- Crypto bank Amina becomes the first fully regulated bank participant on EU-regulated tokenized securities venue 21X under the DLT pilot regime
- Partnership with Tokeny allows Amina to support companies issuing tokenized securities while EU and US institutions expand blockchain infrastructure
Crypto bank Amina has joined EU-regulated trading venue 21X as a listing sponsor, positioning itself inside the European Union’s regulatory sandbox for blockchain-based securities. The Zug-based institution, supervised in Switzerland, is now the first fully regulated bank to participate on 21X, a platform operating under the EU’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) pilot regime for tokenized financial instruments.
A new role for crypto bank Amina in the DLT pilot regime
By entering 21X as a listing sponsor, crypto bank Amina plans to support companies that issue tokenized securities on the platform. This activity will be carried out through its partnership with Tokeny, a Luxembourg firm that provides infrastructure for creating and managing tokenized financial assets. The arrangement is designed to connect a regulated banking institution directly with a regulated DLT-based market, bringing issuance and secondary trading of tokenized securities closer together.
21X obtained its infrastructure permit in December 2024 under the EU’s DLT pilot regime. That authorization allows the venue to operate a regulated market for blockchain-based securities within a controlled testing environment. Under this framework, market operators can trial DLT-based trading and settlement models while regulators observe how these systems interact with existing capital market rules.
The participation of crypto bank Amina highlights one of the central aims of the DLT pilot regime: integrating digital asset infrastructure with conventional financial market structures. Whether the involvement of a Swiss-regulated bank will significantly accelerate institutional use remains uncertain, but it offers a live test of how traditional and onchain systems can interoperate under EU supervision.
Interoperability and institutional adoption challenges
One of the main obstacles to broader institutional use of tokenized assets is fragmentation among platforms. In June, Baker McKenzie’s European Financial Services practice pointed to limited interoperability between tokenization systems as a major barrier to adoption. Zurich-based partner Yves Mauchle wrote that meaningful scale is only achievable when many market participants transact on shared or linked infrastructures.
The collaboration between crypto bank Amina, 21X and Tokeny is positioned against that backdrop. It seeks to connect a regulated bank to a regulated tokenization and trading stack, potentially reducing friction for institutions that want to issue or trade tokenized securities within an EU-compliant framework. However, the DLT pilot regime itself has drawn criticism from industry actors, who argue that its current constraints may limit the growth of European onchain markets and their ability to compete with other regions.
Introduced in 2023, the EU’s DLT framework functions as a sandbox. It permits controlled experimentation with blockchain-based trading and settlement of financial instruments while giving supervisors a clearer view of potential risks and operational impacts. Market participants have welcomed the structure but also warned that, without further legislative progress, Europe could struggle to keep pace with jurisdictions that move faster on digital asset regulation.
Tokenized real-world assets gain momentum
The move by crypto bank Amina comes amid a broader rise in tokenization projects across major financial centers. Institutions in the United States, including BNY, Nasdaq and S&P Global, recently backed the expansion of the Canton Network, a blockchain infrastructure initiative for tokenized assets. In Europe, 21X and other venues are testing how regulated markets for tokenized securities might function under the DLT pilot regime.
At the same time, several EU-regulated digital asset firms have pressed policymakers to move more quickly. In February, eight such companies called on European authorities to accelerate work on digital asset legislation, warning that the bloc risks trailing the United States and other regions in building out tokenized financial markets.
Despite these concerns, concrete steps are being taken:
- In September, crypto exchange Kraken introduced tokenized securities trading for European users via its xStocks platform, offering blockchain-based versions of US-listed equities.
- Two months later, tokenization platform Ondo secured regulatory approval in Liechtenstein to provide tokenized equities trading to investors in Europe.
These developments point to a steady buildup of tokenization infrastructure on both sides of the Atlantic, even as questions persist about long-term scalability, cross-border compatibility and regulatory alignment.
Conclusion
Crypto bank Amina’s entry onto 21X as a listing sponsor underscores an effort to link regulated banking activity with the EU’s experimental framework for blockchain-based securities markets. Working with Tokeny, the bank aims to help issuers access a DLT-regulated venue while remaining within established supervisory standards. The initiative unfolds amid growing investment in tokenized real-world assets globally, as well as ongoing debate in Europe over whether current rules and the DLT pilot regime are sufficient to support competitive, scalable onchain markets.
Disclaimer
The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. The article does not offer sufficient information to make investment decisions, nor does it constitute an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to buy or sell any financial instrument. The content is opinion of the author and does not reflect any view or suggestion or any kind of advise from cryptonewsbytes.com. The author declares he does not hold any of the above mentioned tokens or received any incentive from any company.
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