A turning point for digital markets is predicted to take place this year, according to a panel at International Futures Industry Conferences which took place in Boca last week. Limited market structure and lack of customization options were cited as reasons why many other assets have not yet been tokenised. However, the top DeFi companies are currently working on solutions towards lower friction and more interoperable digital markets. Meeting the needs of the markets is crucial, including ways to help preserve privacy and different ways to scale, as well as lowered costs and latency. 

The potential of tokenisation and AI was discussed in the “Future of Capital Markets: How AI and Tokenisation Will Transform Market Infrastructure” session, including Mary Catherine Lader (Chief Operating Officer of Uniswap Labs), John Palmer (President of Cboe Digital) and Richard Widmann (Global Head of Strategy Web3 and Digital Assets at Google). 

Tokenisation and AI are predicted to transform capital markets on a global scale. It was predicted that modern financial markets will soon look very different as they integrate with these new technologies. The trajectory won’t follow a cookie-cutter approach. Firms will have to each evaluate for themselves what they are actually trying to achieve out of tokenisation, whether that be lowering costs or achieving transparency within a market. While the speed in which public blockchains can be integrated was considered compelling, caution was also advised against making too many changes too soon to keep regulators onside. 

The powerful combination of AI with digitally-native assets was also covered. The ability to discern patterns in blockchain transactions was seen as particularly useful for building and executing trading strategies. This, quite naturally, presents an opportunity which many people are keen on pursuing!