Mark your calendars, the Fed just added a new stablecoin stop to the global tour. Yesterday, it announced a payments innovation conference for October 21.

Core themes include the “convergence of traditional and decentralized finance”, “emerging stablecoin use cases”, and “the tokenization of financial products and services.”

Also yesterday, the IMF released its latest Finance & Development magazine. The cover story? You guessed it: stablecoins.

Today, we’ll talk about:

• ESMA executive calls on Europe to accelerate tokenization reforms

• Coincheck acquires crypto prime brokerage Aplo

• Morpho appoints former Adan president as new Head of Public Affairs

ESMA Calls on Europe to Accelerate Tokenization Reforms

The Dubrovnik Call: At a capital-markets conference in Dubrovnik on September 1, ESMA Executive Director Natasha Cazenave called on Europe to accelerate regulatory reforms to keep pace with global developments in tokenization. In her speech, she warned that without updated frameworks, retail investors face growing risks from tokenized stock products that lack shareholder rights, and a loss of competitiveness for the EU compared to other jurisdictions.

• “The shift to DLT enables 24/7 trading, efficiency, and transparency, but also has far-reaching consequences for ownership, investor rights, settlement finality, and custody. This raises the question of whether existing EU frameworks are fit for purpose or require targeted adaptations,” she said.

Why it matters: Cazenave’s remarks carry weight. As the EU’s top securities regulator, ESMA defines supervisory standards and coordinates national authorities across 27 member states, with investor protection as its ultimate objective. Her call also comes at a time when other jurisdictions, particularly the US and UK, are moving quickly to establish frameworks designed to support tokenization, increasing pressure on the EU to act.

A restrictive Pilot Regime: Europe does already have an experimental framework in place through the Pilot Regime, launched in March 2023 to test the use of blockchain in trading financial instruments. However, its restrictive design has limited participation. Most notably, securities with an issuance size above €500 million are excluded, effectively shutting out large-cap companies.

• “As a result, almost all tokenization is happening outside the very regime that was meant to enable it in the first place. The clearest examples are the offerings launched by Robinhood and the bond issuances by major banks in recent years,” a European official told Blockstories.

Amendments expected by year-end: To address these shortcomings, ESMA recommended several changes in a June report, calling for the Pilot Regime to evolve into a genuine sandbox. According to the same official, “Today, it is the European Commission that holds the pen. The necessary amendments are expected before the end of the year.”

The missing wholesale CBDC: Yet the Pilot Regime is only part of the challenge. While the framework allows settlement in stablecoins, a solution Cazenave described as “pragmatic”, the market continues to wait for a wholesale CBDC, widely viewed as the missing piece needed for tokenization to scale across financial markets.

Beyond the sandbox: Even with a more flexible Pilot Regime and progress on settlement solutions, broader regulatory changes will still be required. Several officials told Blockstories that reopening legislation such as MiFID II and CSDR will be unavoidable to redefine core concepts like settlement finality and custody in a blockchain-based market infrastructure. As one of them noted, “This is a much longer process, as any amendment would require returning to the European Parliament.”

Japanese Crypto Exchange Coincheck Acquires Aplo to Accelerate EU Expansion

Arrival in Europe: On Tuesday, Coincheck, one of Japan’s largest crypto exchanges, announced the acquisition of Aplo, a Paris-based digital asset prime brokerage. The deal gives Coincheck a direct presence in the European market while providing Aplo with deeper liquidity and stronger balance sheet capacity.

About Coincheck: The acquisition is part of Coincheck’s effort to strengthen its international profile. At the end of 2024, the company became one of the first Japanese crypto platforms to list on Nasdaq through a SPAC merger with Thunder Bridge Capital Partners IV. In the same year, Coincheck reported $2.5 billion in revenue, a 71% increase compared to 2023.

• “Until now, Coincheck’s business has been primarily B2C in Japan. With Aplo, the aim is to expand into products for institutional clients, a segment that is growing rapidly in Europe,” a market observer told Blockstories.

About Aplo: Founded in 2019, Aplo has established itself as a prime brokerage for professional investors. Its 23-person team currently serves about 60 clients, including major exchanges, banks, family offices, and asset managers, offering liquidity across 300+ coins. The company is already registered as a VASP with the French financial regulator and is in the process of securing its MiCA license to support broader European operations.

• “Aplo’s great strength lies in having built a solid client base thanks to its strong reputation for execution,” said a well-informed market observer.

Need for liquidity & credibility: Yet, despite growing 147% year-over-year, Aplo faces the same challenge as many independent players: scaling requires significant balance sheet strength and counterparty credibility.

• “You need tens of millions of dollars to front client trade liquidity, which is almost impossible to build as an independent startup,” Oliver Yates, co-founder and CEO of Aplo, told Blockstories. “For us, the decisive factor was being able to tell large banks and hedge funds: your counterparty is a Nasdaq-listed company. That level of transparency and credibility is essential at the institutional level.”

Product expansion: With Coincheck’s backing, Aplo plans to continue developing derivatives and crypto credit services, two areas that are becoming increasingly important with the institutionalization of the sector.

Independence preserved: The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. All issued and outstanding Aplo shares will be exchanged for newly issued ordinary shares of Coincheck Group. The deal, expected to close in October 2025, is structured to allow Aplo to operate independently.

• “Aplo stays a separate company. It is part of the group in terms of ownership, but not operationally integrated with the exchange,” explained Oliver Yates.

Another European player acquired: The acquisition also reflects a broader consolidation trend among European digital asset firms. In May, Luxembourg-based Tokeny was acquired by Apex, one of the world’s largest fund administrators. In 2024, Robinhood purchased Bitstamp for $200 million, enabling it to launch a tokenized equities offering for the European market.

A conversation with Faustine Fleuret, the freshly appointed Head of Public Affairs at Morpho, DeFi's second-largest lending protocol. After five years as President of Adan and contributing to the MiCA negotiations, she now joins Morpho as the EU prepares to roll out new DeFi regulations.

1. Situating Stablecoins in the Payments Stack (Nic Carter, Castle Island Ventures) — A visual framework to position stablecoins within the broader payments landscape. Contrasts stablecoins with systems like Fedwire, ACH, and Visa to show how they fill gaps legacy rails can’t reach.

2. Digital Assets Roadmap for Banks & Asset Managers (Florian Marty, Vontobel) — A high-level playbook outlining how institutions can build a credible presence in crypto and tokenization over the next 12–24 months.

3. Digital Asset Services in Banken (Markus Abbassi et al.) — A comprehensive book offering practical pathways for banks to integrate digital asset services across portfolio management, crypto custody, and securities registry workflows. (German only)

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