under Euroclear’s nominee or in clients’ names.

6. BNY adds XRP and RLUSD to institutional custody platform

BNY announced on 27 October that its Digital Asset Custody platform now supports XRP and Ripple USD (RLUSD), Ripple’s dollar-backed stablecoin. Eligible institutional clients can hold and transfer both assets through the bank. BNY became RLUSD’s primary reserve custodian in July 2025; the latest expansion adds custody of clients’ tokens alongside its role safeguarding the stablecoin’s backing assets.

The platform launched in October 2022 with bitcoin and ether. BNY next plans to support tokenised investment products on the XRP Ledger and direct RLUSD minting and redemption through the bank, subject to final BNY and regulatory approvals. Standard Chartered introduced institutional RLUSD custody on 12 October through its Dubai International Financial Centre branch.

7. Aviva commits GBP 50 million to tokenised sterling fund share class

Aviva Investors and Ripple launched a tokenised share class of the Aviva Investors Sterling Liquidity Fund on 26 October, with Aviva investing GBP 50 million ($66 million). The launch follows a tokenised dollar liquidity-fund share class introduced in July, taking investments across the manager’s two tokenised offerings to more than GBP 86 million ($116 million). The underlying sterling fund has approximately GBP 22 billion ($29 billion) in total assets and invests in high-grade sterling-denominated short-term debt.

The new share class uses a digital-twin model, representing investors’ holdings on the XRP Ledger while retaining the Ireland-domiciled UCITS fund’s existing off-chain structure. Eligible investors can hold the tokenised interests in digital wallets, with Komainu providing digital-asset custody and Licuido the tokenisation infrastructure. BNY remains custodian of the underlying portfolio. The tokenised class retains the conventional fund’s investment objective, risk profile and liquidity characteristics, including daily liquidity.

8. SEC adds tokenisation to clearing-agency and market-systems examination priorities

The SEC published its fiscal 2027 examination priorities on 23 October, explicitly including tokenisation in its clearing-agency and Regulation Systems Compliance and Integrity (SCI) reviews. Tokenisation was absent from the fiscal 2026 priorities. Clearing-agency examinations will cover it alongside default management, recovery and wind-down, securities lending and operations. Regulation SCI reviews will also address extended trading hours and firms’ reliance on cloud providers and other vendors.

Elsewhere, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced on 23 September that AI and tokenisation would be the initial focus of its digital-innovation supervisory priority from 2027. Its 9 October call for evidence on tokenised collateral examines whether clearing houses can access, transfer and liquidate those assets during market stress or a member default. It also considers segregation and settlement finality where distributed ledgers interact with conventional infrastructure.

9. BitGo plans direct access to WisdomTree tokenised money market fund

WisdomTree announced on 27 October that BitGo Bank & Trust will make its Treasury Money Market Digital Fund, WTGXX, available through BitGo Mint. Eligible institutional clients will submit subscription and redemption instructions through BitGo, moving between dollars, supported stablecoins and fund shares without separately onboarding with WisdomTree. Clients will also be able to transfer beneficial interests through BitGo’s Go Network.

The integration extends an existing relationship under which BitGo safeguards cryptocurrencies backing WisdomTree’s European exchange-traded products. BitGo also supports custody for shareholders of BlackRock’s tokenised liquidity fund, BUIDL. WTGXX operates under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and has SEC exemptive relief permitting round-the-clock secondary trading with near-instant settlement.

10. Libeara agrees to acquire Jersey-regulated dealing business

Libeara signed a definitive agreement on 23 October to acquire Zodia Markets (Jersey), based in Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, subject to regulatory approval. The business holds a Jersey Financial Services Commission Class A investment-dealing licence and is supervised as a virtual asset service provider. Previously Elwood Technologies’ over-the-counter trading operation, it was acquired by Zodia Markets in 2024.

The acquisition would add a Jersey-regulated dealing entity alongside Libeara’s Singapore entity, which holds a Capital Markets Services licence. Founder and CEO Aaron Gwak said it would enable “streamlined execution for digital-native international investors” seeking access to tokenised assets. The SC Ventures-backed company says its infrastructure has supported the tokenisation of more than $1 billion in regulated assets. The deal concerns Zodia Markets’ trading business and is separate from Standard Chartered’s previously announced acquisition of Zodia Custody.