So are digital securities coming of age?
The announcement just recently that the New York Stock Exchange's parent company, Intercontinental
Exchange, taking a stake in the tokenized securities platform tZERO could certainly
indicate that if so, was that coming of age long overdue?
Who better to ask about tokenizing the world than Henry Chong, CEO of Fusung.
Fusung aims to reshape investment markets with blockchain technology.
And it's great to have you with us, Henry.
Always great to be here, Angie.
An exciting to see the developments in the tokenized security space.
I bet you've been waiting.
Well, actually, no, you don't wait around.
I mean, you're actively in the space.
But it is really interesting to see that finally, the growth in the tokenized security market
is really developing.
And more importantly, the question for you is, are there enough players out there to
support that development and where will they come from?
We certainly haven't been waiting, but it's nice validation almost to see that there's
an increasing focus on tokenized securities.
As I've always said, as interesting as Crypto and NFTs are, there is still much to be done
in terms of tokenizing real world assets - shares, bonds, funds, real estate, really everything
else you see in the world and seeing a major player like the New York Stock Exchange and
the parent company entering the market, I think is really proof that this is imminently
about to happen.
And really, my message when you talk about issuers and intermediaries would be that all
of us, Fusung included - we need to adapt and innovate or we're going to be left behind
because this is what customers want.
Both issuers, they want to be able to tokenized their securities, and investors are keen to
be able to actually invest in securities - tokens that represent real world assets.
I do want to ask you about the role of legacy intermediaries like investment banks.
I mean, they still play an important role.
Are they ready for the adoption of digital securities?
When you take a look at the landscape, are they ready to play?
My belief has always been that the jobs to be done in the financial industry, they're
not about to change.
You're still going to need exchanges and custodians and investment banks and brokers.
It's just that all of them better be able to adopt new technology.
And I think there'll be a lot less intermediaries that we can start to combine all of these
functions using the power of blockchain technology.
And so again, financial institutions aren't going away.
But if you are a legacy financial institution, as you say, that can't quite adopt in new
technology, I really do think you'll be left behind, especially because there are plenty
of firms today who are scaling at lightspeed.
I know we've often talked enough about this for me to know that you already envision a
day where buying shares has become as simple as online shopping.
But what does this mean for the future of capital markets?
You know, I'm convinced this isn't just a vision - that it's an inevitability because
the reality is we're used to a certain customer workflow with everything we do, whether it's
buying things online through e-commerce or really buying or interacting with any company
or firm.
Today, we expect to be able to do it digitally, online and directly with the company.
We're used to being able to view information about a company's product.
Maybe we go on social media, see some reviews about it and then if we want to actually transact,
we want to be able to do that directly and online.
And this works for literally every industry in the world, and I think capital markets
will be no exception.
And capital markets need to start focusing on, Hey, what are the customer needs?
Am I really delivering my customers what they really want?
Investors want access to the most exciting investments.
Issuers, companies not only want to be able to fund-raise, but they want investors who
are actually aligned with their company.
They want to be able to turn the stakeholders into shareholders and the platforms who can
help people do that, I think will win in this new market.
Henry Chong of Fusung, always a pleasure.