Digital Currency and Tokenization: Key Takeaways from Astana Finance Days 2024

At the Astana Finance Days 2024 panel session titled “From bricks to bytes: tokenization of real assets”, industry leaders discussed the rise of tokenization and its potential impact on various sectors, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.

Rajat Sakhuja, Crypto Product Lead at Mastercard EEMEA, emphasized the importance of trust in digital transactions.

“We see a strong shift towards digital tokenization today. When I say tokenization, I’m not referring to MasterCard's tokenization of cards but rather actual cryptocurrencies or any form of digital currency on a blockchain network,” says Sakhuja.

He pointed out that MasterCard’s goal is to replicate the trust customers have in traditional payments when transitioning to blockchain-based transactions.

Juan Carlos Reyes, President of the National Digital Assets Commission of El Salvador, highlighted the challenges of maintaining regulatory compliance in the crypto industry.

“The issue with this industry is that many players will never be able to meet regulatory standards. Some have a decentralized finance mentality, which allows for untraceable transactions,” explains Reyes.

He emphasized the importance of adhering to international regulations for national stability, referencing the role of the Financial Action Task Force in setting these guidelines.

Athena Miao, Vice President of Business Development at crypto trading platform "BigONE Exchange”, shared her company’s experience in expanding to Kazakhstan.

“We saw Kazakhstan as a promising market because of its friendly regulations and high digital literacy,” says Miao.

However, she notes that while digital literacy in Kazakhstan is strong, financial literacy hasn’t quite caught up.