Apex Group joins Hedera Council to explore tokenization and settlement

Apex Group, a global financial services provider overseeing more than $3.5 trillion in assets, has joined the Hedera Council, bringing its expertise in fund administration, digital assets and institutional market infrastructure to the governance of the public blockchain network.

The company plans to explore using Hedera for its digital asset and tokenization initiatives, including asset lifecycle management, compliance and settlement, as institutional adoption of tokenized financial products expands.

"Institutional tokenization will scale only when compliance is embedded throughout the asset lifecycle, not added as an afterthought," said Marco Infuso, head of digital assets, Central Europe, at Apex Group. "That principle underpins our use of ERC-3643, the standard for compliant tokenization. By removing technological complexity, we can give clients a seamless experience and the flexibility to hold assets in traditional or tokenized form, with consistent standards of control and protection."

The Hedera partnership builds on Apex Group's existing work bringing blockchain infrastructure, stablecoins and staking products into traditional financial services.

Its Tokeny unit partnered with Polygon to build a blockchain for permissioned ERC-3643 tokens, with Apex Group serving as the initial onchain transfer agent. Separately, Apex partnered with World Liberty Financial to test USD1 stablecoin infrastructure in traditional fund administration, including subscriptions and redemptions for tokenized funds.

In 2024, Apex also played a role in launching institutional ETH and SOL staking exchange-traded products on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

"Apex Group combines deep expertise in private-market servicing with a clear vision for digital assets," said Mance Harmon, chair of the Hedera Council. "Its addition strengthens the Council at a pivotal moment, as institutional tokenization moves from experimentation to real-world adoption."