Digital assets and digital exchanges – a paradigm shift for treasury and capital markets

Two developments exemplify this dynamic:

• the initiative of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in the US with the New York Stock Exchange, and
• Deutsche Börse’s digital asset strategy with platforms such as 360X and Clearstream’s DLT infrastructure.

This is not a marginal issue for treasury units in banks and asset management firms. It is a structural intervention in liquidity management, settlement logic, and balance sheet control.

ICE and NYSE: The blueprint for 24/7 tokenized markets

The ICE group is driving forward the development of a digital trading infrastructure that combines tokenized securities with blockchain-based settlement.

Target vision: digitized stocks and ETFs that are fungible with traditional securities but can be traded on-chain and settled in near real time.

The strategic thinking behind this is clear:

• Tokenization enables direct transfer of ownership
• Stablecoins or tokenized bank deposits serve as a settlement medium
• Settlement can be synchronized and potentially take place around the clock

For treasury, this means a fundamental change in the way liquidity and financial resources are managed. Traditional “float” periods are eliminated, removing the previous buffer between payment initiation and availability of funds. Similarly, settlement windows lasting several days are disappearing, meaning that transactions now have to be processed almost in real time. This leads to a permanent real-time liquidity requirement, forcing treasury to continuously monitor and optimize its funds. At the same time, the permanent availability of collateral becomes a key success factor in hedging risks and ensuring operational flexibility at all times.

The transition from T+2 to T+1 was already an operational feat.

360X: The institutional approach in Frankfurt

This development is also gaining momentum in Europe. With 360X, Deutsche Börse is positioning itself as a regulated trading venue for digital and tokenized financial instruments.

360X deliberately distinguishes itself from many purely crypto-based platforms by taking a consistently institutional approach. The platform is fully embedded in the regulatory framework and can be seamlessly integrated into existing market infrastructures. Post-trade processes such as settlement and reporting are also directly supported, ensuring that operational standards are maintained. The focus is on digital securities and tokenized real-world assets, allowing market participants to benefit from the advantages of tokenization without compromising on compliance, security, or efficiency.

An important milestone was the trading of DLT-based bonds. At the same time, tokenized stock formats (e.g., xStocks) were used to bridge the gap between traditional underlyings and digital trading technology.

Clearstream and D7 DLT: The real infrastructure revolution

The strategic depth comes from Clearstream’s DLT initiative. The D7 platform has established a digital issuance and settlement infrastructure that is embedded in the European CSD regime in a manner that complies with regulations.

This is a crucial point:

The outlook for financial market participants is clear: digital securities will be issued directly via distributed ledger technology (DLT), while custody will be handled within the proven Clearstream structure. Settlement is carried out using integrated digital forms of money, with the prospect of a connection to central bank digital currencies (CBDC) in the future. Corporate actions are mapped automatically, and programmable collateral mechanisms enable flexible, efficient collateral management – all in the spirit of fully digital securities settlement.

Tokenized collateral as the new foundation of treasury

For treasury, the planned digitization of collateral held within the Clearstream structure will become a key lever for efficiency and risk management.

Tokenized collateral positions can also be efficiently integrated into existing margin systems. Programmable logic allows collateral to be automatically provided for trading positions, margin calls, or credit lines. Operational friction losses are reduced, costs are lowered, and regulatory risks are minimized. In an environment of instant payments, real-time liquidity, and automated post-trade processes, this creates a structural competitive advantage for treasury.

Outlook: Automation and integration in collateral management

Further developments are further enhancing this potential. Smart contracts enable automated collateral releases for clearly defined contractual events. Collateral can be provided, substituted, or returned based on rules, without manual intervention. This increases speed and reduces operational risks.

Direct integration into treasury management systems makes tokenized collateral immediately liquid. Collateral becomes an actively controllable component of daily disposition. Treasury receives a system-embedded real-time view of available assets and can immediately integrate them into financing and hedging strategies.

In the future, interfaces to digital central bank money will continue to gain in importance. The technological coupling of tokenized collateral and digital settlement brings together the money and securities sides. This allows both processes to be synchronized and further shortened. For treasury, this creates an integrated digital cycle in which collateral, liquidity, and settlement function as a coherent system.

