For TradFi leaders, meaningful participation in digital assets and on-chain finance depends on the infrastructure decisions they make long before products are launched. This working group focuses on the foundational capabilities—governance, custody, ledger architecture, risk, compliance, and operating models—that must be put in place to support real value, real clients, and real regulatory scrutiny. Rather than debating technologies or market hype, participants will pressure-test how today’s infrastructure choices lock in future control, scalability, and accountability, and identify what must be built now to position their institutions as credible, long-term stakeholders in on-chain financial markets. Discussion points include:

• Defining digital asset infrastructure and setting a common baseline to avoid misalignment.
• Infrastructure vs. products vs. pilots.
• Digital assets as financial infrastructure, not an innovation sandbox.
• Governance for 24/7, irreversible, code-based markets.
• Decision ownership across business, risk, compliance, and technology.
• Mapping infrastructure components to regulatory expectations.
• Custody, safeguarding, AML/KYC, and reporting requirements.
• Key management models and control frameworks to ensure custody is the anchor point.
• On-chain vs. off-chain ledgers and synchronization.
• Permissioned vs. public blockchain considerations.
• Data consistency, reconciliation, and source of truth.
• Interoperability across chains and legacy systems.
• Identity, access, and compliance by design to underpin trust.
• Risk management in real time.
• Ownership across technology, operations, risk, and business.
• New roles and skill sets required.
• Breaking silos between digital asset teams and core functions.

The line between crypto and traditional finance is blurring—but compliance remains the bridge. As global regulators introduce new standards for digital asset activities, both established financial institutions and crypto-native firms face mounting pressure to adapt. This working group examines the technologies, partnerships, and governance models shaping the next generation of regulatory compliance; how AI, blockchain analytics, and real-time reporting tools can strengthen oversight and transparency; and what lessons TradFi and DeFi learn from each other. Discussion points will include:

• The institutionalization of digital assets: how banks, asset managers, and payment firms are entering the space.
• The need for unified compliance frameworks as tokenized assets, stablecoins, and digital securities blur boundaries.
• The challenge: balancing innovation with investor protection, market integrity, and financial stability.
• Key developments in the regulatory landscape
• SEC/CFTC jurisdictional tensions, stablecoin legislation, and custody rules, plus global considerations

On-chain finance is forcing a fundamental shift in how financial institutions exercise control. Markets that operate 24/7, settle instantly, and execute through code eliminate the time buffers, reversibility, and layered approvals that traditional governance depends on. For TradFi leaders, the risk is no longer whether to adopt on-chain technology, but whether their institutions can remain accountable when decisions are made in real time by smart contracts and AI rather than committees and manual controls.

Governance is the single biggest challenge for TradFi leaders entering on-chain finance. Without a purpose-built governance framework that embeds risk, compliance, and escalation directly into execution, TradFi will either be locked out of meaningful participation—or exposed to failures they cannot explain, stop or defend to regulators. In on-chain finance, governance is not a back-office function; it is the prerequisite for relevance, trust, and scale.

If you can’t govern on-chain finance in real time, you can’t scale it safely—and regulators, clients, and counterparties will not trust you. The institutions that become key stakeholders in on-chain finance will be the ones that redesign governance for real-time markets; embed risk, compliance, and AI into execution, not oversight; assign clear ownership for on-chain activity at the executive level; and treat control as a design principle, not a post-launch requirement.

This working group will focus on redesigning decision-making, risk ownership and accountability, and control models so institutions can participate at scale in on-chain finance. Discussion points include:

• Why governance—not technology—is the primary constraint on TradFi participation in on-chain finance.
• How 24/7, irreversible, code-driven markets break traditional approval, oversight, and control models.
• Where existing governance, risk, and compliance frameworks fail in on-chain environments.
• Defining accountability when decisions are executed by smart contracts and AI.
• Distinguishing which decisions must remain human and which must be automated.
• Embedding risk, compliance, and controls directly into execution rather than post-trade oversight.
• Designing escalation, kill-switch, and override mechanisms that work in real time.
• Aligning governance models with regulatory expectations for digital assets and on-chain activity.
• Moving from defensive participation to stakeholder-level leadership in on-chain market infrastructure.
• What TradFi leaders must decide in the next 6–12 months to preserve strategic relevance.
• Governance capabilities that differentiate market leaders from followers in tokenized and on-chain markets.

As the financial industry explores the next wave of innovation, tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) has emerged as one of the most promising—yet misunderstood—frontiers. From bonds and real estate to trade finance and private credit, tokenization offers the potential for greater liquidity, transparency, and efficiency. But despite its promise, widespread adoption remains limited by regulatory uncertainty, technical integration challenges, and market readiness.

This working group will explore the real benefits and the practical obstacles of tokenization, giving community members a grounded understanding of where the value truly lies, what barriers must be addressed, and how TradFi institutions can strategically engage in this evolving landscape. Among the topics to be addressed:

• Efficiency and accessibility: How tokenization can streamline issuance, settlement, and secondary trading of traditionally illiquid assets.
• Risk and regulation: Key legal, compliance, and custody considerations slowing institutional adoption.
• Interoperability and standards: The importance of common frameworks to ensure scalability and cross-platform asset mobility.
• Path to adoption: What institutional infrastructure, governance models, and partnerships are needed to move from pilots to production.