OM DENNE EPISODE
Everyone talks about the promise of tokenization. But in most emerging markets, the basic infrastructure doesn’t exist yet. There are no compliant issuance platforms, no secondary markets and no institutional-grade custody.
This week Lauren sits down with Nik, co-founder of VS1 Finance, an institutional real-world asset tokenization platform built on the XRP Ledger. VS1 serves the Caucasus, Middle East and Central Asia, and holds the region’s only regulator-approved tokenization license through the National Bank of Georgia’s sandbox. Nik and his team come from Scotiabank, Schroders, the World Bank, PwC and the National Bank of Georgia. Now they are building the capital markets rails the region never had.
Recording from Tbilisi on a Friday night covers:
- Why tokenization isn’t crypto, and why that distinction matters to traditional institutions
- How tokenized corporate bonds and debt funds work under the hood, using XRPL Multi-Purpose Tokens, built-in KYC, freeze and clawback
- Why VS1 chose the XRP Ledger: native compliance features, atomic settlement and no smart contract risk
- Building trust in markets where credibility takes time to earn
- The big unlock ahead: letting investors borrow stablecoins against their tokenized bonds through XRPL lending, without selling a position that pays them interest
- His advice for students and researchers who want to build in emerging markets
VS1 graduated from the UDAX FGV accelerator in Brazil this spring, has since been approved for an XRPL Grant, and will pitch on the Demo Day stage at SWELL in New York next week.
Follow VS1 Finance to keep up with their upcoming issuances.
