Bitfinex Securities Launches Two New Tokenized RWAs in the U.K., Bridging the Gap for Investors and Companies: A New Era of Financial Inclusion with Crypto
In recent times, the mention of blockchain-based real-world assets (RWAs) has brought to mind traditional finance institutions like BlackRock, which oversee billions of dollars in tokenized money market funds. However, the original promise of crypto was to open up financial opportunities to anyone, and Bitfinex Securities is adhering to this ethos with its latest tokenized equity issuances.
On Wednesday, Bitfinex Securities announced two alternative finance products in the UK. The first, "TITAN1," will allocate 5 million British pounds (approximately $6.8 million) into subordinate debt issued by Castle Community Bank, a firm that supports loans to financially excluded customers in Edinburgh, Scotland. This alternative debt product will provide investors with a 20% dividend per annum (net of fees), which will be paid quarterly for up to 10 years, with non-callable provisions for the first 5 years.
The second structure, "TITAN2," will invest 100 million British pounds (approximately $136 million) into litigation financing related to car finance mis-selling claims in the UK, a market expected to generate billions in compensation. Funds will be deployed through equity-linked notes, and investors will receive a 50% share of the claims recovery proceeds split proportionately among investors.
Both listings will be accessible to investors as tradable tokens via Bitfinex Securities' secondary market. The tokens have been issued on the Liquid Network, a side chain of Bitcoin developed by technology firm Blockstream, where transfers require issuer authorization and a whitelist system ensures compliance standards and jurisdictional requirements.
Looking back in time, Bitfinex Securities' foray into tokenized RWAs predates the current trend for blockchain-based financial assets issued by institutions like BlackRock or Franklin Templeton. The firm started with niche products like a tokenized bitcoin mining hashrate contract linked to Blockstream, followed by a number of bond issuances, including the first tokenized U.S. Treasuries offering in the nascent crypto hub of El Salvador, bringing T-Bill investments to individuals and organizations who were previously unable to access these products.
Jesse Knutson, head of operations at Bitfinex Securities, takes a philosophical view of the current tokenization trend. "We want to be able to help people bridge that gap to investors," Knutson said in an interview. "Whether it's a company or a bond issuance, or whatever it is, to raise capital and kind of fill that gap that's left by banks in many parts of the world that just aren't willing to lend, or where people struggle to get access to capital."
Fresh off a digital assets panel in London alongside BlackRock and UK asset manager Schroders, Knutson said there's something of a bias in the ecosystem towards fixed income. Most of the focus is around money market funds, where people tend to buy and hold to get a yield, so there's just not a lot of trading. "A big part of this is about disintermediation," Knutson said. "When you look at the details of what they've actually done, it's typically left hand to right hand. It's the same kind of people. It's going through depositories, it's going through transfer payment agents, all of the normal kind of parts of the traditional ecosystem, which I don't think are technologically probably necessary."
Bitfinex Securities continues to push the boundaries of what's possible with tokenized RWAs, and its latest offerings are just the latest examples of how crypto is reshaping the financial landscape.
