The future of financial markets undoubtedly belongs onchain. Reinforcing this exciting vision, ESMA recently issued a comprehensive report concerning the EU DLT Pilot Regime. In it, the authority advises substantial adjustments intended to increase engagement across onchain securities markets.

To achieve this broader participation, the report outlines several central recommendations. A major proposal is to establish the framework on a permanent basis by eliminating the six-year license expiration. Furthermore, ESMA recommends elevating the existing thresholds to facilitate easier access and widening the variety of permitted asset classes to cover more complex financial instruments.

At this moment, 3 infrastructures have successfully secured authorization under this framework, specifically 360X, 21X, and CSD Prague, while several others are currently awaiting approval. In alignment with these industry advancements, we are teaming up closely with our partner NPEX to help them acquire their DLT-TSS license. This vital step will open the door for regulated securities to be issued natively onchain utilizing Dusk.

Another prominent point in the ESMA publication is the recognition of atomic delivery-versus-payment as a fundamental capability of distributed ledger technology. This concept aligns flawlessly with the core purpose of the Dusk settlement layer. The system is specifically engineered to offer deterministic, same-block finality, guaranteeing that both halves of a trade are completed together in one transaction or not executed at all.