The Hashgraph Association, a nonprofit organization building ecosystems using Hedera Hashgraph’s decentralized ledger technology, has partnered with digital asset infrastructure provider Taurus.
The collaboration aims to enable secure custody, staking and tokenization of Hedera’s (HBAR) cryptocurrency and other assets for financial institutions, making the ecosystem more accessible to banks and enterprises globally.
Kamal Youssefi, president of the Hashgraph Association, told Cointelegraph that the digital assets in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa are booming.
“Europe has taken the lead on this with MiCA providing clear guidelines for digital assets in the region — eliminating any regulatory uncertainty that can come with markets like the US,“ he said.
Related: Hashgraph Association to explore digital asset use cases with Qatar stakeholders
Hedera’s push into key global markets
The partnership’s focus on Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa stems from a regulatory perspective, but from an institutional standpoint, Youssefi said that it instills “more confidence to invest in the ecosystem.”
“We want individuals and corporations alike to confidently engage with the Hedera ecosystem, something we know we can ensure against the regulatory backdrop of these regions,” he said. “Partnerships like this benefit both parties in making their presence known in these regions.”
Lamine Brahimi, co-founder and managing partner of Taurus, told Cointelegraph that the partnership aims to expand into these regions “where regulatory frameworks have been clarified or are on the verge of being established.”
Related: Hedera contributes entire codebase to Linux Foundation
Tokenization challenges
Tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) introduces onchain and offchain challenges, which Youssefi said requires balancing to maintain consistency for this “extremely complex” process:
“Underdeveloped regulatory frameworks and global fragmentation of regulation is a big risk associated with tokenizing RWAs, not just with Hedera but on any distributed ledger technology (DLT) or blockchain, which can give rise to questions about ownership and legal protections.”
Youssefi said that the team is managing risk for investors and “collaborating with other stakeholders in the space” to support the development of frameworks that overcome the technological challenges associated with asset tokenization.
Related: Taurus, Chainlink collaborate to facilitate institutional tokenization
Hashgraph Association explores Qatar’s digital asset potential
In September 2024, the Hashgraph Association said it would work with stakeholders in Qatar over the following 12 months to explore five digital asset use cases in the country.
The initiative would explore tokenized equities, real estate, “sukuk,” — an Islamic financial instrument similar to conventional bonds — and use cases surrounding sustainability, such as carbon credits.
Hashgraph also announced that it would include consumer engagement and loyalty programs to explore use cases in the country.
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