24/7 trading meets bank balance sheet

The real strategic explosive power of digital markets does not come from a single technological element, but from the interplay of digital commerce, programmable money, instant settlement, and permanent market availability. This combination shifts the logic of the financial market from time-based processes to synchronous, continuous value flows.

For banks, this means:

A 24/7 trading model is not an incremental upgrade of existing processes. It challenges fundamental assumptions about liquidity management, balance sheet structure, and risk management.

The bank balance sheet is no longer moved only within defined operating hours, but permanently.

Liquidity management in a permanent market

Previous liquidity models were based on clearly defined time frames. Central bank opening hours, settlement cycles via TARGET services, CLS settlement windows, and batch structures in the SWIFT network define a rhythm that treasury processes are aligned with. Liquidity is planned, shifted, and optimized according to this cycle.

The consequence is fundamental:

Liquidity can no longer be provided on an ad hoc basis, but must be continuously available. Intraday control is evolving into a continuous monitoring model. Treasury needs a permanent view of available funds, collateral, and exposures. At the same time, new forms of liquidity are emerging, such as stablecoin exposures or tokenized deposits. These positions exist outside the traditional correspondent banking logic and require active management of digital wallet structures.

Liquidity management is thus becoming less of a daily process and more of a real-time discipline. Automation, algorithmic disposition, and direct system coupling between trading platforms, wallet infrastructure, and treasury systems are becoming prerequisites for operational stability.

Balance sheet effects and new valuation logic

Instant settlement not only changes operational processes, but also the structure of the balance sheet itself. Counterparty risks are reduced, exposure times are shortened, and open positions are closed more quickly. Classic limbo situations between trade and settlement are becoming less significant.

At the same time, new valuation and accounting issues are arising. Digital deposits must be classified in terms of regulation and accounting. Tokenized collateral requires valuation models that take real-time prices and dynamic haircuts into account.

If collateral is permanently marked to market, this speed has a direct impact on P&L volatility.

This makes the bank balance sheet more sensitive to short-term market movements. Valuation cycles, which used to be end-of-day oriented, are shifting toward continuous revaluation.

Treasury as the interface between financial logic and IT architecture

In a 24/7 market, treasury is becoming more of an integration function between financial management and technology architecture than ever before. Digital asset custody, wallet management, DLT interfaces, and treasury management systems can no longer be viewed in isolation. They form a coherent control system.

The strategic challenge is to combine operational stability with permanent market availability. Treasury is thus becoming not only a liquidity manager, but also an architect of digital value flows. Those who actively shape this role can redefine speed, transparency, and capital utilization. Those who cling to batch-oriented thinking models risk structural friction losses in a market that no longer pauses.

From second mover to structural pressure to act

Many institutions have long viewed digital assets as something to be observed. Tokenized instruments were considered a marginal phenomenon, CBDC debates an academic exercise, and stablecoins a niche solution with no immediate relevance to the core balance sheet. This classification was understandable – but it is increasingly outdated.

With the entry of established market infrastructure operators, perceptions are shifting fundamentally.

It is market infrastructure policy. Digitalization is moving from the fringes of innovation to the center of regulated financial architecture.

This creates strategic pressure to act for institutions that have been taking a wait-and-see approach up to now.

The questions are becoming operational and concrete: Are existing treasury systems DLT-capable? Can programmable payments be integrated technically and regulatorily? Is 24/7 monitoring of liquidity and collateral even feasible? Is there robust digital asset governance? And above all: Are the current liquidity models still appropriate for a market that no longer operates in daily cycles?

The decisive shift lies in the fact that digital assets are no longer a separate field of innovation. They are gradually becoming part of the standard market infrastructure. Treasury is thus faced with the task of not only understanding new instruments, but also adapting its own control logic to a permanently digital market environment.

Conclusion: The capital market is becoming programmable

The initiatives by Intercontinental Exchange and Deutsche Börse mark a structural turning point:

The result is a programmable capital market in which assets are conceived as tokens, money as code, settlement as a synchronous process, and liquidity as a permanent resource.

For treasury, this means much more than a process adjustment. It is a structural redefinition of liquidity control, collateral management, and balance sheet logic. The crucial question is no longer whether digital exchanges will become a reality. They are already emerging.

The only thing that is strategically relevant now is whether institutions will actively help shape this infrastructure—or whether they will react when the rules of the market have long since been rewritten.