11 July 2023

Digital Assets and Blockchain: 2023 Key Trends

2023 has been a defining year for digital assets and blockchain, with a number of jurisdictions publishing new regulatory frameworks, cementing the importance of digital assets and blockchain into legislation.

  

    As the digital assets and blockchain industry moves into a new phase, following the turmoil we have seen over the last year, we are seeing a consolidation of the market with an influx of traditional finance firms entering into the fold.

    Whilst many of the regulatory discussions from last year have carried on into this year, focussing on investor protection and stimulating growth, there have been some new trends that policy makers, regulators, industry and practitioners need to look out for.

    One such trend, is digital trust – a topic of keen interest for our Digital Assets and Blockchain Practice. It is a trend that we see come up in a number of conversations and one that we think is imperative to achieving widespread adoption of digital assets and blockchain. We have not listed it as a topic in itself, as it applies across a number of trends, for example: custody, financial market infrastructure and market surveillance to name a few. But we are sure 
    that 2023 will see the discussion in digital trust grow in its own right.

    In this publication, we set out our top 10 digital assets and blockchain trends that we are seeing this year:

    1. Custody of digital assets 
    2. DLT financial markets infrastructure / Digital Bonds 
    3. Tokenisation / Security Tokens 
    4. DeFi 
    5. ESG 
    6. AML and Sanctions 
    7. Stablecoins / CBDCs 
    8. NFTs 
    9. Market surveillance 
    10. Tax

    Authored by Sharon Lewis, John Salmon, Elizabeth Boison, Andrew McGinty, Leopold von Gerlach, Bryony Widdup, Luke Grubb, and Lavan Thasarathakumar.