[Digital Securities Forum 2023]Become a top runner in the world with security tokens | CoinDesk JAPAN

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The world of finance is ever-changing. The expansion of the digital securities “security token” (hereinafter abbreviated as ST) market is accelerating. What changes will come in the future with the digitalization of assets? We asked Tatsuya Saito, who was appointed Representative Director and CEO of Progma in October 2023, about the potential of ST being driven by Japan.

Progmat
Representative Director, President and CEO
Mr. Tatsuya Saito

Joined Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking in 2010. Since the establishment of the FinTech Promotion Office, he has continuously planned and promoted new businesses such as Progmat, and in October 2023, he became Representative Director and CEO when Progma became an independent company. With the aim of “co-creating programmable trust,” Japan is driving the movement for Japan to lead the world in cross-industry mechanisms and digital asset areas.

ST where many investors become “repeat customers”

The digital asset platform Progmat was developed by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking in 2018 and has been available for two years. Since October of this year, we have become an independent company aiming to become a “national infrastructure” by welcoming other megabanks and the Japan Exchange Group as shareholders, and are accelerating our business.

The balance of real estate ST created by Progmat is steadily increasing, and the ST projects using Progmat alone are on track to exceed 100 billion yen by March 2024. This is due to the solid product strength and the daily efforts of industry stakeholders, including the continuous product planning of asset management companies, the steady increase in the number of “repeat investors” at securities companies, and the broadening of the base due to the increase in ST sales channels and PR. It’s a gift. Furthermore, the Japanese digital asset market is receiving strong tailwinds, with the Osaka Digital Exchange (ODX) opening a secondary market for ST and the social implementation of digital currency beginning soon.

Progmat’s mission to “digitize all values” is an evolution of social infrastructure and is an area that is not directly visible to investors. However, we believe that the growing number of investors who support us as an effective option for asset building is proof that we are creating intrinsic value.

A once-in-a-lifetime moment for Japan to take the lead

The tokenization of real world assets (RWA), including real estate, works of art, and aged sake, is attracting attention. In addition to tokenizing RWA, it is important that it is legally stable so that investors can trade with confidence, and that the product design is attractive as a means of building assets. In that sense, real estate ST can be said to be an “advanced implementation example” in the world.

What is necessary for further market expansion is to expand beyond real estate. Although it is easy to tokenize movable assets such as aircraft, it is necessary to design products that take into account characteristics such as cash flow and exchange rate effects, which are different from real estate. Please wait a little longer so that we can release this product to the world as an attractive product.

As there is increasing uncertainty regarding the regulation of digital assets overseas, Japan has taken the lead in responding and has completed all legal developments, including those regarding digital currencies. Japan now has a chance to once again take the lead in the world. Progmat will also do its best to develop the market in order to evolve from “national infrastructure” to “global infrastructure.”

｜Reprinted from Nihon Keizai Shimbun “Digital Securities Forum 2023 Advertising Special” dated November 24, 2023
｜Image: CoinDesk JAPAN