It’s the day before the Point Zero Forum officially starts and Zurich is gearing up for the arrival of thousands of delegates. Many of them have already turned up on Monday where there are multiple activities that they can participate in. One of those activities is the Alpine Tech Forum which takes place right in the heart of Zurich.
It was the fifth edition of the Alpine Tech Forum and the venue, a newly opened coworking space, was packed. The event was led by Alexander Brunner, President at Home of Blockchain.swiss, who opened the debate by quoting a leading blockchain company in the U.S.:
“There is a blockchain company that onboard the FBI, that onboard the U.S. secret services. It works directly with the Department of Justice; it doesn’t wait for court orders to act and has a direct connection with law enforcement. Do you know which blockchain company I am referring to?”
It was a refreshing way to start the debate, especially as Chainalysis, the firm that you might think Alexander was referring to, does indeed work closely with the U.S. Department of Justice. He was actually talking about Tether though. Tether’s CEO Paolo Ardoino was quoted by the FT, saying how closely the team behind the cryptocurrency is working with the U.S. government today.
Agentic AI – What you Need to Know
Several panels followed from Alexander’s opening gambit. One of them was about “how agentic AI is driving an efficiency revolution.” Julian Jobstreibitzer, Regional Vice President at UiPath, spoke about how to train AI to give the best customer service possible, whilst keeping an eye on compliance, as there is a lot of fraud. He pointed to insurance as a sector that suffers from fraud, especially when it comes to claims.
“You have to have a framework where all these agents act according to regulations,” Julian shared, adding how this is the challenge that many of the clients of UiPath are facing today.
When it comes to customer service, Julian explained how whether it’s a human or its an AI agent, both need substantial training. But, with AI agents, there is no staff turnover, unlike with human agents. He shared how AI agents can be trained on the customer experience, and how this can lead to a tailored approach to customers. Highlighting a further issue, which is “how well do we know our customers?”
AI agents should not just be trained to keep in line with the rules, but to also focus on giving as good a customer experience as possible, ideally tailored to that customer.
From DLT and Stablecoins to Debt Markets
A few panels, and a keynote speech later, the talk turned to digital assets. The charismatic Elise Soucie Watts took to the stage with four panellists. Elise is an Executive Director at Global Digital Finance, she is also speaking at the Point Zero Forum this week as well as being an ambassador to the main Point Zero Forum event. Her panel was equally impressive.
One of the panellists caught the imagination of the audience, Max Heinzle, Founder and CEO at 21X based out of Frankfurt in Germany. Max and his team at 21X were among the first to apply for a DLT Trading and Settlement System (TSS) license under the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime. They are a true disruptor in capital markets, and Max’s talk during the panel didn’t disappoint.
Elise and the panellists explored how MiCA had provided a strong framework for digital assets. How countries and regions across the world would be watching the space to learn from Europe.
Max is adept at pushing boundaries in heavily regulated industries. Elise brought him into the discussion by reminding the audience how the SEC’s Hester Peirce had once suggested that more cross-border pilot projects like the EU’s DLT pilot regime were necessary. How with the UK’s digital securities sandbox, these topics were becoming more and more relevant. Elise asked Max to explain why he chose to get excited in the EU’s pilot regime, and what it was about this project that had made him get involved.
How 21X Became a Major Pioneer in the EU’s push for Blockchain Solutions
Max is like many founders of startups disrupting capital markets today. He wears a suit and knows everything about how markets work, but he also knows all about the tech. Max extolled how he saw in the EU pilot the potential to revolutionize capital markets and leverage what blockchain can bring to the equation.
Max recognized how the Swiss had been pioneers in this space, but he was also keen to share several examples with the audience too. He started by explaining how the team at 21X had worked closely with the ECB, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), and national banks and regulators. How this exploratory process by leading European bodies had been a huge challenge to meet. He explained how this 18-month rigorous process had led to 21X obtaining 17 exemptions from central securities depository regulation in Europe.
Max believes that the first step to achieve change in how capital markets work is to tokenize securities. Today, if someone wants to register a security, 21X are authorized to do this on a public blockchain.
Max added how his team had achieved instant clearing, and how anybody can now access capital markets thanks to what has been done by the team at 21X. It is also a product that can be self-custodied and doesn’t need an intermediary. This is what led him and his team to go for the DLT TSS license.
“For the first time in the history of capital markets, the regulator has allowed us to combine matching trading and settlement system in a single entity,” Max explained. “Additionally, a brokerage commission can be combined with that, as well as allowing us to offer custody services (which we don’t need to).”
Having this one DLT TSS license gives you a lot more opportunity than you would have had in the past.
It’s not quite the finished article yet, Max warned. There are still some product restrictions in the context of products that are admissible to trading. Some of the instruments that institutional clients would like to see unlocked are structured products. He also sees big developments in alternative investment funds – private equity and private debt.
Most importantly, Max believes that the EU’s DLT regime is here to stay. It’s not just his opinion, leading figures in the EU have reiterated that the DLT pilot regime will be with us for the foreseeable future.
Can European startups continue to play a big role in disrupting capital markets? The Point Zero Forum is just getting going. Perhaps the next few days will reveal more disruption than we thought.
Author: Andy Samu
See Also:
The EU’s DLT pilot regime has gone live: what does it mean for banks? | Disruption Banking
ECB partners with private sector through digital euro innovation platform | Disruption Banking
