@Dusk #dusk $DUSK Amsterdam / Global — In 2025, blockchain infrastructure project Dusk announced a strategic partnership with licensed Dutch exchange NPEX and digital custody provider Cordial Systems to introduce institutional‑grade custody for real‑world assets (RWAs) on the Dusk blockchain — a milestone for regulated finance on chain.
What’s Being Built?
Under this collaboration:
NPEX, a regulated stock exchange operating a multilateral trading facility (MTF) in the Netherlands, will integrate its trading infrastructure with the Dusk blockchain to support the issuance, trading, and tokenization of regulated financial instruments.
Dusk — a Layer 1 privacy‑enhanced blockchain tailored for financial markets — is deploying institutional custody infrastructure called Dusk Vault, designed specifically for compliant digital asset holding by regulated entities.
Cordial Systems supplies its Cordial Treasury custody solution: a self‑hosted, zero‑trust wallet technology that enables institutions like NPEX to maintain full control over their digital asset infrastructure without relying on third‑party SaaS custodians.
The combined system supports primary and secondary market activities for tokenized assets while meeting the regulatory and operational standards required of traditional financial institutions.
Why This Matters for RWA Adoption
“Real‑World Assets” refers to traditional financial assets — such as bonds, securities, or funds — whose ownership rights are tokenized and managed on a blockchain. The institutional adoption of RWAs has been held back by custody challenges: regulators historically distrust custodial solutions where institutions do not maintain full control of their own asset keys or infrastructure.
By introducing zero‑trust custody (a security model where no system component is implicitly trusted), the Dusk/Cordial/NPEX stack aims to tackle these challenges head‑on, allowing institutions to hold, manage, and trade tokenized financial instruments in a compliant, auditable on‑chain environment.
Key Features of the Collaboration
Institutional control & compliance:
Cordial’s solution is self‑hosted and zero‑trust, giving institutions like NPEX full control of custody infrastructure — vital to satisfy regulatory requirements that often prohibit outsourcing custody to third‑party SaaS providers.
Dusk Vault:
This custody layer is described as tailored for financial institutions, supporting the secure, compliant storage of cryptocurrencies, tokenized securities, and commodities on the Dusk network.
Operational efficiency:
Integrating custody and post‑trade settlement on a blockchain promises to shorten onboarding times for institutions and streamline workflows between issuance, clearing, and secondary market trading.
Voices from the Industry
Mark van der Plas, CEO of NPEX, highlighted that Cordial’s technology makes integrating distributed ledger technology possible while maintaining regulatory compliance in a strict sector.
Nicolas Stalder, CEO of Cordial Systems, emphasized that regulated institutions need full control over custody technology and that the partnership demonstrates how zero‑trust custody can support blockchain‑based market infrastructure.
Emanuele Francioni, CEO of Dusk, noted that this collaboration bridges the gap between traditional finance and decentralised ledgers and enables institutions to serve customers with compliant, secure digital asset solutions.
What’s Next?
With the launch of custody services already in motion at NPEX and broader custody infrastructure being rolled out by Dusk and Cordial, the partnership is positioned as a foundational element of blockchain‑powered institutional market infrastructure in Europe.
As tokenization and on‑chain secondary markets continue to grow in 2025 and beyond, solutions that combine security, compliance, and institutional control — like the one deployed on Dusk — are expected to play a pivotal role in the future of regulated finance.
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