The Biggest Problem in Tokenization Isn't Technology. It's Trust. | Tom Zschach, Former SWIFT Exec
About this episode
Tom Zschach discusses the importance of trust in tokenization and the misconceptions surrounding blockchain's role in finance.
Tom Zschach is the former Chief Innovation Officer at SWIFT, the financial messaging network that connects more than 11,500 financial institutions across more than 200 countries and underpins trillions of dollars in cross-border financial transactions every day. In this episode, Eleanor, Jacquelyn, and Gerald sit down with Tom to unpack why he believes the long-running narrative that blockchain would "replace SWIFT" always missed the point. After more than three decades in finance at firms including Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Barclays, followed by six years leading SWIFT's digital asset strategy, Tom recently left to launch a new venture focused on what he believes is tokenization's biggest remaining challenge: how regulated financial institutions can accept, validate, and scale tokenized assets with trust. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 What Does Crypto in America Mean to Tom Zschach? 03:31 Why Crypto Isn’t Replacing Finance. It’s Becoming Finance. 07:04 What SWIFT Actually Does (And What It Doesn’t Do) 12:48 Why “We’re Replacing Swift” Was Always the Wrong Pitch 20:16 Inside the Network That Connects 11,500 Financial Institutions 27:50 Why Tokenization…
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