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Author: Zhang Feng
According to media reports, Nasdaq Inc. is applying to regulators to be allowed to allow investors to buy and sell tokenized versions of stocks in its globally renowned exchange hall.This is not a simple product launch, but a strong signal that an undercurrent revolution is moving from the edge to the center – the wave of stock tokenization is no longer satisfied with edge testing, and has begun to hit the door of traditional exchanges strongly, asking them to make a historic response.
This event reflects the grand future picture of technology and finance entanglement, shape and accelerate integration.The huge opportunities in the future are deeply embedded in the surging momentum of the two forces of technology finance (Tech-Fin) and Fin-Tech) and their ultimate deep integration.
1. Background: The wave of tokenization hits the door of traditional exchanges
Nasdaq’s actions are by no means an isolated incident.It is a strategic response from traditional finance (TradFi) to the growing challenges and temptations from the crypto assets and blockchain world.Tokenization—transforming the rights of real-world assets (RWA) into programmable and efficient digital tokens on blockchain—has long gone beyond the “proof of concept” stage.From US Treasury bonds, money market funds to real estate and artworks, the tokenization practice of assets is in full swing.BlackRock’s US dollar institution digital liquidity fund (BUIDL) has rapidly developed into the largest tokenized treasury bond fund in just a few months, which is a proof of its success.
Behind this wave is the fundamental efficiency improvement brought by blockchain technology: it promises to achieve near-real-time clearing and settlement (T+0 or even instant), significantly reduce the cost and complexity of cross-border transactions, realize automated compliance and asset services through smart contracts, and create a 7×24-hour uninterrupted global liquidity pool.When these advantages are verified in marginal markets, their edge will inevitably point to the stock exchange, the core of the modern financial system.Nasdaq, as a long-term embrace of technological innovation, is keenly aware that if it cannot actively incorporate this force into the regulatory framework and guide and utilize it, it may be at risk of being subverted.Its application is an active self-evolution, aiming to transform the “destructive innovation” brought about by tokenization into “constructive innovation”, and while defending its core position, it opens up a new era.
2. Deepening: The comprehensive technological transformation of traditional financial institutions is inevitable
Nasdaq’s actions are just the tip of the iceberg.It reveals a more grand and irreversible trend: the all-round and deep technological transformation of traditional financial institutions is no longer an “optional” but a “must-have option”.This law is sweeping the entire financial ecosystem:
Stock Exchange: Not only Nasdaq, but many exchanges around the world are exploring blockchain technology in order to reshape the entire process of listing, trading, clearing and settlement.The future exchange may evolve into a hybrid, multi-asset digital platform that processes traditional securities and multiple asset tokens simultaneously.
Brokerage and Investment Banking: We are actively integrating AI-driven investment advisory services, using big data for precise customer portraits and risk pricing, and exploring the provision of digital asset trading and custody services for customers.Their business model is evolving from a “transaction executor” to a “tech-enabled wealth management platform.”
Trust and Custody Bank: This field, which has always been conservative, is facing the most severe challenges.Traditional asset custody methods cannot adapt to the needs of digital native assets.Therefore, digital custody solutions—safely store private keys of cryptocurrencies and token assets—have become a strategic location for major custodial banks (such as BNY Mellon, State Street).
Insurance and lending: Although the models such as “point-to-point pledge lending” and “lightning loan” born in DeFi (decentralized finance) are not completely applicable to traditional markets, their underlying logic – automated risk assessment, pricing and claim processing through algorithms and smart contracts – are forcing traditional insurance and lending institutions to improve efficiency, transparency and inclusiveness.
The underlying driving force of this transformation is the financial industry’s unremitting pursuit of higher efficiency, lower cost, better experience and stronger risk control.Technology has leaped from a “tool” role that supports business to a “core engine” that restructures business models.
3. Driver: Web3.AIReshaping the underlying logic of finance with quantum technology
The reshaping of finance by technology is not a single line, but a composite transformation driven by the collaboration of cutting-edge technologies such as Web3, AI (artificial intelligence) and quantum computing. It has far-reaching impact and has touched the definition of asset issuance, transaction and even value itself.
Web3 and Blockchain: It brings revolutions of programmable assets and composability.Assets are no longer static, but can be enriched by intelligent embedding (such as dividend mechanism, voting rights, and usage rights).Different financial protocols and assets can be freely combined like “Lego bricks” to create unprecedented financial products and services (“DeFi Lego”).This has completely changed the paradigm of asset issuance and transactions, from “institutional centralized creation” to “community-driven and algorithm-driven market-oriented emergence.”
AI(AI): AI, especially generative AI and reinforcement learning, is releasing huge energy in the financial field.It can conduct super-large-scale market forecasts and high-frequency trading, identify complex fraud models in real time, provide highly personalized wealth management solutions, and automatically generate compliance reports and codes.AI is the key brain that processes and extracts value from massive data generated by blockchain and future quantum computing.
