Tokenization Weekly - No. 38

Welcome to our weekly newsletter from on Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization! We bring you the latest news, trends, and insights from the past week. Let's dive in!

1. ?? Hong Kong launches Project Ensemble sandbox for wCBDC and tokenization. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) launched the Project Ensemble Sandbox to support institutional experimentation with tokenization, both traditional securities and real-world assets (RWA). The initiative also involves an experimental wholesale CBDC (wCBDC) to enable interbank settlement between the tokenized deposits of banks, with participation from major banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered.

2. ?? OpenSea receives SEC Wells Notice over NFTs being securities, CEO warns of potential impact on industry creators and artists. On Wednesday, the SEC issued a Wells Notice to OpenSea, signaling potential enforcement action against the NFT marketplace. CEO Devin Finzer announced the news on X, stating that the SEC believes NFTs on its platform are securities. Finzer warned that targeting NFTs could stifle innovation, putting "hundreds of thousands of online artists and creatives at risk." OpenSea plans to challenge the notice and has pledged $5 million to support NFT creators and developers who also receive a Wells Notice.

3. ?? Franklin Templeton expands FOBXX OnChain U.S. Government Money Market Fund to the Avalanche network. Global asset manager Franklin Templeton has expanded its Franklin Templeton OnChain U.S. Government Money Market Fund (FOBXX) to include the Avalanche network. Launched in 2021, FOBXX is the first U.S. mutual fund to leverage a public blockchain for transaction processing and share ownership recording. Now available on Stellar, Polygon, Arbitrum, and Avalanche, FOBXX manages about $430 million in assets, making it the second-largest tokenized treasury fund, behind BlackRock's BUIDL.

4. ?? Nasdaq aims to launch Bitcoin Index Options with CF Benchmarks, following similar move by the NYSE. Nasdaq is seeking regulatory approval to introduce Nasdaq Bitcoin Index Options (XBTX), developed with CF Benchmarks. These options would track the CME CF Bitcoin Real-Time Index (BRTI) from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Approval would enable investors to hedge and manage Bitcoin positions using options that reflect the BRTI. If authorized, these would be the first crypto derivatives cleared by the U.S. Options Clearing Corporation.

5. ?? Telegram financial statement shows it holds $400 million in crypto. The messaging app had about four million premium users at the end of 2023.