Digital Asset Summit: Afternoon Sessions Explore Treasury Innovation and Tokenization Infrastructure
- Sophie Bell
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Bitcoin strategies and real-world asset tokenization dominate post-lunch discussions
As delegates returned from the Moneybrain Gallery lunch showcase, the Digital Asset Summit's afternoon sessions shifted from regulatory foundations to practical implementation. Two panels explored how Bitcoin is reshaping corporate treasury strategies and how tokenization is creating entirely new financial infrastructure—what speakers termed "the new plumbing of finance."
Bitcoin Treasury Strategies: Learning from the Playbook
James Bowater, founder of the Digital Commonwealth, chaired a panel examining corporate Bitcoin adoption strategies. With Bitcoin trading at $118,750—up from $3,600 when Bowater first wrote about it in 2018—and the crypto market capitalisation reaching $4.17 trillion, the discussion centred on how companies are adapting Michael Saylor's pioneering approach.
Saylor's evolution of MicroStrategy into "Strategy" created what Bowater described as a "gold rush" following the Satoshi Roundtable gathering. The playbook's UK adopter, SmarterWeb, exemplified the opportunity: the Bristol-based company raised £200 million in 2025, surpassing the entire London Stock Exchange's £184 million in new capital raised during the same period.
Sam Roberts from Cartwright Corporate Treasury, the UK's first investment advisor to recommend Bitcoin allocation to pension schemes, explained the market dynamics. His firm advised a client to allocate 3% to Bitcoin in October 2024, and Roberts emphasised two distinct corporate approaches: the 1% aggressively issuing equity to buy Bitcoin, and the 99% quietly adding modest allocations or implementing Bitcoin payment rails as "Plan B" infrastructure.
Central to understanding Bitcoin treasury companies is the MNAV (Market Net Asset Value) metric—market capitalisation divided by Bitcoin treasury value. Roberts explained why this phenomenon exists: "People have been using assets that are not very good at being money as a store of value." With government currencies losing purchasing power annually, investors store value in houses, equities, bonds, and art. Bitcoin, with its fixed 21 million supply, offers superior store-of-value properties.
Bitcoin treasury companies function as bridges transferring value from traditional markets to Bitcoin. "Some bridges are well built, fit to last," Roberts noted. "Some are flimsy and will fall down." The past six months saw tremendous volatility, with MNAVs fluctuating wildly as investor sentiment swung between hype and despair.
John Gray, chartered accountant and FD at Moneybrain Corporate, connected treasury strategies to morning discussions on regulation: "Investors want certainty in where their investment is being placed and whether it can be recovered." The governance challenge becomes acute when Bitcoin treasury founders aren't traditional corporate material, making robust regulatory frameworks essential.
The Jian Wen Case: National Bitcoin Strategy?
Discussion turned to timely policy matters. UK authorities seized 61,285 Bitcoin—worth approximately $7.5 billion—from Jian Wen, convicted in connection with a Chinese Ponzi scheme. With victims in China losing perhaps $500 million, the Bitcoin's appreciated value raised thorny questions about rightful ownership and national strategy.
Treasury reportedly claimed the Bitcoin. Would the UK follow Germany's approach—selling on the open market—or adopt a strategic reserve position? Roberts expected liquidation: "I haven't seen anything which shows they have any understanding whatsoever of Bitcoin." Professor Sarah Green noted digital assets' traceability could revolutionise proceeds-of-crime recovery, traditionally plagued by enforcement difficulties.
One audience member proposed "Bitcoin gilts"—government bonds backed by Bitcoin holdings, paying 8-10% yields while the underlying asset appreciates 30% annually. Roberts suggested targeting UK local councils, whose £100 billion debt burden could be restructured with Bitcoin backing, potentially saving £3-5 billion annually.
Stablecoins and Tokenization: The New Financial Infrastructure
Miriam Greenwood OBE's panel shifted focus to stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization. The statistics were staggering: Anthony Abell from TPX Property Exchanges revealed stablecoin transaction volumes reached $27 trillion over twelve months—approximately 20% of M1 and M2 money supply globally.
"The world is moving to an asset-based economy," Abell explained. "We're just using fiat currency to count in. It's just a denominator." TPX enables property title to move at "10 milliseconds end to end across the world," converting real estate into liquid assets usable in global payments without banks.
Sam Mudie from Savea described tokenizing fine wine through the world's first wine index tracking token on Ethereum. Jersey emerged as the jurisdiction of choice after Singapore's MAS and Dubai's Vara rejected free secondary market trading. "Jersey were extremely positive and supportive, taking a collaborative approach" Mudie recounted.
Gus Fraser, CTO of Chateaushi (tokenizing French chateaux), and Ian Dawson from a Malta-based crypto exchange rounded out practical examples. Dawson's platform sees corporate clients—accounting firms, banks, technology businesses, e-commerce companies—accessing what functions as a "digital bank account" through crypto exchange infrastructure with stablecoin rails.
The democratisation theme resonated throughout. Abell's property tokenization model promises half-price homes for young buyers and mortgage-free living for those with sufficient equity. "We can shift UK GDP by 1.2 to 1.8% in the next three to five years," he projected, noting 52% of UK money supply derives from mortgages.
As Mark Carney's dictum echoed—"slowly, slowly, and then all at once"—panellists agreed the inflection point approaches rapidly. Not years, not months—weeks.
