Digital Assets Working Group

Purpose

Digital assets – at their simplest level – are valuable items in digital form, including cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and digital documents, all of which can play a significant role in modern finance. For the Securities Services industry, digital assets comprise cryptocurrencies, tokenized assets as well as native digital assets.

Digital assets are becoming increasingly important to the Securities Services industry, offering numerous benefits that can enhance efficiency, security and innovation. Whilst still evolving, there are already numerous examples of where their implementation has transformed the financial landscape by introducing new ways to create, store and transfer value.

The Digital Assets Working Group (WG) will focus on the key trends of interest to ISSA’s members and  the broader industry in the digital assets space. The aim will be to understand where the adoption of a digital asset solution can offer value and address the challenges and practicalities to ensure success.   

During 2026, the WG fill focus on three digital assets themes that are critical to the industry:

• Subgroup 1: DLT in the Real-World annual survey

This subgroup will complete the annual survey to understand the current status of the industry around digital assets and future plans

• Subgroup 2: Value Chain Transformation

This subgroup will initially focus on the tokenization of collateral. Additional transformational topics will then be considered based on the survey findings.

• Subgroup 3: Digital Assets Payment Rails

This subgroup will initially focus on Stablecoins. Once completed the group will then consider additional digital assets payment rails themes such as tokenized funds.

Subgroup 1: DLT in the Real-World Survey 2026

Scope

The scope of this subgroup will be to:

• Complete year 7 of the DLT in the Real world survey in conjunction with The Value Exchange
• Provide a longitudinal view, giving the key changes rather than a complete re-write
• Capture new trends in questions but at the margins
• Have a small group of volunteers to review questions
• Ensure that all WG participant organizations complete the survey to increase validity even further

Key Deliverables

Key deliverables, including dates, for this subgroup will be:

• February: Form subgroup
• April: Complete design and format of survey
• May – June: Deploy survey
• September: Publish survey results

Key Outcomes

The key outcomes from the ongoing surveys are:

• To educate ISSA members and the industry on how the digital assets space is developing over time
• To enable ISSA to assess which future themes are of interest and / or concern to the industry and make informed decisions on topics that the WG should focus on

Subgroup 2: Value Chain Transformation

Scope

This subgroup will focus on the tokenization of collateral.

The scope will be:

• To provide examples of various operating models for tokenized collateral
• To define 3-5 viable implementation models for collateral use cases
• To identify and categorize the top ten legal, regulatory, operational and technology friction points

(where the technology is related to operational or legal/regulatory frictions)

• To outline lessons learned from the collateral use cases (positive and learning experiences)

Further value chain transformation themes will be considered once this work is completed.

Key Deliverables

The key deliverable will be:

• To publish a white paper on DLT supporting tokenization of collateral for increased collateral mobility

Key Outcomes

The key outcomes will be:

• To assist members in making informed decisions when considering a collateral tokenization project
• To provide best practice guidance on the tokenization of collateral

Subgroup 3: Digital Assets Payment Rails

Scope

This subgroup will focus on stable coins.

The scope will be:

• To consider the potential opportunities that the ability to support stable coins can provide to both investors and the Securities Services industry
• To analyze the challenges of supporting stable coins and what actions will need to take place to address these
• To provide best practice guidance for Securities Services providers who wish to provide a stable coins solution to their clients

Further digital assets payment rails themes will be considered once this work is completed.

Key Deliverables

The key deliverable will be:

• To publish a report on the use of stable coins outlining the benefits, challenges and best practice guidelines when implementing a stable coins solution

Key Outcomes

The key outcomes will be:

• To assist members in making informed decisions when considering a stable coins solution
• To provide best practice guidance on the use of stable coins for Securities Services providers

Publications

Key Findings Report -> link

Working Group Co-Chairs

• Steve Everett, TMX Group Limited
• Glen Fernandes, Euroclear

Executive Sponsor

• Justin Chapman, Northern Trust

Institutions represented by Experts in the Working Groups

• ABN AMRO
• Accenture Plc
• Archax Holdings Ltd
• Australian Securities Exchange ASX
• B3 Brazilian Exchange and OTC
• Bloomberg LP
• BNP Paribas S.A.
• Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc.
• Citi
• ClearToken Holding Limited
• CMA Small Systems AB
• CMU OmniClear Limited
• Deposito Central de Valores (DCV)
• Deutsche Bank AG
• Deutsche Börse Group
• Digital Asset Holdings, LLC
• Egyptian Central Securities Depository
• Euroclear
• Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation GLEIF
• Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited
• KDD Central Securities Clearing Corporation
• Montran
• MUFG Bank, Ltd
• MYRIAD Group Technologies Ltd
• Northern Trust Corporation
• Royal Bank of Canada
• SIX Group AG
• SWIFT SCRL
• Swiss Re Ltd
• Tata Group
• The Global Blockchain Business Council
• The Investment Association
• The Standard Bank of South Africa
• TMX Group Limited
• U.S. Bank, N.A.
• x-markets GmbH & Co. KG
• Zürcher Kantonalbank