SmarterMarkets™

We close out the year on SmarterMarkets™ with Part One of our Holiday Special 2025: The Year in Review.   2025 has been a big year full of big months here at Abaxx and at SmarterMarkets™, and we’re closing out 2025 by revisiting the conversations with our guests that helped us understand and articulate the themes that would come to define the year.    2025 was the year in which we discovered that this was not the energy transition that we were expecting; and the year in which a new geopolitical reality emerged and old geopolitical concerns resurfaced. It was the year featuring a tale of two carbon markets and the need for new weather markets to manage the risks posed by reliance on renewable power. And 2025 was the year in which there was both a new gold rush and a rush into tokenization.   We hope you’ll sit back, relax, and enjoy Part One of our Holiday Special 2025: The Year in Review.   Our guests in order of appearance:   Andy Home – Senior Metals Columnist, Thomson Reuters SM213 – 1.18.2025 – The State of Play in Battery Metals   Andrea Hotter – Special Correspondent, Fastmarkets SM214 – 1.25.2025 – The State of Play in Battery Metals   Peter Zaman – Partner, HFW Singapore SM218 – 2.22.2025 – Carbon Frontiers 2025   Nobuo Tanaka – Executive Director Emeritus, International Energy Agency (IEA) SM246 – 8.30.2025 – Summer Playlist 2025   Helima Croft – Managing Director & Global Head of Commodity Strategy, RBC Capital Markets SM245 – 8.23.2025 – Summer Playlist 2025   Dave Ernsberger & Mark Eramo – Co-Presidents, S&P Global Commodity Insights SM251 – 10.4.2025 – Catching Up On Climate   Rene Velasquez – Managing Partner, Valitera SM219 – 3.1.2025 – Carbon Frontiers 2025   Mark Lewis – Partner & Managing Director, Climate Finance Partners LLC and Former Head of Research, Andurand Capital SM216 – 2.8.2025 – Carbon Frontiers 2025   Hannah Hauman – Global Head of Carbon Trading, Trafigura SM250 – 9.27.2025 – Catching Up On Climate   Theresa Kammel & Pierre Buisson – Originator & Senior Structurer, Weather & Agro Zurich, Munich Re SM241 – 7.26.2025 – Summer Playlist 2025  

Walt Lukken, President & CEO of the FIA and former Acting Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, dives into the exciting world of tokenization in cleared derivatives. He shares insights on why it's gaining traction, the potential for 24/7 cash movement, and how tokenization could streamline settlement processes. Walt discusses the regulatory landscape for stablecoins and suggests money market funds as early candidates for tokenization. He emphasizes the importance of international standards and the transformative analogy to electronic trading.

Leah Wald, Digital Title Lead at Abaxx Technologies, shares her unique journey from founding Valkyrie Investments to navigating DeFi and traditional finance. She discusses the challenges and promises of tokenization, particularly in light of past failures. Leah highlights Abaxx's innovative approach to digital title transfers, enabling instant ownership with retained yield. The conversation dives into regulatory shifts, the complexities of money market fund tokenization, and how these concepts will reshape market structures. It's an insightful look at the future of finance!

In this discussion, Christopher Jensen, Portfolio Manager at Franklin Templeton, shares insights into the future of tokenization with their Benji platform for money market shares. He delves into the intricacies of making blockchain a reliable ownership record and the regulatory challenges faced in getting security token approval. Jensen contrasts Benji with stablecoins, highlights the importance of KYC in onboarding, and explores how on-chain assets could revolutionize wealth management. He also offers advice for investors entering the crypto space and discusses the dual strategy of building tokenized products while researching digital assets.

Julian Kwan, CEO of IXS and InvestaX, delves into the world of blockchain tokenization, sharing his journey from launching real estate crowdfunding in Asia to navigating the challenges of tokenizing real assets. He highlights the regulatory landscape in Singapore and contrasts TradFi with crypto perspectives. Kwan discusses the rising popularity of tokenized treasuries and the need for robust infrastructure in this space. He also predicts that tokenization will increasingly merge with DeFi, paving the way for innovative financial applications.

We continue our Re-engineering Tokenization series this week with Riley Hughes, Co-Founder & CEO at Trinsic. David Greely sits down with Riley to discuss how digital IDs are being used today; the need for a visa-like network for identity in order to move digital IDs more into the mainstream; and the opportunities that a wallet full of digital IDs and attestations will create for a future of more secure, private, and trusted digital interactions.

Carrie Jaquith, the Global Head of Digital Product at Abaxx Technologies, shares her expertise in digital title and tokenization. She discusses the essential factors for institutional tech adoption, emphasizing interoperability and auditability. Carrie explains the importance of fitting new tools into existing workflows without disruption. She advocates for augmenting PDFs with advanced features for trust and privacy, while also highlighting the role of humans in monitoring AI outputs during financial operations. Her insights guide a thoughtful approach to evolving technology.

In this engaging discussion, Peter Zaman, a Partner at HFW Singapore with a rich background in commodities and tokenization, dives deep into the mechanics of transforming real-world assets. He highlights the differences between physical and dematerialized commodities and explains why gatekeepers are crucial in trading. Peter also explores the democratization of access through fractionalization and clarifies how legal frameworks enable fractional ownership. Regulatory challenges, especially those related to public tokenized commodities, also take center stage in this enlightening conversation.

Phil Zimmermann, creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) and a visionary in cryptography, dives into the crucial balance between technology and privacy. He reflects on his early passion for codes and the evolution of public key cryptography. Phil discusses the pros and cons of centralized vs. decentralized trust models, warning about the risks of endpoint compromise and the government’s historical stance on encryption. With insights into the threats posed by surveillance and the importance of end-to-end encryption, he advocates for vigilant democracy in the digital age.

Ian Forester, Head of Product at Abaxx Technologies, dives deep into the fascinating world of tokenization and decentralized identity. He clarifies the distinction between digitization and tokenization while emphasizing the crucial role of cryptography. Discussion highlights include the limitations of current digital identity models, the power of decentralized identifiers, and how cryptographic signatures ensure authenticity and non-repudiation in transactions. Ian also explores privacy solutions like selective disclosure, aiming for a future of personal property and market integrity free from centralized control.