The cantonal bank of Bern is getting into the tokenization business. It is leaning on two experienced players in laying the technological groundwork to do so.
Berner Kantonalbank, or BEKB, wants to build an ecosystem to issue, trade, and store digital assets, it said in a statement on Thursday. It is tapping another Swiss regional lender, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, as well as token platform Daura to do so.
Most Swiss banks including UBS are flirting with tokenizing assets, but the local government-backed bank is among the first to outline specific plans including partnering. Using an over-the-counter exchange it operates – OTC-X – as the basis, BEKB said it wants to begin operating the trading system by next June.
Five-Year Strategy
BEKB's tokenization play is part of a five-year strategy to update itself and include blockchain technology in its offering. Hypi Lenzburg's Finstar, an open banking platform, will provide execution services on transactions and custody.
Daura, another joint project, will issue the tokens and maintain the digital share register. «We plan an offering will reproduce the whole chain, from issuance to trading and custody of tokenized assets, on blockchain,» said Armin Brun, who took over as BEKB CEO last year.
