Tradeweb
Chris Bruner
April 2026
Chris Bruner, chief product officer at Tradeweb, discusses how digital infrastructure, regulatory clarity, and institutional engagement are converging to modernise fixed income markets, from issuance and settlement to liquidity and post-trade efficiency
Image: Tradeweb
Tokenisation in fixed income has been discussed for years. What has changed to make this moment different, and why are we now seeing real infrastructure rather than just pilot testing?
The shift from pilots to production really comes down to a few things finally lining up.
Regulatory clarity is improving, institutional engagement in digital assets is accelerating, and core market infrastructure is starting to adapt in a cohesive way.
At the same time, traditional markets are already moving toward extended hours and more automated workflows, narrowing the gap between digital and conventional asset classes.
Our recent investment in Crossover Markets is a reflection of that. It’s not about chasing crypto as a new asset class — it’s about being part of a broader shift in how liquidity is accessed and markets operate.
Tokenisation is starting to be viewed less as a new layer and more as an upgrade to how markets function, particularly around settlement, connectivity, and operational resilience. The question now isn’t if institutions will participate, but how market structure adapts as adoption scales.
Tradeweb recently supported a tokenised intraday gilt repo executed onchain and a fully electronic CD auction recorded onchain. What do these milestones show about the practical benefits of tokenisation today in retail and institutional markets?
These examples show that tokenisation is moving into real workflows — not just pilots. What matters for institutions is still the same: liquidity access, pricing transparency, risk controls, and post-trade certainty. In both cases, the goal wasn’t to change how prices are formed, but to modernise issuance, settlement, and post-trade processes.
Executing a fully electronic certificate of deposit (CD) auction and supporting tokenised repo flows demonstrates tangible gains: faster processing, more automation and greater operational certainty.
Those are benefits that institutions can already see today, with potential to expand into broader distribution models over time.
How could tokenisation reshape liquidity in fixed income, particularly in more fragmented or less transparent markets?
Tokenisation is unlikely to transform liquidity dynamics overnight.
But by reducing friction and improving how collateral moves, it can make liquidity more efficient over time.
In more fragmented markets, interoperability will be critical — connecting tokenised and traditional assets rather than creating siloes.
Platforms that already aggregate liquidity, like Tradeweb, will play an important role in keeping markets connected and avoiding further fragmentation.
How can tokenised infrastructure modernise settlement and post-trade workflows, and what impact could that have on cost and risk?
Tokenised infrastructure can reduce manual intervention, shorten settlement timelines, and automate workflows through smart contracts.
For institutional markets, the real opportunity is improving efficiency and reducing risk without compromising the governance and resilience standards that already exist.
Tradeweb’s focus has been on that infrastructure layer — tokenisation, blockchain experimentation, and partnerships — because that’s where the most immediate value is.
What forms of digital cash are being used in tokenised repo flows today, and how do you see this evolving across different payment systems, including stablecoins, bank deposit tokens, and CBDCs? What will ultimately drive client choice?
Today’s tokenised repo flows are experimenting with different forms of digital cash — including stablecoins and bank-issued deposit tokens — while central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) remain a more long-term possibility.
Institutional adoption will ultimately depend on things like regulatory clarity, balance sheet treatment, and interoperability.
In practice, client choice will likely be driven less by preference for a specific form of money and more by capital efficiency, settlement certainty, and how well this type of digital cash fits into existing treasury and collateral frameworks.
What needs to happen next — across regulation, technology, and market structure — to support more efficient, always-on capital markets?
Sustained progress will require continued regulatory alignment, standardisation, and institutional-grade connectivity.
Market structure tends to evolve before full market maturity, through better transparency, liquidity formation, and post-trade certainty.
As traditional markets extend hours and digital assets already operate 24/7, the focus needs to be on interoperability and resilience.
Ultimately, infrastructure drives participation, and participation drives liquidity.
How quickly we move toward more continuous, efficient markets will depend on how cohesive that progress is across the industry.
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