Can new digital models lower costs, widen access and overcome Europe’s persistent barriers to investment?
Digitalisation is reshaping the way retail investors access financial markets. Looking beyond crypto-assets, new distribution models, such as digital investment platforms and crowdfunding, are emerging alongside underlying technologies such as distributed ledger technology (DLT) and tokenisation. Together, these developments are opening new pathways to access and digitalise assets that have traditionally been difficult or costly for retail investors to invest in, including gold, private markets and other alternative investments.
To explore this topic, BETTER FINANCE in collaboration with CFA Institute is organising an online webinar. EUROCROWD is happy to contribute and help shape the discussion on how new forms of retail finance can help broaden capital market access:
Beyond Crypto: Digitalising Assets, Tokenisation and New Pathways to Retail Investment
Date: 3 November 2026 | Time: 14:30 – 16:10 | Location: Online (Zoom)
To register please visit Better Finance
Can these new forms of market access and innovation genuinely deliver on their promise of broader participation, lower costs and greater market efficiency, while maintaining high standards of investor protection? The discussion will revisit the objectives of the EU Retail Investment Strategy and the Savings and Investments Union (SIU) agenda in light of recent technological developments. It will explore whether tokenisation and new distribution infrastructures can help overcome Europe’s persistent barriers to investment and address market fragmentation across Europe.
Programme
14:30 – 14:35 | Welcome & Introduction | Why revisit retail investment policy through the lens of tokenisation and digital distribution?
Representatives from BETTER FINANCE & CFA Institute
14:35 – 14:50 | Keynote Speech | The Future of Capital Markets: Can Tokenisation Reduce Fragmentation and Expand Retail Participation
Peter Kerstens, Adviser, Digital Finance, DG FISMA, European Commission
Key themes:
- The European Commission’s vision for tokenised financial markets
- Digital infrastructure and the Capital Markets Union
- Lessons from MiCA and the Digital Finance Package
- Implications for the Retail Investment Strategy
- Can tokenisation make cross-border market fragmentation increasingly irrelevant?
14:50 – 15:55 | Panel Discussion | Digitalisation Beyond Crypto: Wider Retail Access, Lower Costs, or New Complexity?
Panellists:
Joeri Buiten, Senior Policy Officer, ESMA
Basu Choudhury, Consultant Market Structure and Innovation, World Gold Council
Sven Hildebrand, Founder, Crypto Risk Metrics
Martin Molko, Senior Research & Policy Officer, BETTER FINANCE
Ivona Schoonbrood, Senior Consultant, European Crowdfunding Network
Inés Beneyto, Head of Strategy, LISE – Representative from the Lightning Stock Exchange
Moderator: Alexander Lehmann, Director, Capital Markets Policy EU, CFA Institute
15:55 – 16:05 | Q&A with audience
16:05 – 16:10 | Closing Remarks
