Assetera taps Polygon for EU’s first regulated secondary market for RWAs

Assetera has chosen Ethereum scaling network Polygon to host Europe’s first regulated secondary market for real-world assets. The platform will offer a range of tokenized financial instruments and RWAs to retail, professional, and institutional clients.

Assetera will reportedly offer tokenized financial instruments, including transferable securities, money market instruments, fund units and derivatives as well as RWAs like real estate and art.

The Polygon-powered platform will be designed to accommodate secure transactions and efficient processes by leveraging stablecoins for purchases, clearing, and settlements. Recently, Polygon has also received new listings from INX Digital Company and Backed, who are expanding their tokenized stock offerings to include Tesla, Nvidia and Google.

In a statement to Cointelegraph on Sept. 25, Assetera CEO Thomas Labenbacher said that trading will be done directly on the Polygon network, utilizing stablecoins for purchase, clearing, and making settlements through atomic swaps.

He believes the platform will provide asset owners and investors with a “level of liquidity and accessibility previously unimaginable” in terms of blockchain trading.

“The […] Polygon Proof-of-Stake mechanism ensure[s] that we can scale this revolutionary platform sustainably […] without compromising on security or regulatory compliance,” said Labenbacher.

For transactions, Assetera supports custodial and non-custodial wallets as well as the new bank-managed wallets. The firm partners with Sumsub, Chainalysis and Fireblocks for anti-money laundering measures.

Assetera operates under a Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II license, a key regulatory framework governing financial markets in the European Union. Moreover, Assetera also holds a virtual asset service provider license.

The firm plans to upgrade its services to meet the Markets in Crypto Assets regulatory standards, allowing for broader trading services in the EU.

As of July 2024, the EU legislations for crypto known as the MiCA bill already has regulations on stablecoins. These provisions led to a reshuffling in the market, with non-compliant stablecoin sales blocked in Europe and new regulated stablecoins emerging.