Bitfinex’s Ardoino urges BTC community to acknowledge supportive jurisdictions

During a livestreamed conversation between Bitfinex’s chief technical officer Paolo Ardoino and Blockstream’s CEO Adam Back, the two discussed the potential impact of securities tokenization on the financial world. Ardoino noted that the outdated messaging and settlement technology used by banks poses challenges for speed and interoperability, while tokenization can bring the benefits of Bitcoin to a wider audience. Back added that tokenization will also reduce costs and allow small businesses to enter the market, and may lead to innovations like Bitcoin mortgages. The executives agreed that investors may shift their attention towards more reliable financial products such as Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which could have implications for the crypto industry.
In relation to this, Back mentioned that Blockstream Mining Notes, which offer exposure to Bitcoin mining, will mature this summer and are securitized under Luxembourg law. Knutson, the head of operations at Bitfinex, highlighted that Bitfinex Securities is licensed in Kazakhstan’s AIFC economic zone and in El Salvador, which may surprise some investors due to these jurisdictions not being typically associated with global capital markets. Ardoino expressed his view that traditional financial hubs like London and Frankfurt are in a declining trajectory since the events of 2008. He also mentioned that Bitfinex Securities launched in the AIFC in 2021 and opened in El Salvador in January, and issued a Tether-denominated bond on Blockstream’s Liquid Network in October. The article concludes by mentioning SpaceChain, Blockstream, and Cryptosat as companies that are implementing blockchain technology in space.