The world of digital assets was conceptualised with the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009, that powered via a decentralised blockchain captured the imagination of users as an alternate digitally based currency. It proved to be an inflection point in the ongoing evolution of the international financial and monetary system and since then market participants utilising both permissionless and permissioned blockchain networks began to offer to a range of different types of digital assets including crypto, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

These “virtual records of value” shared securely across a cryptographic ledger has generated an entirely new set of market infrastructures and use-cases as experimentation by various players has unlocked efficiencies, freed trapped liquidity, and facilitated the democratisation of finance. Indeed, in 2024, there has been an increased adoption of crypto-assets as the preferred investment of choice as key crypto-currencies record impressive growth along with continued tokenization of real-world assets that is driving investor appetite.

Given the pace of technological transformation, new regulations, and evolving user preferences the size of digital assets transactions has grown exponentially, attracting new players across the value chain while posing as both a serious challenge and opportunity to incumbent market players.