Iota’s ShimmerEVM joins Fireblocks, targeting demand for asset tokens
Open source blockchain developer Iota Shimmer has taken another step towards meeting the institutional demand for asset tokens by integrating an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible chain with Fireblocks.
According to data from VanEck Research, the total market capitalization (RWA) for tokenized real-world assets reached $342 billion in September despite the bear market and the crypto industry's upturn. According to Dominic Schiener, co-founder of Iota, the network is building infrastructure and solutions to address the growing demand for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.
“We can expect many large institutional investors and financial institutions to give their public support to digital assets in 2024. With clear regulations and new public support for these institutions and recent EFAs, we are well positioned to make institutional investors the main market participants,” Shiner said.
Tokenization refers to bringing tangible or intangible assets from the traditional financial world to the blockchain. A variety of assets can be included here, such as real estate, commodities, company shares, and financial instruments such as bonds and receivables. One of the main advantages of tokenization is the increase in the number of assets.
ShimmerEVM is an Ethereum-compliant smart contract built on the Shimmer blockchain, which serves as a host network for Iota, meaning a testing and development environment where new features and applications can be validated before being integrated into the Iota mainnet.
The integration will allow Fireblocks clients to hold tokenized assets on ShimmerEVM, as well as initiate on-chain transactions from the Fireblocks console and API. Fireblocks offers direct crypto protection and other solutions to institutional investors. The company claims to have 1,800 clients, including prominent financial institutions such as BNY Mellon and BNP Paribas.
In November, Iota unveiled its distributed ledger technology (DLT) foundation in the Middle East to accelerate the development of decentralized technologies and asset tokens in the region. “With the recent registration and approval of the first DLT foundation in the UAE, we are on track to virtualize RWA assets on Iota and Shimmer,” added Schiener.
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