Duncan Trenholme

TP ICAP is preparing infrastructure for when banks and asset managers "issue new products as tokens, whether that's a money market fund, whether that's equities." This explicitly references the Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization trend. BlackRock (BLK) and Franklin Templeton (BEN) are the first-movers in tokenizing money market funds on public blockchains. As the secondary market infrastructure (provided by TP ICAP) matures, these issuers will see AUM growth in their tokenized products. Long the asset managers leading the tokenization race. Slow regulatory approval for secondary trading of tokenized securities.

Trenholme states the new model allows clients to "settle against us from any custodian in the market and their custodian of choice." This "custodian agnostic" approach is a massive catalyst for the largest institutional custodians. As trading friction drops, the velocity of assets held at BNY Mellon, State Street, and Coinbase Prime will increase, driving higher custody and settlement fees without requiring the custodians to take execution risk. Long the custody layer as the primary beneficiaries of the "unlocked" institutional capital. Fee compression in the custody sector or a shift toward self-custody technologies (MPC) bypassing third parties.

TP ICAP is preparing infrastructure for when banks and asset managers "issue new products as tokens, whether that's a money market fund, whether that's equities." This explicitly references the Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization trend. BlackRock (BLK) and Franklin Templeton (BEN) are the first-movers in tokenizing money market funds on public blockchains. As the secondary market infrastructure (provided by TP ICAP) matures, these issuers will see AUM growth in their tokenized products. Long the asset managers leading the tokenization race. Slow regulatory approval for secondary trading of tokenized securities.

Trenholme states the new model allows clients to "settle against us from any custodian in the market and their custodian of choice." This "custodian agnostic" approach is a massive catalyst for the largest institutional custodians. As trading friction drops, the velocity of assets held at BNY Mellon, State Street, and Coinbase Prime will increase, driving higher custody and settlement fees without requiring the custodians to take execution risk. Long the custody layer as the primary beneficiaries of the "unlocked" institutional capital. Fee compression in the custody sector or a shift toward self-custody technologies (MPC) bypassing third parties.

The speaker predicts a "parallel on-chain spot FX market" driven by the interchange between different currency stablecoins (e.g., HKD stablecoin to USD stablecoin) to bypass expensive fiat rails. A thriving on-chain FX market requires high-throughput, secure settlement layers. While stablecoin issuers benefit, the underlying blockchains (L1s) capture the gas fees and network value of this increased transaction density. Ethereum and Solana are the dominant rails for stablecoin issuance. Long the L1 infrastructure that hosts these forex flows. Regulatory crackdowns on non-USD stablecoins or the emergence of private bank chains (like JPM Coin) that bypass public blockchains.

The speaker predicts a "parallel on-chain spot FX market" driven by the interchange between different currency stablecoins (e.g., HKD stablecoin to USD stablecoin) to bypass expensive fiat rails. A thriving on-chain FX market requires high-throughput, secure settlement layers. While stablecoin issuers benefit, the underlying blockchains (L1s) capture the gas fees and network value of this increased transaction density. Ethereum and Solana are the dominant rails for stablecoin issuance. Long the L1 infrastructure that hosts these forex flows. Regulatory crackdowns on non-USD stablecoins or the emergence of private bank chains (like JPM Coin) that bypass public blockchains.

Trenholme states the new model allows clients to "settle against us from any custodian in the market and their custodian of choice." This "custodian agnostic" approach is a massive catalyst for the largest institutional custodians. As trading friction drops, the velocity of assets held at BNY Mellon, State Street, and Coinbase Prime will increase, driving higher custody and settlement fees without requiring the custodians to take execution risk. Long the custody layer as the primary beneficiaries of the "unlocked" institutional capital. Fee compression in the custody sector or a shift toward self-custody technologies (MPC) bypassing third parties.