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Boerse Stuttgart Group Unveils Seturion, a Pan-European DLT Platform for Financial Institutions

The platform builds on technology first deployed in Switzerland, where Boerse Stuttgart’s subsidiary BX Digital — a FINMA-regulated DLT trading venue — already uses Seturion as its settlement layer.

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Louis Tellier & Maximilian Vargas
September 11, 2025

Only a few months ago, few would’ve bet on public equities being the next fastest horse in tokenization, following dollars and money market funds. But the consensus has shifted, and it’s not just because of recent moves by the likes of Robinhood, Ondo, and Kraken.

This week, Nasdaq filed with the SEC to tokenize every stock and ETF on its exchange starting 2026. The plan? Offer tokenized versions directly alongside their traditional counterparts — same order book, full fungibility, no change to the underlying rights. In effect, a new, alternative book-entry format for public markets.

We asked Nasdaq SVP Chuck Mack about the benefits the exchange sees in tokenization. You’ll find our chat below.

Today, we also talk about:

  • Boerse Stuttgart Group unveils new settlement platform for tokenized assets

  • Fireblocks launches “Swift for stablecoins”

HIGH SIGNAL NEWS

TOKENIZATION

Boerse Stuttgart Group Unveils Seturion, a Pan-European DLT Platform for Financial Institutions

A Pan-European Platform: Last week, Boerse Stuttgart Group, Europe’s sixth-largest exchange group, unveiled Seturion, a blockchain-based settlement platform for tokenized assets.

  • Swiss foundation: The platform builds on technology first deployed in Switzerland, where Boerse Stuttgart’s subsidiary BX Digital — a FINMA-regulated DLT trading venue — already uses Seturion as its settlement layer. That proven infrastructure now forms the backbone of Boerse Stuttgart’s European rollout, extending the model to a broader network of venues, issuers, and participants.

Why it matters: Seturion is part of a wider trend. Across Europe, exchanges and infrastructure providers are racing to launch DLT-based settlement platforms for traditional financial institutions. Some are doing so under the EU Pilot Regime, a temporary framework that allows market infrastructures to experiment with tokenized trading and settlement outside the constraints of traditional CSD rules.

Interview: Lidia Kurt, CEO of BX Digital, will be leading the development of Seturion as its designated CEO. In our conversation, we discussed Seturion’s role within Boerse Stuttgart Group, how the platform operates, the cost savings it brings, and which asset classes and partners it aims to onboard.

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On how Seturion fits into Boerse Stuttgart Group’s strategy:

“Within Boerse Stuttgart Group, we created Seturion and the tokenized assets business as a dedicated pillar, separate from both the traditional exchanges and the crypto business of the Group.

That independence is important: We want Seturion to be an open industry solution, where any trading venue – MTF, OTC, traditional or digital –, banks and brokers can connect and use the platform. The trading venues of Boerse Stuttgart Group will be connected as first clients, but it’s open by design.”

On how Seturion connects participants and settles trades:

“As a participant, you essentially need two things: a wallet and a central bank cash account. You don’t have to operate the wallet infrastructure yourself, you can rely on a sub-custodian to do that. Once those two elements are in place, you can connect to Seturion with very low integration efforts.

Trading itself remains offchain at the trading venues. Orders and matching are handled by existing systems. Once a trade is matched, Seturion takes over: the asset leg is settled onchain, the cash leg in central bank money offchain. Once stablecoins are broadly adopted or wholesale CBDCs or regulated stablecoins are in place, we could also move settle both legs fully onchain, whether on permissionless or permissioned networks. The technology is already in place.

On top of that, we provide optional services. One is issuance support, helping issuers tokenize assets if they don’t already have the tools. The other is a registrar function, mapping wallet addresses to regulated identities, which in Germany is tied to the crypto securities register. But these are add-ons: external registrars and tokenizers can connect as well.”

On cost and efficiency gains:

“Take the asset class of structured products as an example. These are issued frequently throughout the day, thousands of products by different issuers. Today, issuing a structured product costs around €3–7 per instrument. With Seturion, those costs can drop by up to 90%.

Settlement costs follow a similar pattern. Domestic settlement costs are usually €0.80–1.50 per trade, and cross-border can easily exceed that number by far and even reach double digit numbers for certain asset classes. On Seturion, we can bring this down massively.

And it’s not just about cost, it’s also time. The current T+2 cycle is reduced to around 30 minutes. That’s a huge gain in efficiency for both issuers and investors.”

On which asset classes are moving first:

“In our view, all asset classes will eventually migrate to tokenized infrastructure. It’s the natural next step after electronic securities.

But some will move faster. Right now we see the most traction in funds, where tokenization is already picking up. In certain jurisdictions like Germany, there’s strong activity around bonds, especially on the issuance side. And for us at Boerse Stuttgart Group, structured products are a priority, because of the very large existing market and our long-standing focus on it.

Blue-chip equities as native tokens will likely be later adopters, but over time, we expect them to move as well.”

On the regulatory path and market rollout:

“Boerse Stuttgart Group has already applied for a license under the DLT Pilot Regime. Approval can take up to 18 months, and we are now within that timeline. Without it, settlement of tokenized securities would have to go through a traditional CSD, which is not compatible with our design approach, including also public blockchains.

