ESMA: Soliciting opinions to assess the liquidity of tokenized collateral during the crisis

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released a consultation document to gather feedback from the industry on the risks associated with tokenized collateral in terms of legality, liquidity, and operations. This is to assess whether clearinghouses can acquire and liquidate relevant assets under market pressure and to determine if new EU regulatory measures are needed. ESMA Chair Verena Ross stated that legal certainty, infrastructure interoperability, and appropriate regulation are necessary to create conditions for the safe cross-border operation and scalable development of the tokenized market.

Tokenized collateral is entering the European clearing business, allowing banks and investors to more quickly obtain securities to meet margin requirements. This assessment will also review whether current EU rules can support clearinghouses in acquiring and clearing tokenized collateral in the event of member defaults. In July 2025, Eurex Clearing will launch a collateral service based on distributed ledger technology, and JPMorgan has completed its first real-time transaction for Dutch pension investor PGGM.

ESMA will also evaluate the tokenized forms of assets held by traditional financial infrastructure, assets originally issued on distributed ledgers, and their relationship with stablecoins, central bank currencies, and tokenized deposits. The European Central Bank system will launch Pontes in September 2025 for settling tokenized asset transactions in central bank currency, which can connect blockchain infrastructure with existing settlement systems.