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BitGo, ZKsync build tokenized deposit infrastructure to bring banks onchain

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Crypto custodian BitGo a potential acquisition target for Wall Street, analysts say

BitGo and ZKsync are teaming up to offer banks a full-stack infrastructure for tokenized deposits, as financial institutions look to bring traditional money onto blockchain rails without stepping outside regulatory boundaries.

The effort combines BitGo’s institutional custody and wallet services with ZKsync’s Prividium, a permissioned, privacy-preserving blockchain designed for regulated entities. The joint offering aims to enable banks to issue, transfer, and settle tokenized deposits while maintaining compliance and control.

The move reflects a growing trend among crypto infrastructure firms to court banks by packaging blockchain capabilities into compliance-friendly systems—sidestepping the need for institutions to build and manage complex onchain architecture themselves.

Tokenized deposits have emerged as a new trend for banks experimenting with blockchain-based payments. Unlike stablecoins, which typically sit outside the traditional banking system, tokenized deposits keep funds within it, potentially enabling programmable transactions without altering existing regulatory frameworks.

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ZKsync creator Matter Labs is positioning its Prividium network as a bridge between public blockchain innovation and institutional requirements such as privacy and permissioning. Matter Labs CEO Alex Gluchowski said in a press release that tokenized deposits represent “how banks bring money onchain without leaving the regulatory system.”

The companies said the combined stack is already being tested with regulated financial institutions, with broader production rollout targeted for later this year.

Read more: BitGo, Susquehanna Crypto offering institutional OTC access to prediction markets

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Crypto World

US Lawmakers Hold Hearing on Tokenized Real-World Assets

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SEC, United States, RWA, RWA Tokenization

Crypto industry executives on Wednesday told the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services that existing investor protections and financial surveillance regulations should apply to tokenized securities.

The hearing was held as legislators consider the Capital Markets Technology Modernization Act of 2026 and are exploring the impact of asset tokenization on capital markets and the “need to balance innovation with investor protection and market integrity,” according to a statement by panel chairman, Representative French Hill.

Tokenized real-world assets (RWA), traditional financial instruments represented by tokens on blockchain networks, reduce transaction costs and settlement times, Summer Mersinger, CEO of crypto advocacy organization Blockchain Association, told the committee.

“By replacing flawed manual record-keeping processes with more transparent timestamps and stamped records, tokenization lowers the cost and re-imagines US financial markets,” she said.  

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SEC, United States, RWA, RWA Tokenization
Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger outlines the benefits of RWA tokenization for US lawmakers. Source: GOP Financial Services Committee

Mersinger and the other witnesses agreed that existing securities laws apply to tokenized instruments, arguing that the technology and the medium used to record securities transactions do not fundamentally alter investor protection laws or jurisdictional oversight.

Supporters of RWA tokenization contend the technology removes intermediaries from the settlement and clearing process, reducing transaction costs and improving capital velocity by introducing near-instant settlement times. 

AML provisions and sanctions compliance remain lawmaker priority

Lawmakers questioned the panel about how tokenized asset issuers and platforms could enforce know-your-customer (KYC) checks, anti-money laundering provisions, and sanctions compliance.

Illinois Representative Bill Foster asked: “Once things are tokenized, are they going to be treated on a private, permissioned blockchain, or a variety of public blockchains, which often allow anonymous participation through self-hosted wallets?” 

SEC, United States, RWA, RWA Tokenization
Representative Bill Foster questions the panel about anti-money laundering provisions and financial surveillance techniques. Source: GOP Financial Services Committee

John Zecca, Nasdaq executive vice president and global chief legal, risk, and regulatory officer, told Foster that the exchange can collect KYC information at the protocol level because its system runs on a permissioned blockchain network.

Christian Sabella, managing director and deputy general counsel of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the world’s largest clearinghouse company, said it was also possible to embed identifying information at the token level.

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These identifiers would be immutable and would remain regardless of whether the RWA token was trading on a permissioned or a permissionless network, Sabella added. 

SEC, United States, RWA, RWA Tokenization
DTCC executive Christian Sabella explains how RWA tokens could be surveilled. Source: GOP Financial Services Committee

Salman Banaei, general counsel for Plume Network, a permissionless RWA-focused blockchain, said the network embeds anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions compliance checks at the token level, which allows tokens to be frozen.

However, Banaei told Foster that government regulators do not yet have a technological solution to identify wash trades or identify market participants with 100% confidence.

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