Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the editorial staff at crypto.news.
Participants Tim Bailey, VP of Global Business & Operations at Red Date Technology, William Quigley, a prominent cryptocurrency and blockchain investor, and co-founder of Wax and Tether, and Selva Ozelli, were privileged to take part in the Eurasia Blockchain Summit. They participated in a panel discussion on the “Future of Tokenization.”
Tim Bailey emphasized that while tokenization is still in its early stages, Red Date Technology is among the architects of a new global digital infrastructure for digital payments and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Currently, 134 countries and currency unions, representing 98% of global GDP, are exploring a CBDC that will tokenize the global financial and banking systems. Three countries have already fully launched a CBDC—the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria.
Red Date Technology is the technical architect of various products, including a blockchain-based service network (BSN) and a universal digital payments network (UDPN). The UDPN is a global messaging network supporting government-regulated digital currency systems involving regulated digital currencies, stablecoins, and CBDCs. Bailey stated, “Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN) has successfully launched an All-in-One Digital Currency Sandbox that empowers central and commercial banks to test and build innovative use cases with all forms of regulated digital currencies in a real environment.”
The UPDN team collaborates with organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Switzerland’s Central Bank, Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Project Guardian, and the Bank for International Settlements Project Agorá to enhance the functioning of wholesale cross-border payments and explore how tokenization can benefit the global economy.
William Quigley recognized the potential of tokenization in 2014 when he co-founded the world’s first and most traded stablecoin, Tether. He foresaw how tokenization could revolutionize digital asset trading, including NFTs, and other assets such as stocks and bonds. He also highlighted the potential for NFTs in unlocking value and creating new markets. With this vision, he built WAX.io in 2017 to cater to the demands of blockchain gamers and NFT collectors.
Both Bailey and Quigley agree that the tokenization of the global financial system is the future. They noted that world regulators have been working together to design a digital asset legal framework to ensure similar laws apply in all jurisdictions. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development approved the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) in August 2022, which provides for the standardized reporting of tax information on transactions in crypto assets via CRS, with a view to automatically exchanging such information. The Financial Action Task Force issued money laundering standards on virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in 2019.
They also discussed the latest on US digital asset regulation, highlighting the bankruptcy of FTX as a watershed moment that led to increasing scrutiny and calls for regulation. The digital asset industry is encouraging House leaders to support The Financial Innovation and Technology (FIT) for the 21st Century Act (HR 4763) legislation to establish a US regulatory regime for digital assets. The bill suggests splitting digital asset oversight duties between the SEC and the CFTC and contains provisions for the regulation of stablecoin and protection for whistleblowers.
The IRS has also issued the draft Form 1099-DA, which will be used by digital asset brokers to report digital asset transactions next year. It includes data such as the digital asset acquisition date, cost basis, date and time of the transaction, sales proceeds, and gross proceeds, similar to the data reported for other financial instruments. They also noted that gains from digital asset collectible NFTs are taxed at a 28% rate.