Michele Crivelli, a former Swiss banker and now chief executive officer of Nexplace, believes the future of finance lies in merging traditional systems with blockchain infrastructure.
In an interview with TheStreet Roundtable, Crivelli said that tokenization — the process of representing real-world assets as blockchain-based tokens — is driving a “new evolution” across global markets.
“You don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” he said. “You just need to use well-established frameworks from traditional markets and add technology on top to create more efficiency.”
Crivelli said blockchain’s ability to enable atomic swaps and 24/7 trading can modernize capital markets that still rely on dated settlement systems. But he also cautioned that the technology’s potential remains “mainly on paper” until regulatory fragmentation is resolved.
Related: What is tokenization? Explained
Crivelli said Nexplace began its work by tokenizing U.S. Treasury bills — instruments he called a “very well-known, low-volatility” starting point for investors. “They can be seen as a yield-bearing stablecoin,” he said.
“For traders in the Web3 industry, there are not many low-risk alternatives to de-risk portfolios.”
Tokenized T-bills, he added, could open the door to investors in regions where access to U.S. dollar–denominated assets is limited. “Imagine people living in countries with high inflation or no access to banks,” he said.
“They can buy one dollar’s worth of tokenized T-bills and start fighting inflation while earning yield.”
Crivelli noted that this demand is strongest in Latin America and other regions with volatile local currencies — a reminder that tokenization’s benefits go beyond speculation to include global financial inclusion.
Despite the hype, Crivelli doesn’t believe everything should be on-chain. “No, definitely not,” he said when asked if all assets should be tokenized. “You need to be compliant with the law, do KYC, AML, and make sure investors feel protected.”
He argued that the focus should shift to small and medium enterprises that lack access to global capital markets.
“We should start tokenizing their debt,” he said.“That way, they can raise capital, and investors can earn higher yields on the fixed-income side.”
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Crivelli called tokenization “an alternative way to raise capital” that could eventually bring greater transparency and interoperability to financial markets. “It’s not a matter of if this new evolution will arrive, but when,” he said.
