Traditional finance giant EquiLend has made a strategic investment in Digital Prime Technologies to bridge the gap to tokenized markets. Rich Grossi, CEO of EquiLend, confirmed that this alliance responds to growing institutional demand for transparent and governed workflows integrating digital and traditional assets.
The collaboration will focus primarily on enhancing Tokenet, the institutional lending network developed by Digital Prime to manage complex lifecycles. This platform currently supports multi-custodian and multi-collateral management, but future plans include the introduction of regulated stablecoin collateral and other advanced financial instruments requiring robust and secure infrastructure.
On the other hand, this minority investment has not been disclosed in monetary terms, but its strategic impact is significant for the financial sector. EquiLend, which handles a pool of lendable assets valued at $40 trillion, seeks to provide operational continuity, ensuring that institutions can operate with the same confidence in the digital environment as in consolidated traditional securities markets.
Likewise, the company emphasizes that this move does not represent a departure from its core client base in traditional finance. On the contrary, it is a necessary preparation for the market trajectory, where real-world asset tokenization is gaining traction and requires solutions that eliminate existing operational friction between both financial ecosystems.
Are We Ready for Total Convergence Between Traditional and Digital Finance?
Nick Delikaris, EquiLend’s Chief Product Officer, noted that the cryptocurrency lending market faces similar challenges today as it did in the early 2000s. Issues such as fragmented workflows and limited collateral mobility are obstacles this alliance seeks to solve, applying decades of infrastructure experience to standardize and optimize post-trade processes in the digital asset space.
However, the timing of the deal is particularly relevant given the pro-crypto regulatory shift recently observed in the United States. With regulatory clarity increasing under the current administration, Grossi perceives a growing alignment between traditional market infrastructure and digital asset regulation, making this the sensible moment to invest resources and capital in technological expansion.
Finally, the integration of Tokenet will allow institutional clients to monitor exposure and manage reporting with greater precision and transparency. As digital instruments mature, the same governance requirements of traditional finance emerge in tokenized markets, creating a unique opportunity for EquiLend to lead the next phase of evolution in global securities settlement and financing.
