First regulated tokenization announced by Seychelles securities exchange firm

The practice of tokenization of digital assets has been around for some time and Seychelles’ MERJ Exchange Ltd. may be the first company to bring it to the mainstream, regulated market. The firm just revealed that it plans to list actual security tokens on the market, which will then be subject to regulations. The focus will largely be in the regions around the Indian Ocean, but it could hit wider shores later on.

As of now, there are no specific dates as to when these listings would go live, Bloomberg reports. The only details that are found on its website are that it will be launching the initiative “soon.” This could then be a matter of weeks or a matter of years.

“MERJ is soon to launch its Digital Assets and Security Token markets along with the opportunity to invest in MERJ EXCHANGE,” the website description reads.

The actual process will be handled by MERJ Exchange Ltd. On Tuesday, its CEO Edmond Tuohy noted how decentralization and tokenized assets are the future.

“We truly believe this technology will be one of the key steps toward democratizing access to global access to the capital markets,” he said.

This makes sense since blockchain, the technology in which tokenized assets are based on, offers significantly more access to information and transparency for all parties involved. This removes many of the red tapes that usually come with security exchanges, which are actually there for good reason. Using blockchain, tokenized asset transfers become safer and faster to do compared to more traditional methods.

As of now, tokenization is still a nascent field and regulators have essentially been unable to keep up with the rapid changes to come up with definitive legislation. MERJ Exchange Ltd. has been in the securities exchange business since 2013, The Block reports. Its success in listing tokenized assets would be a game changer.