BX Digital, a subsidiary of Boerse Stuttgart, has received conditional approval from Swiss market regulators to operate a blockchain-based settlement system for digital assets.
The central element of the new DLT trading facility is the settlement in Swiss francs and the transfer of assets on the Ethereum public blockchain - without the need for intermediaries such as central securities depositories (CSDs).
Payments and asset transfers at BX Digital are based on verified delivery versus payment (DvP) agreements with settlement of the cash leg achieved via a direct connection to the Swiss National Bank's payment system.
Lucas Bruggeman, chief executive officer of BX Swiss Exchange and chairman of BX Digital says the new facility will offer market participants regulatory certainty, set clear quality standards for trading and ensure the presence of market makers.
"The level of interest is tremendous," he says. "We have already been able to attract an ecosystem of partners and got banks and issuers excited about our new financial market infrastructure."
Boerse Stuttgart CEO Matthias Voelkel says the ambition is to expand the system beyond the Swiss markets.
"BX Digital is the first step, and our digital European issuance and settlement platform will follow soon," he says.