Eurex Clearing to Become World's First Hybrid CCP, Clearing Digital and Traditional Securities Under Single Framework
Eurex Clearing to Become World’s First Hybrid CCP, Clearing Digital and Traditional Securities Under Single Framework #
Eurex Clearing has announced plans to integrate digitally native securities into its existing clearing infrastructure, a move the company says would make it the world’s first hybrid central counterparty (CCP).
Under the hybrid model, native digital instruments, including bonds issued by the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), will be eligible for trading on Eurex Repo’s GC Pooling segment, subject to central clearing through Eurex Clearing, and accepted as eligible margin collateral. The digital instruments will also qualify for inclusion in the ECB GC Pooling basket, giving them access to the same secondary-market liquidity as conventional instruments without structural disadvantage.
The arrangement is designed to eliminate fragmentation in digital asset markets, where separate trading venues, risk models, and legal agreements have kept blockchain-based instruments isolated from mainstream financial infrastructure. Operating under a single clearing framework, one rulebook, and one unified risk model, Eurex Clearing said institutional clients will be able to access digital markets through their existing clearing relationships without building new connectivity or signing new legal agreements.
Laura Bayley, Chief Executive Officer of Eurex Clearing, said: “The future of financial markets is hybrid. Instead of creating isolated digital islands that fragment liquidity and trap capital, Eurex Clearing is building a bridge between both ecosystems.”
The initiative is part of Deutsche Börse Group’s broader digital post-trade strategy. Clearstream, a Deutsche Börse subsidiary, will provide infrastructure enabling clients to move securities and cash across traditional and blockchain-based environments, including settlement in wholesale central bank money via the Eurosystem’s Pontes solution. Pontes launched on 21 September and enables DLT-based securities transactions to settle using the Eurosystem’s TARGET infrastructure, with Clearstream’s D7 DLT platform handling the securities leg.
The model brings digitally native instruments into central clearing, secured financing, and collateral management, areas of post-trade processing that have remained largely traditional as tokenisation has advanced. The ESM’s first live digital native bond issuance served as a proof of concept for the end-to-end workflow, according to the company.
As a regulated CCP, Eurex Clearing will novate and clear all transactions to provide settlement finality, multilateral netting benefits, and default management, giving institutional participants the legal and regulatory certainty needed to operate at scale in digital markets.
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