Quantum computing: Although it is still in its early stages, its potential power is enough to subvert the existing financial security foundation.Current encryption algorithms may be vulnerable to quantum computing, forcing the entire digital financial system to explore post-quantum cryptography forward-lookingly.At the same time, quantum computing can also greatly optimize complex portfolio management and risk modeling.
The intersection of these three technology waves is making the ability of Tech-Fin unprecedentedly enhancement.With these technologies, technology companies are increasingly embedded in areas traditionally dominated by financial institutions, and even starting to define new asset classes and financial market rules.
Guofu Quantum (00290.HK)’s long-term development strategy is based on the “Ladder Plan” of the Three-Body Problem, and through phased mergers and acquisitions of high-quality projects, combined with the resource integration strategy of “nuclear bomb acceleration”, it gradually builds an ecological closed loop of “quantum + digital assets + AI”.Mergers and acquisitions at each stage not only bring a short-term market value boost, but also lays the foundation for subsequent leap through technological integration and market expansion.Ultimately, the company will transform from a traditional financial player to a world-leading technology-driven investment platform, achieving an exponential breakthrough in its market value.
4. Integration: The boundless future of technology, finance and industry under the deepening of digital
As the digitalization process deepens, we are moving towards a future where the physical world is deeply integrated with the digital world.In this picture, traditional boundaries will become increasingly blurred:
The boundaries between physical assets and financial assets are blurred.A building, a work of art, or even a person’s future income stream can be accurately measured, divided and converted into extremely liquid financial assets through tokenization.On the contrary, pure digital assets such as digital land and avatar equipment in the virtual world (metaverse) also have real financial value due to their scarcity and utility.
The financial technology and the financialization of technology are deeply integrated.These two are one side, and they will eventually lead to the same end.Fin-Tech is the financial industry that uses technology to improve itself, and its end point is to become a highly technological industry.Tech-Fin is the invasion of technology companies and reshaping the financial industry, and its end point is that the technology platform generates mature financial functions.Ultimately, it will be difficult for us to distinguish whether a platform is a technology company or a financial company. It will be both at the same time, integrating into a new “technology and finance” complex.
In-depth integration of technology, finance and industry: In the future, the assets and processes of manufacturing, logistics, cultural and creative industries, etc. will be generally tokenized.Supply chain finance will become extremely transparent and efficient, and “conditional payments” based on smart contracts will be automatically executed.The way a company raises funds may evolve from an IPO (initial public offering) to issuing tokens (ITO?) directly to the global liquidity pool that represent their assets or future earnings.Finance will be seamlessly embedded in the capillaries of every industrial process, just like water, electricity and coal, and become a real-time and accurate lubricant for the real economy.
5. Future picture: dominance, main line, main battlefield and fundamental
In this magnificent change, we can outline several core dimensions that future opportunities are hidden:
Technology is the dominant (The Dominator): The source driving force of all comes from technological innovation.Any leap from quantitative change to qualitative change in basic technologies such as quantum computing, AI, and blockchain may trigger a chain reaction in finance and even the entire economic system, creating a new track and business model.Opportunities are always lurking near the singularity of technological breakthroughs.
Finance is the main line (The Main Thread): Finance, as the core function of resource allocation, will not change, it will still be the main line throughout the whole process.What changes are its manifestation and operating efficiency.All technology applications ultimately serve the financial nature of optimizing capital flows, pricing risks and creating value.
Industry is the main battlefield (The Battleground): The value and final testing field of the integration of technology and finance lies in whether it can truly empower thousands of industries and improve the production efficiency and resource allocation efficiency of the whole society.The biggest opportunity lies in tailoring their “tech-finance” solutions for specific industries (such as green energy, biomedicine, supply chain).
User rights are the foundation (The Foundation): No matter how cool the technology is or how novel the business model is, it is ultimately necessary to ensure and improve the user’s asset security, data privacy, right to choose and fairness.Projects that can solve the current user experience problems of Web3 (such as complex wallets, mnemonics) and achieve truly “invisible” and secure financial interaction will gain huge advantages.
Asset efficiency is the lifeline (The Lifeline): The core of competition is to improve the efficiency of asset circulation and utilization.Whoever can provide assets with deeper liquidity, lower trading friction, and richer application scenarios (Utility) will attract value gathering.
Compliance is systematic, developed and deeply integrated with technology (The Framework): Future supervision will not be simple “command and control”, but will increasingly rely on RegTech and SupTech to achieve “simultaneous compliance” through technical means (such as embedded supervision and real-time audit nodes).Compliance itself will become a dynamically developed system driven by technology.
Perhaps we are standing at the starting point of historic integration.
