European Digital Ledger Technology (DLT) Pilot Regime inaugurates primary market activities from the 21st iteration.
The 21X trading and settlement venue is now operational, marking a significant milestone as the EU's first fully regulated distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform under the EU's DLT Pilot Regime. The platform secured its license in December 2024 and commenced primary market operations on May 20, 2025. The secondary market, which enables peer-to-peer trading and settlement of tokenized financial instruments, is set to launch soon[1].
Key features of 21X include:
- Regulation: Operating under the EU DLT Pilot Regime, ensuring a secure and compliant environment for digital securities.
- Technology: Utilizing blockchain/DLT technology for seamless, atomic settlement and smart contract-enabled trading.
- Assets: Supporting tokenized equities, bonds, and funds, enabling on-chain issuance and trading.
- Market Access: Attracting a wide network of institutional participants, including banks, brokers, asset managers, custodians, and fintech firms.
- Ecosystem Support: Partnering with listing sponsors like Particula, facilitating regulatory and technical onboarding for issuers, promoting institutional adoption of tokenized finance.
- Location and Ownership: Based in Frankfurt, Germany, and operating as a subsidiary of Bank Frick[1][2].
This DLT trading venue represents a significant advancement in European capital markets, integrating blockchain technology to enhance efficiency, transparency, and security in trading and post-trade processes.
In addition to its primary market operations, 21X has formed strategic partnerships with various entities in the run-up to its launch. These include ABN AMRO, APEX, Tether-backed Quantoz, and blockchain platform Dusk, serving as a trade participant[1][2]. However, further details about the nature of these relationships have not been disclosed.
21X is also involved in trials with ABN AMRO, although specifics regarding these trials have not been made public. The platform is backed by the Ireland-registered UBS (Irl) Select Money Market Fund, which has a total issuance of over $10 billion across all share classes[1].
At this stage, 21X is open only to institutional and professional investors. The law allows direct access to the platform by retail investors, whereas conventional trading venues require brokers[1]. Max Heinzle, founder and CEO of 21X, has stated that they plan to list a range of tokenized assets on the platform[1].
The US Money-Black Manta USD Short Term Yield (USMO) will be listed and available for issuance and redemption via 21X. Singapore's SBI Digital Markets takes on the role of tokenization and distribution in Asia for USMO. MiFiD regulated broker Black Manta Capital Partners is the issuer and performs the securitization for USMO[1].
[1] Source: 21X Press Release, May 20, 2025 [2] Source: 21X Investor Relations, May 20, 2025
- The 21X trading and settlement venue, an operational DLT platform under the EU's DLT Pilot Regime, plans to list a range of tokenized assets, as announced by Max Heinzle, the CEO of 21X.
- The US Money-Black Manta USD Short Term Yield (USMO) will be made available for issuance and redemption via the 21X platform, with Singapore's SBI Digital Markets handling tokenization and distribution for USMO in Asia.
- The 21X platform is intended to support various tokenized financial instruments, including equities, bonds, funds, and stablecoins, enabling on-chain issuance and trading, as key features of the venue.
- Despite initially being open only to institutional and professional investors, 21X, operating under the EU DLT Pilot Regime, aims to integrate blockchain technology to enhance efficiency, transparency, and security in retail finance as well, as per regulatory norms.
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