The shift towards a tokenised financial system isn’t about abandoning the old – it’s about intelligently combining it with the new. At the heart of this evolution is the urgent need for interoperability and programmability across execution, settlement, payments, and custody. In this evolving landscape, Phil Dettwiler, head of custody and settlement at Crypto Finance (a Deutsche Börse company) will bring his unique vantage point to the stage, in a panel titled “New vs old: what will change in how we execute payments, settle trades, and custody assets” at the upcoming PostTrade 360° 2025 conference.
Interoperability and programmability are not future ambitions; they’re fast becoming both regulatory expectations and market necessities. As Dettwiler puts it, “The tokenised economy won’t be perfect, but the efficiency advantages are too big to ignore. Incumbents that delay risk being crowded out.”
The discussion will unpack why the long-standing vision of digital assets is now shifting into practical coexistence, driven by increasing institutional demand, maturing technology, and the changing regulatory environment.
“Up to 2019, the bottleneck was institutional-grade tech,” says Dettwiler. “From 2019 to 2024, it was regulation. Now, it’s all about speed of adoption. Everyone asks, ‘when is the moment?’ The better question is, ‘will you be ready when it hits?’”
Stablecoins, tokenised funds, and programmable settlement rails are no longer theoretical constructs. They are already influencing how institutions operate, blurring the lines between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralised finance (DeFi).
New rules
Dettwiler will also explore the deeper strategic challenge facing firms today: what do you outsource? What must you build? And how do you prepare your teams and systems to operate in a hybrid world?
“Coexistence isn’t easy,” he says. “It’s a test of strategy, agility, and knowledge, and only the most efficient providers will make it through this transition.”
For professionals across capital markets, payments, treasury and asset servicing, this conversation goes beyond buzzwords. It’s about understanding the new rules of infrastructure and the choices that will define your competitive edge in a programmable future.
Have you signed up yet to be in Stockholm for PostTrade 360° 2025 on 3–4 September? It’s free for securities operations pros, both trading and investor sides! (Vendor firm representatives need a sponsorship agreement.) The powerful event website lets you register, see all other delegates, schedule sessions and meetings, and message. Find all related articles, including loads of teaser interviews, here.