The Pilot Regime as it stands is too restrictive to scale, but we are encouraged by positive signals that certain constraints will be eased. Importantly, this is not a proof-of-concept for us. Like in Switzerland, once licensed, Seturion aims to go live as a fully commercial offering.

We are currently onboarding five trading participants at BX Digital in Switzerland: three banks and two market makers. In addition, there is a pipeline of around 70 issuers. Not all will join from day one, so the rollout is being done step by step.”

STABLECOIN PAYMENTS

Fireblocks Launches “Swift for Stablecoins” to Power Cross-Border Transfers

SWIFT for stablecoins: Last week, Fireblocks unveiled the Network for Payments, a platform connecting financial institutions, corporates, and payment providers to enable cross-border transfers using stablecoins. Unlike a new blockchain, the network acts as a connectivity and messaging layer, integrating local payment rails, stablecoin issuers, FX providers, and liquidity partners across jurisdictions, a role comparable to SWIFT in traditional banking.

Why it matters: The launch builds on the Fireblocks Network, introduced in 2019 and now connecting 400+ institutions, including many global banks. Originally focused on crypto trading and custody, securing more than $10 trillion in assets, the network has evolved rapidly as corporate demand for faster, cheaper cross-border settlement has grown.

  • “It’s only in the last two years that we’ve seen a real shift toward payments on our network, with around $200 billion a month now flowing primarily through stablecoin use cases,” said Richard Astle, VP Business Lead for the Fireblocks Network. “Cross-border transfers, particularly to and from emerging and frontier markets, still carry a high degree of friction, even when stablecoins are used.”

How it works: The Network for Payments is Fireblocks’ answer to that challenge. Instead of forcing institutions to integrate separately with dozens of providers, the platform acts as a single connectivity layer. Through one API, institutions can access local on/off-ramps, stablecoin issuers, FX desks, payment processors, and blockchain settlement options across 100+ countries and 60 currencies.

  • Stablecoin-based settlement: In a typical “stablecoin sandwich” flow, fiat is on-ramped into stablecoins, transferred onchain, and then converted back into local currency at the destination.

  • Client-controlled routing: Unlike Circle’s CPN or other systems, Fireblocks does not decide which rails to use. Institutions select their own providers and corridors, keeping full control over routing and compliance.

  • Built-in compliance tooling: While Fireblocks does not set policy, the network supports embedded KYT, sanctions checks, Travel Rule data, and beneficiary verification, making it easier for participants to adapt to local regulatory requirements.

Connectivity and messaging only: Crucially, Fireblocks stays out of the flow of funds. By positioning itself as a technology provider rather than a financial intermediary, it aims to avoid additional licensing and regulatory burdens.

What’s next: Adoption will depend on the network’s ability to onboard providers at scale. Fireblocks already integrates with 40 service providers and 300 payment companies, including Banxa, Bridge, Yellow Card, and Reap. On Tuesday, Fireblocks also announced a partnership with Circle that enables network users to leverage Arc, the USDC issuer’s Layer-1 network. But stablecoin payments are likely just the beginning.

  • “We don’t want to compete with these networks; we want to integrate with them so our clients can use them,” Astle added. “Trading was the first wave of the Fireblocks Network, stablecoin payments are the second, and the same trusted infrastructure layer can support future use cases such as onchain securities and tokenized assets.”

Karima Lachgar has been CEO of Olky Wallet, the crypto subsidiary of Luxembourg-based neobank Group Olky, since October 2023. Before that, she worked as a lawyer and lobbyist specializing in banking and financial law, including as a partner at Osborne Clarke.

Fireblocks’ initiative is welcome for users like our neobank Group Olky, but key challenges remain.

The company must show its solution is competitive and not just another layer of intermediation. Timing is also critical: networks like Swift and Visa are already building similar capabilities for crypto payments, benefiting from global coverage, deep integrations with clearing agents, and generally competitive pricing.

We are still at the early stages, and opportunities remain. But only players that solve unmet needs or offer bundled services with real added value around stablecoin issuance and distribution will succeed alongside incumbents already operating at scale.

A conversation with Chuck Mack, Senior Vice President, North American Markets at Nasdaq. On Monday, one of the world’s largest exchanges filed a request with the SEC to allow the trading of tokenized stocks directly on its infrastructure. We spoke with him about the benefits of tokenization as well as the infrastructure changes needed to integrate it.

  1. The Stablecoin Moment (State Street) — A macro-focused analysis exploring the GENIUS Act’s implications for monetary policy, capital flows, and dollar hegemony in a multi-polar world.

  2. Securities Services Evolution 2025 (Citi) — A global survey of 500+ institutions exploring how digital assets, faster settlement, and GenAI are reshaping post-trade.

  3. Compliance in the Era of Stablecoins (Oliver Wyman) — A strategic roadmap for institutions seeking to align with the GENIUS Act (from reserve backing and disclosures to federal licensing and AML controls).

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Disclaimer: The information provided in the Institutional Briefing by Blockstories does not constitute investment advice. Accordingly, we assume no liability for any investment decisions made based on the content presented herein.

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