AFME’s Inaugural Report Highlights Rapid Growth and Opportunities in DLT Capital Markets

AFME’s Inaugural Report Highlights Rapid Growth and Opportunities in DLT Capital Markets

(IN BRIEF) The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published its inaugural Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Capital Market report, offering valuable insights into the global market’s growth in DLT issuance and related secondary market activities. The report highlights a 260% increase in fixed income issuance using DLT, totaling €3 billion in 2024. While Europe and Asia led issuance, significant contributions came from the European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank’s DLT trials. The report also details the size of the tokenized fund industry and other asset markets. Julio Suarez, Head of Research at AFME, emphasized the opportunities for future expansion as DLT-based securities issuance continues to grow.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 10-Feb-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has unveiled its first-ever Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Capital Market report, providing an in-depth analysis of the growing global market for DLT issuance and related secondary market activities. The report, which will be published semi-annually, is designed to fill a critical data gap by offering timely insights into the development of DLT-based capital market activities, covering areas such as primary DLT fixed income markets, secondary markets, valuations, and repo transactions. It also provides a detailed look at the size of the tokenized fund industry and other tokenized asset markets.

Among the key findings, the report reveals that in 2024, €3 billion worth of fixed income instruments were issued using DLT, a significant increase of 260% from €848 million issued in 2023. However, the market remains relatively small compared to the overall size of fixed income markets. European and Asian issuers led the way, with €1.7 billion and €1.1 billion issued, respectively. The European issuance was notably driven by DLT trials conducted by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB), which together accounted for €1.8 billion of the total issuance. These trials included issuances by both European and US-based entities. Additionally, €483 million of the total issued amount was in the form of green DLT bonds, making up 16% of the total DLT fixed income issued in 2024.

Julio Suarez, Head of Research at AFME, commented on the report’s significance: “We are excited to introduce our DLT Capital Market Report as part of our ongoing efforts to provide valuable data that supports and promotes wholesale capital markets in Europe. While DLT adoption in capital markets is still limited compared to the size of the global market, its rapid growth and the emergence of new market participants and product offerings present exciting opportunities for expansion.”

He further added, “The growth of DLT-based securities issuance is inevitable, and we are proud to be the first European association to consistently produce data on this evolving asset class.”

Media Contact:

Rebecca O’Neill
Head of Communications and Marketing (Interim)
rebecca.oneill@afme.eu
+44 (0) 7386 658 525

SOURCE: AFME