Fund administration company Apex has partnered with Ownera, which provides an interoperability solution for tokenized assets to address the increasing fragmentation of blockchain networks.
With the proliferation of networks, the need for interoperability is more and more pressing. Blockchain interoperability is an option, although imperfect, complex and with many options to choose from. Another route is to connect to multiple channels using APIs. But if a wealth manager wants to offer their clients tokenized assets on ten different blockchains, that would mean ten API connections. The point of blockchain was to resolve silos, not create more.
Ownera offers a third way. He created the FinP2P routing network which does not itself use blockchain. In many ways, it is a hub in which different blockchains act as spokes. The asset manager who wants to provide access to ten blockchains can have a single connection to Ownera.
Blockchains can be a mix of permissioned and permissionless blockchains. It supports connectivity with Canton Digital Asset, R3’d Corda, Hyperledger Besu, Quorum and others. FinP2P also provides connectivity to service providers such as custodians, asset management companies and, in the case of Apex, fund administrators. Therefore, this will enable Apex to distribute and manage assets on behalf of customers.
Peter Hughes, founder and CEO of Apex said the connectivity will “expand access to buy-side demand as well as custodians and asset servicing companies”.
Apex Group began targeting blockchain in 2021 when it led a $25 million funding round for Inveniam, which leverages blockchain to provide automated valuation and pricing data for private assets. The following year, Apex acquired FundAdminChain. In 2023, it invested in Tokeny, the tokenization partner of Inveniam, which founded the ERC3643 standard for permissioned security tokens.
One of Apex’s recent partnerships is with 21X, the startup that plans to launch an EU-regulated exchange and settlement platform for digital securities in the first quarter of 2025. It was recently licensed under of the EU DLT pilot scheme. Apex will allow its clients to list securities on the 21X exchange.
