Deutsche Bank-backed Taurus expands digital asset custody, issuance offerings to Stellar

Taurus, the digital asset infrastructure provider to financial institutions such as Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and Santander, has expanded to the Stellar network.

The Swiss fintech firm’s digital asset custody platform “Taurus-PROTECT” and its digital issuance and tokenization platform, “Taurus-CAPITAL,” are available on Stellar’s open-sourced, public blockchain from Monday.

The integration allows banks and issuers to issue and manage any tokenized asset on the Stellar network, fully customizing and automating payment flows using programmable wallet behaviors and banking-grade access controls, according to a statement shared with The Block.

“Integration with Stellar seamlessly aligns with Taurus' strategic growth as the blockchain has been optimized and built for asset tokenization,” Taurus Head of Global Strategic Partnerships Jürgen Hofbauer said. “Our banking and non-banking clients can now benefit from reduced fees and fast transactions, optimizing efficiency across a variety of tokenization use cases such as equity, debt, structured products, funds, tokenized deposits, and CBDCs.”

Taurus currently supports more than 20 public and permissioned blockchains via its digital asset custody product. Its tokenization service supported Ethereum and Tezos prior to today’s announcement.

Financial institutions using Stellar for real-world asset tokenization

Taurus’ move follows financial institutions like Franklin Templeton, WisdomTree and Circle using Stellar for tokenization.

Franklin Templeton was the first U.S.-registered fund to use a public blockchain to process transactions and record share ownership, launching in 2021. Its on-chain U.S. Government Money Fund, represented by the BENJI token, is available on the Stellar and Polygon blockchains. BENJI accounts for $357.7 million in assets under management — 21.8% of the $1.6 billion tokenized government securities market, according to data compiled by 21.co, the parent company of bitcoin exchange-traded fund provider 21Shares.

However, Franklin Templeton's U.S. Government Money Fund has recently come under stiff competition from BlackRock’s new BUIDL fund, tokenized in collaboration with Securitize on Ethereum, which surpassed BENJI earlier this year to capture 29.4% of the market, managing $481 million in assets.

In July 2023, WisdomTree Prime, a personal finance app focused on offering user-friendly access to digital assets and funds, launched on the Stellar and Ethereum blockchains 21 U.S. states. In March this year, the global asset manager was granted a charter from the New York State Department of Financial Services to offer crypto-related services in the state and it has since expanded the service to 41 states.

Circle also launched its USD-backed USDC stablecoin on Stellar in 2021, among several other blockchains, with its Euro-backed EURC stablecoin added to the network in September.

“Collaborating with Taurus represents a significant step in advancing the adoption of tokenized real-world assets within regulated financial institutions and establishing the essential infrastructure for widespread adoption,” Stellar Development Foundation Senior Director Roberto Durscki said.

In January, Taurus was granted approval from Switzerland's Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) to offer tokenized securities to retail users, alongside its existing institutional clients.