Institutions Move Blockchain from Pilots to Production in Capital Markets

The transition from testing to tangible deployment was exemplified by Otto Nino of DTCC, the global clearing and settlement backbone. Nino detailed the institution’s move toward “programmable settlement,” with a clear objective to advance from T+1 settlement toward T+0. This modernization embeds critical risk controls and margin management directly into the assets themselves. The goal is twofold: to drastically reduce operational friction and improve capital efficiency while meticulously preserving the regulatory discipline that underpins today’s markets.

As Nino noted, success in this transition hinges on “dual-format optionality.” This concept allows assets to move fluidly between traditional and tokenized formats without breaking compliance frameworks. It represents a pragmatic approach, ensuring that the legacy system’s stability is not sacrificed for innovation. This foundational work by institutions like DTCC is critical for building the next collateral layer of global finance on more efficient, open rails.

Alexandra Prager of J.P. Morgan / Kinexys Labs underscored that technical capability alone is insufficient for widespread adoption. She described how tokenization is decisively leaving the proof-of-concept stage, but for it to enter full production, blockchain workflows must deliver on the same non-negotiable benchmarks as existing systems: speed, security, and reliability. Crucially, these new systems must also feel familiar to their users to facilitate a smooth transition.

“Everyone needs to do it at the same rate,” Prager explained. “You could have some organizations that are very future-forward, but if half the market is still on legacy systems, you can’t achieve the transition.” Her insight reveals that institutional adoption depends as much on human-centric design and collective, coordinated progress across market participants as it does on the underlying technology’s performance. This collective action problem is a key hurdle for the industry to overcome.

Colin Cunningham from Chainlink Labs pointed to specific areas where institutional traction is materializing: tokenized deposits, stablecoins, and money market funds. He identified these as the first real use cases gaining momentum. Cunningham highlighted Ethereum’s Layer 2 networks (L2s) as a natural bridge for institutional capital, offering the necessary combination of liquidity, established standards, and compliance-ready infrastructure.

However, Cunningham’s key metric for success looks beyond mere activity on-chain. “My metric has always been net new capital on-chain,” he shared. “What I’m more interested in is when new assets are issued on-chain, we have net new actors with net new capital that was traditionally off-chain coming on-chain.” This perspective shifts the focus from temporary incentives to sustainable success driven by fresh capital inflows and demonstrable, real-world utility for financial assets.

Addressing one of the most persistent barriers to institutional participation, Teddy Pornprinya from Plume Network demonstrated how compliance and distribution are converging in decentralized finance (DeFi). Plume integrates Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) mechanisms directly at the protocol level, aiming to create a safe, regulated environment for traditional participants.

“The idea that DeFi is the Wild West is entirely false,” Pornprinya stated, directly challenging lingering misconceptions about DeFi’s risk profile. “You can build ecosystems where traditional players can still feel safe on open blockchains with compliance built in from day one.” He argued that adoption will be driven by access to new asset classes and investment products, not pure speculation. This vision is being realized through partnerships with custodians, exchanges, and platforms like OKX Earn and Alibaba’s Web3 wallet, which are turning tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) into investable products for mainstream audiences.

Yorke Rhodes from Microsoft and the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance provided a forward-looking perspective, noting that artificial intelligence (AI) is dramatically accelerating blockchain development cycles, pushing innovation to arrive “five times faster” than before. This acceleration, combined with the maturing infrastructure, underscores the rapid pace of change.

The session, moderated by Redwan Meslem, made one point unmistakable: Ethereum’s evolving ecosystem—its L2 scalability, emerging compliance frameworks, and focus on interoperability—continues to anchor institutional-grade tokenization efforts. The collective message from DTCC, J.P. Morgan, Chainlink Labs, and Plume Network is that the foundational work is transitioning into live deployment. The future of capital markets is being built piece by piece, with a focus on efficiency, coordination, and built-in compliance, signaling a definitive move from pilots to production.