Why We Do This and How Candidates Are Selected
The Future of Finance Awards recognise firms that are materially advancing how global finance is built, transacted, and governed, with a particular focus on digital assets and tokenised market infrastructure. By spotlighting high-impact innovation, the awards aim to accelerate the adoption of safer, more efficient, and more transparent financial systems.
Candidates are identified through a rigorous quantitative analysis of publicly verifiable achievements, including transactions, pilot tests, new issues, investments, and acquisitions. Each criterion is carefully crafted and curated, with data points quantified, weighted, and objectively totalled to produce a score that reflects material impact rather than market perception. The process is fully editorial and research-led, with no submissions.
Cocktail Reception
Sponsored by:
Proudly sponsored by DTCC, the reception will open the 2026 Awards Celebration Dinner, welcoming delegates to an evening celebrating excellence in digital assets and market infrastructure.
Future of Finance Awards 2025 Highlights
2026 Awards Categories & Nominees
Best All-Round
Deutsche Börse • DTCC • J.P. Morgan
Most Ground Breaking Innovation
DTCC • NasdaqBest Traditional Bank
DBS Bank • HSBC • J.P. Morgan • MUFG Bank • Standard Chartered BankBest Full-Service Custodian Bank Globally
Anchorage Digital Bank • Citibank N.A. • DBS Bank • DekaBank • Standard Chartered Bank • State Street • Sygnum Bank
Best Full-Service Custodian Bank in Europe
AMINA Bank • Standard Chartered Bank • Sygnum Bank
Best Full-Service Custodian Bank in Asia
DBS Bank • Standard Chartered Bank
Best Full-Service Custodian Bank in North America
Anchorage Digital Bank • BNY • Citibank N.A. • State StreetBest Custodian Globally
BitGo Trust Company • Coinbase Custody • Crypto Finance Group • Hex Trust • Zodia CustodyBest Custodian in Europe
Copper.co • Crypto Finance Group • Komainu Custody • Tangany • Zodia Custody
Best Custodian in Asia
Cobo Custody • Hex Trust • KDAC • Matrixport • Rakkar Digital
Best Custodian in North America
BitGo Trust Company • Coinbase Custody • Fidelity Digital Assets • Gemini Trust Company
Most Innovative Custodian
BitGo Trust Company • Fireblocks • Komainu Custody • Ledger • Standard Chartered Bank • Zodia Custody
Best Digital Asset Custody Technology Provider
DFNS • Fireblocks • GK8 by Galaxy • Ledger • Ripple Labs • Taurus SA
Best Custodian for Staking
BitGo Trust Company • Fireblocks • Hex Trust • Komainu Custody • Ledger • Zodia Custody
Best Custodian for Funds or Stablecoin Reserves
BNY • Standard Chartered Bank • U.S. Bank
Best Service Provider for Staking
Bitwise Asset Management • Blockdaemon • Figment • Kiln • Twinstake
Best Custodian for Stablecoin Coverage
Fireblocks • Gemini Trust Company • Hex Trust • Ledger • Matrixport • Zodia Custody
Best Service Provider for Stablecoin Coverage
Euro Coin (EURC) • Paxos USD (USDP) • PayPal USD (PYUSD) • Tether (USDT) • USD Coin (USDC)
Best Off-Exchange Settlement Platform
BitGo Trust Company • Copper.co • Komainu Custody • Standard Chartered Bank • Zodia Custody
Best Digital Asset Exchange Globally
21X Exchange • DBS Digital Exchange • Luxembourg Stock Exchange • Nasdaq
Best Digital Asset Exchange in Europe
21X Exchange • 360X Exchange • Archax • Luxembourg Stock Exchange
Best Digital Asset Exchange in Asia
DBS Digital Exchange • DigiFT • Osaka Digital Exchange (ODX) • SDAX
Best Digital Asset Exchange in North America
INX Digital Company • Nasdaq • Securitize • tZero
Most Innovative Digital Asset Exchange
21X Exchange • BX Digital • Deutsche Börse • London Stock Exchange Group • Nasdaq
Best Primary Market Digital Asset Exchange
21X Exchange • Osaka Digital Exchange (ODX)
Best Secondary Market Digital Asset Exchange
BondBlox • BX Digital • Osaka Digital Exchange (ODX)
Best Emerging Digital Asset Exchange
Axiology • BPX Digital Exchange • ICE/NYSE Token Platform • LISE (Lightning Stock Exchange) • London Stock Exchange Group
Best Real Estate Digital Asset Platform
BPX Digital Exchange • DigiShares
Best Tokenised Listed Equities Platform
Backed Assets (Kraken) • Dinari • Ondo Finance • Robinhood Markets
Best DLT/TSS Trading Facility
21X Exchange • 360X Exchange • BX Digital
Best Settlement and Cash Management Solution
21X Exchange • BX Digital
Best Digital Asset Exchange Technology Vendor
Alphapoint • Fireblocks • Nasdaq • R3 • Talos • Taurus SA
Best Digital Asset Surveillance Services Provider
Checkpoint • Nasdaq
Best Non-Bank Stablecoin Issuer
Circle Internet Financial • Paxos Trust Company • PayPal
Best Bank Stablecoin Issuer
Anchorage Digital Bank • Banking Circle • Ripple Labs (Standard Custody & Trust Company, LLC) • Société Générale – Forge
Best Regulated Stablecoin Issuer under GENIUS ACT
Anchorage Digital Bank • BitGo Trust Company • Stripe
Best Regulated Stablecoin Issuer under MiCAR
AllUnity • Circle Internet Financial (EU entity) • Monerium • Paxos Trust Company • Société Générale (EUR CoinVertible – EURCV)Best Stablecoin Reserve Quality and Liquidity
