Standardisation in Digital Finance: The Role of Digital Token Identifier (DTI)
Standardisation is key to ensuring stability and fostering growth in the rapidly evolving digital finance landscape. One leader driving this change is Alexandre Kech, head of digital securities at SDX. Recently, SDX has made waves in the industry by adopting the Digital Token Identifier (DTI) ISO standard, a unique identifier for digital ledgers, tokens, and cryptocurrencies. In our exclusive interview with Alexandre, we delve into the significance of this adoption, the role of DTIs in the digital finance ecosystem, and Kech’s vision for the future of digital securities.
Embracing DTI Standard
SDX has embraced the DTI standard for several compelling reasons. Firstly, adhering to ISO and other pertinent standards aligns with their business practices, ensuring seamless integration with the traditional financial system and other stakeholders within the industry. Secondly, the DTI standard accommodates all fungible tokens, encompassing both native cryptocurrencies and digital securities. This allows for tokenization on multiple blockchains and identifies the blockchain of issuance on a technical level. Lastly, SDX’s endorsement of ISO standards provides assurance amid an uncertain blockchain landscape.
Ensuring Uniqueness and Integrity of DTIs
SDX takes steps to ensure the uniqueness and integrity of DTIs across different blockchain platforms. DTIs provide a standardized and consistent way of identifying and referencing digital tokens across platforms, systems, and jurisdictions. Each digital token is allocated a unique combination of alphanumeric characters based on verifiable technical data elements. Registration requests are verified to ensure the token’s eligibility for a DTI, non-duplication, and compliance with validation criteria. Once assigned, a DTI cannot be changed or modified.
DTIs and Industry Problems
The use of DTIs has transformed the cryptocurrency market by providing certainty in token transactions and reducing associated risks. Regulators also benefit from a global, technology-agnostic standard for identifying tokens, enabling insights into market impact, detecting market abuse, and facilitating effective regulation. Looking ahead, DTIs will play a crucial role in tokenizing assets, such as real estate and intellectual property rights, by establishing uniform identification for fractionalized portions of non-fungible tokens.
Future Developments and Collaboration
SDX’s adoption of DTI technology is just the beginning. Their upcoming milestone involves collaborating with the Swiss National Bank and members to initiate pilot wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (wCBDC) production transactions. SDX aims to set industry benchmarks and standards for seamless issuance of digital securities and currencies, shaping the future of capital markets and banking.
