SIX Group AG, the operator of the Swiss and Spanish stock exchanges, is winding down its digital asset exchange unit SDX and bringing its activities under the main company structure.
SDX’s trading operations are being merged into SIX’s primary exchange, while responsibility for digital asset settlement and custody will shift to the group’s post-trade arm.
In a Bloomberg report, Marco Kessler, SIX’s Head of Product and Business Development for Digital Assets, said that the integration is designed to make digital asset services more seamless and scalable across the organization.
Ongoing SDX projects, including work with Banque Pictet and Citigroup on tokenizing securities, will now be handled by SIX Securities Services. The post-trade unit will also manage projects involving the splitting of securities into smaller parts.
Kessler said that the move highlights the need to standardize digital asset capabilities across securities services as well as the increasing innovation in post-trade activities.
Tokenization gains ground
SIX Group’s approach aligns with the growing interest of fintech companies and financial institutions in using blockchain technology to leverage conventional assets like stocks and bonds.
This process, known as tokenization, allows assets to move around the clock, faster, and potentially at lower costs than conventional systems. It may also make less liquid assets, such as private business stock, more accessible.
Launched in 2021, SDX provided infrastructure for regulated digital securities, including an exchange and central securities depository. About 2.5 billion Swiss francs ($3.1 billion) worth of digital bonds have been issued on the platform, and the group has also supported the Swiss National Bank’s central bank digital currency pilot.
In May, Citigroup and SDX announced plans to tokenize, settle, and safekeep assets using SDX’s central securities depository. The partnership focuses on using blockchain to digitize late-stage pre-IPO equities, with Citi acting as tokenization agent and custodian. These projects will now continue under SIX’s post-trade division, according to Kessler.
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