Circle Internet Financial • Paxos Trust CompanyBest Stablecoin Risk Management Program
Anchorage Digital Bank • Circle Internet Financial • Paxos Trust Company
Best Institutional Adoption of Stablecoins
Franklin Templeton • Hamilton Lane • Maybank Asset Management • PayPal • Visa • Western Union
Most Innovative Retail Stablecoin Payment Use Case
Custodia Bank and Vantage Bank (Avit platform) • PayPal USD (PYUSD) • Stripe Open Issuance • Western Union and Anchorage Digital BankBest Stablecoin Enterprise Payments Use Case
EY & PayPal USD • Siemens (tokenised payments) • Visa • Circle Internet Financial
Best Chain for Regulated Stablecoin Activity
Avalanche • BNB Smart Chain • Ethereum • Polygon • Solana • Stellar
Best Live Tokenised Deposit Issuer
DBS Bank • HSBC/Ant Group (joint initiative) • J.P. Morgan (JPMD) • J.P. Morgan/DBS Bank (joint initiative)
Best Pilot Tokenised Deposit Programme Issuer
Global Blockchain Tokenised Deposits (UK RLN2) • HKMA (Hong Kong Ensemble Project) • Lloyds BankBest Digital Payment Network
Mastercard • PayPal • Ripple Labs • Stripe • VisaBest Digital Asset Fund Issuer Globally
BlackRock • Franklin Templeton • OpenEden • UBS • WisdomTreeBest Digital Asset Fund Issuer in Europe
abrdn • Amundi • Franklin Templeton • SpikoBest Digital Asset Fund Issuer in Asia
Maybank Singapore • China Asset Management • Franklin Templeton • UBSBest Digital Asset Fund Issuer in North America
Franklin Templeton • JPMorgan Asset Management • Securitize • WisdomTreeBest Digital Asset Private Equity Fund Issuer
Apollo Global Management • Hamilton Lane • KKRBest Digital Asset Fund Issuance Platform
Centrifuge • Libera • Securitize • Spiko
Best Digital Fund Market Infrastructure Globally
Allfunds Blockchain • Calastone • Fundnode • FundsDLTBest Digital Fund Market Infrastructure in Europe
Allfunds Blockchain • Calastone • FundsDLT • iZNESBest Digital Fund Administrator Globally
Apex Group • BNY • NAV Fund ServicesBest Digital Fund Administrator in Europe
Alchemy (formerly Alchelyst) • Aztec Group • CACEIS • IQ-EQBest Digital Fund Administrator in North America
Apex Group • BNY • NAV Fund Services • SecuritizeBest Tokenised Transfer Agent
BitGo Trust Company • Chainlink Labs • FundsDLT • Standard Chartered Bank • WisdomTree TransfersBest Market Infrastructure in Europe
Clearstream • Eurex • EuroclearBest Market Infrastructure in North America
DTCCBest Digital Asset Registrar
Cashlink • DekaBank • Société Générale – Forge • Smart Registry • WeltixBest Tokenised Bond Issuer
European Investment Bank • KfW • HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government) • SiemensMost Innovative Tokenised Equity Issuance
DTCC • Galaxy Digital/Superstate • SecuritizeBest Live Collateral Management Solution
Eurex • HQLAx • J.P. Morgan
Best Pilot Collateral Management Project
Clearstream D7 • Commodity Futures Trading Commission (U.S.) • DTCC • Global Digital Finance (30-firm European consortium) • Lloyds BankBest Live Repo Management Solution
Broadridge Distributed Ledger Repo (DLR) • Kinexys by JPMorganBest Pilot Repo Management Project
ABN AMRO • BNP Paribas • Canton Network • Eurex • Société Générale – ForgeBest Tokenisation Platform: Capital Markets New Issues
Clearstream D7 • HSBC Orion • MarketNode • Securitize • SWIAT • Taurus SA
Best Tokenisation Platform: Tokenisation as a Service
DTCC • Fireblocks • Taurus SA • ZoniqxBest Tokenisation Platform: Raising Capital for SMEs
Aktionariat AG • Obligate • SygnEx by Sygnum BankBest Digital Bank for DLT-based Products
AMINA Bank • Solaris • Sygnum BankBest Oracle Provider
API3 • Chainlink Labs • Pyth Network • RedStone • UMA • XYO NetworkBest On-Chain Monitoring and Threat Detection Solution
Chainalysis • Coin Metrics • Dune Analytics • Glassnode • NansenBest Cross-Chain Infrastructure Solution
Celer cBridge • deBridge Protocol • Eco Portal • Stargate Finance • WormholeBest DeFi Access Infrastructure Provider
BitGo Narval • Blockdaemon • Fireblocks DeFi Platform • Ledger Connect • MetaMaskBest Financial Services Infrastructure Solution
Bitpanda Technology Solutions • Fireblocks • Hedera Hashgraph • IBM Hyperledger Fabric • Taurus SA • Zodia CustodyBest Blockchain for Mainstream Financial Services
Canton Network/DAML • Hedera Hashgraph • Hyperledger Besu • R3 Corda
Best Public Blockchain for TradFi-DeFi Convergence
Avalanche • Ethereum • Solana
Best Digital Asset Law Firm in North America
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP • Debevoise & Plimpton LLP • Latham & Watkins LLP • Mayer Brown • McDermott Will & Schulte • Morrison Cohen LLP • Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP • Paul Hastings LLP • Perkins Coie LLP • Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP & Affiliates
Best Digital Asset Law Firm in Europe
Ashurst • Bird & Bird LLP • Clifford Chance LLP • CMS • Hogan Lovells • Jones Day • Linklaters LLP • Norton Rose Fulbright • Reed Smith LLP
Be among the distinguished firms joining us for this year’s celebration
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