Deutsche Börse and Commerzbank are entering a strategic partnership with FinTech 360X to develop blockchain-based digital marketplaces and ecosystems for real asset classes such as art and real estate.

Deutsche Börse is a marketplace organizer for the trading of shares and other securities which partially controls the Frankfurt Stock Exchange- the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalisation.

Commerzbank is Germany’s second largest bank after Deutsche Bank by balance sheet and has significant interests in both retail and investment banking.

The new trading platform seeks to facilitate investment in asset classes that have so far been illiquid, made investable and tradable via tokenisation and fractionalisation.

The companies said tokenised real assets will be mapped on a blockchain to facilitate access for investors and allow the fractionalisation of the underlying asset.

Fractionalisation is where an asset is divided into small chunks that be traded practically, allowing an investor to purchase for example £1000 worth of a £1 million property or a Bitcoin currently valued at £39,000.

As information stored on a blockchain cannot be edited by any one single party, it can provide an attractive platform for high value goods which can potentially be tampered with.

Blockchain has already proved to have an impact on the art industry; a piece of digital art by artist Beeple sold for $69.3 million at auction house Christie’s in the form of a nonfungible token (NFT).

An NFT is a unit of data stored on a digital ledger – or a blockchain - that certifies the uniqueness of a digital asset.

The first reference transactions for the two initial asset classes – art and real estate - are planned for later this year.

“I am convinced that Deutsche Börse has to venture into new asset classes,” said Theodor Weimer, chief executive at Deutsche Börse. “In the future, we will see a broad tokenisation and digitisation of assets that are not tradable today.”

He added: “360X is the new innovative platform for serial marketplace creation that we are building with our partners.”

“We take real assets to digital marketplaces,” said Manfred Knof, chief executive at Commerzbank. “With our and Deutsche Börse’s investment in 360X we see the potential to actively shape one of these digital asset ecosystems of the future.”

“Commerzbank has many years of experience with distributed ledger technology (DLT) and is a sought-after expert in the emerging asset universe.”

He added: “With pilot transactions in the areas of payments, securities and trade finance, as well as strategic partnerships with technology and internet companies, and cooperation with DLT networks, Commerzbank is a reliable partner in tomorrow’s digital banking.”

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