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Euroclear has invested in Singapore-based blockchain company Marketnode, marking its first investment in Asia. Marketnode’s tokenization service and investment fund infrastructure will support Euroclear’s FundsPlace operations. Euroclear joins Singapore Exchange, Singapore’s Temasek fund, and HSBC as co-owners of Marketnode. The exact investment amount remains undisclosed. Previously, Marketnode was involved in a significant tokenization trial in Singapore. Euroclear, which has been handling nearly $1 quadrillion in securities transactions, has been actively investing in blockchain-based solutions.

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Euroclear, a big name in securities clearing and settlement, has put its money into Marketnode, a blockchain-based company in Singapore. This is the first time Euroclear has spent its cash in Asia and will help them build their standing in Asia.

Marketnode focuses on two things – the Gateway tokenization service and the Fundnode investment fund infrastructure. These provide a platform for dealing with transactions, processing funds, and keeping records. Fundnode will boost Euroclear’s FundsPlace, which provides an easy way to manage funds.

The head honcho of Euroclear for APAC, Philippe Laurensy, reckons that this first investment in Asia will really drive business growth in the region.

We don’t know exactly how much Euroclear spent on the investment. But what we do know is that they’re now listed alongside the Singapore Exchange, Singapore’s own Temasek fund, and HSBC bank as co-owners of Marketnode. HSBC became one of Marketnode’s shareholders earlier in the year. SGX and Temasek actually helped set up Marketnode in 2021.

The big boss of investment at Temasek, Pradyumna Agrawal, thinks Euroclear’s move into Marketnode shows just how much potential the company has to develop global digital infrastructure.

Marketnode had previously been involved in a large trial of tokenization in Singapore. Singapore is a hotspot of blockchain development. It even ranked first among several crypto-friendly places in the Henley Crypto Adoption Index 2024.

Euroclear has been putting money into blockchain-based solutions for a while, investing in the payment solution company Fnality in March 2022 and again more recently in November 2023. Euroclear has been busy dealing with nearly $1 quadrillion in securities transactions over the years.

They’ve previously been involved with some early tests on blockchain security with Deutsche Boerse in 2019. A few years later, they were part of a pilot with the French central bank’s digital currency.

Euroclear has also done projects with SWIFT and other global financial services providers, started a service for issuing digital securities, and even settled a massive 100 million euro digital World Bank bond in 2023. No rest for the wicked, as they say.

Source: Cointelegraph