While Asia is currently seen as the future of the digital asset sector, that wasn’t always the case. Since the early days, San Francisco tokenization firm Securitize has been active on the continent. In 2019, it attracted investment from MUFG, Nomura and SBI and acquired a Japanese consultancy BUIDL. Now it is partnering with DeCurret, the Japanese firm behind the DCJPY tokenized deposit project. DeCurret runs Japan’s Digital Currency Forum, which involves over 100 Japanese firms, including the big four banks.
For years Securitize has been involved in security token issuance, and the DeCurret collaboration aims to settle security token transactions using bank tokenized deposits.
Securitize is particularly active in Japanese real estate. Last year, Securitize announced a deal with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank to offer digital securities to Sony Bank’s retail clients. In that case, the tokens represent a trust that manages condominium loan receivables. Both Japanese institutions are also Securitize investors.
Tokenized deposits but not DCJPY?
However, today’s announcement talks about tokenized deposits without mentioning DCJPY. Instead, it describes DeCurret’s role as an electronic payment agent to transfer instructions to banks. Plus, DeCurret provides the digital currency platform to banks on which the banks issue the digital currency. We didn’t get confirmation, but we suspect the lack of reference to DCJPY could be for legal purposes. Alternatively, the collaboration is still at an early stage.
A key benefit of using digital currency is the ability to automate payouts – distributions of security token income as well as redemptions. Additionally, it will smooth the process of subscribing for security tokens because it automates identity and bank account verification.
Meanwhile, the DCJPY platform plans to officially launch in July. It involves two parts: a financial zone for the deposit tokens and multiple business zones where asset transfers occur. The money transfers are synchronized with asset transfers using a blockchain interoperability solution (IBC).
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