Key Takeaways
- • JellyC, a local Australian digital asset manager, announced a partnership with liquidity provider Liquidise and the Redbelly Network to tokenise its suite of funds, offering investors real-time NAV unit pricing and auditable ownership.
- • Redbelly Network, developed at the University of Sydney with CSIRO, embeds KYC verification for all network users, with co-founder Michael Prendiville and Redbelly chairman Alan Burt framing the move as a step toward mainstream tokenised fund adoption.
- • Global X strategist Marc Jocum says tokenisation could cut intermediaries, settlement times and administrative costs, but flags unresolved issues around ownership structure, dividend eligibility and taxation.
- • A late-2024 DECA, DFCRC and Ripple report estimates real-world asset tokenisation could generate $12 billion annually in Australian efficiencies, with global gains around $2 trillion per annum.
- • Australian regulatory uncertainty, infrastructure constraints and potential liquidity fragmentation remain the main obstacles, according to industry commentary.
Summary
Local digital asset manager JellyC has announced a partnership that will enable the tokenisation of its suite of funds, which the firm says will give investors "unprecedented access to liquidity, transparency and compliance." The arrangement involves liquidity solutions provider Liquidise and the Redbelly Network, which the firm describes as the "world's first formally verified blockchain." According to JellyC, the structure will provide real-time net asset value unit pricing, full transparency and auditability over ownership.
JellyC co-founder Michael Prendiville said the move would pave the way for mainstream adoption of tokenised funds in the asset management sector. Under the agreement, JellyC will use Redbelly Network's settlement speed and accountability layer, in which all network users undergo know your customer (KYC) checks and receive verified credentials. Alan Burt, chairman of Redbelly Network, said the partnership showed how the network's composable compliance and instant finality could bring greater transparency and efficiency to the management and trading of private equity and venture capital funds.
Speaking to InvestorDaily, Global X investment strategist Marc Jocum said tokenisation could reduce reliance on intermediaries, cutting settlement times and administrative expenses, and could enable strategies such as continuous rebalancing via smart contracts. He noted that tokenised assets can be traded globally at any time, which he said opens liquidity opportunities, though he cautioned that excessive trading generally dampens investment outcomes. Jocum also acknowledged unresolved questions on ownership structure, dividend eligibility and taxation.
Jocum said Australian fund managers face distinct challenges, including regulatory uncertainty, infrastructure hurdles and potential liquidity risks. He pointed to the contested ASX CHESS replacement as an example of the difficulty of moving entrenched systems to distributed ledgers, suggesting a staged approach may be needed, and warned that tokenisation could fragment liquidity between tokenised and traditional assets, producing pricing discrepancies during volatility. JellyC is the first to pursue this in Australia, while BlackRock launched a tokenised money market fund on a public blockchain last March, backed by short-term US Treasuries.
A report published late last year by the Digital Economy Council of Australia (DECA), the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) and Ripple estimated that tokenisation of real-world assets could deliver $12 billion annually in efficiencies for Australia's financial markets. The report warned that regulatory barriers could delay progress as other nations advance, and recommended a clear digital asset taxonomy, reform of licensing frameworks, and a regulatory sandbox.
JellyC co-founder Michael Prendiville said the move would pave the way for mainstream adoption of tokenised funds in the asset management sector. Under the agreement, JellyC will use Redbelly Network's settlement speed and accountability layer, in which all network users undergo know your customer (KYC) checks and receive verified credentials. Alan Burt, chairman of Redbelly Network, said the partnership showed how the network's composable compliance and instant finality could bring greater transparency and efficiency to the management and trading of private equity and venture capital funds.
Speaking to InvestorDaily, Global X investment strategist Marc Jocum said tokenisation could reduce reliance on intermediaries, cutting settlement times and administrative expenses, and could enable strategies such as continuous rebalancing via smart contracts. He noted that tokenised assets can be traded globally at any time, which he said opens liquidity opportunities, though he cautioned that excessive trading generally dampens investment outcomes. Jocum also acknowledged unresolved questions on ownership structure, dividend eligibility and taxation.
Jocum said Australian fund managers face distinct challenges, including regulatory uncertainty, infrastructure hurdles and potential liquidity risks. He pointed to the contested ASX CHESS replacement as an example of the difficulty of moving entrenched systems to distributed ledgers, suggesting a staged approach may be needed, and warned that tokenisation could fragment liquidity between tokenised and traditional assets, producing pricing discrepancies during volatility. JellyC is the first to pursue this in Australia, while BlackRock launched a tokenised money market fund on a public blockchain last March, backed by short-term US Treasuries.
A report published late last year by the Digital Economy Council of Australia (DECA), the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) and Ripple estimated that tokenisation of real-world assets could deliver $12 billion annually in efficiencies for Australia's financial markets. The report warned that regulatory barriers could delay progress as other nations advance, and recommended a clear digital asset taxonomy, reform of licensing frameworks, and a regulatory sandbox.
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