#news

Credit Agricole’s CACEIS Backs Tokenized SME Exchange in Europe

CACEIS, the asset servicing arm of Crédit Agricole, has taken a minority stake in French fintech Kriptown to support the launch of Lise, a blockchain-based exchange aimed at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and mid-cap companies. Dubbed the Lightning Stock Exchange, Lise is poised to become Europe’s first tokenized exchange, streamlining equity financing and public listings for smaller firms.

The platform, awaiting regulatory approval as a DLT Trading and Settlement System under the European pilot regime, will enable companies to issue, trade, and settle financial instruments directly on a distributed ledger, reducing the time and costs of traditional IPOs. This move aligns with CACEIS’s broader push into digital assets, following its MiCA approval earlier this year. Kriptown, founded in 2018, specializes in tokenizing financial instruments, and Lise’s first IPO is planned for 2025, pending approvals.

This initiative marks a significant step in modernizing financial systems, offering SMEs innovative funding tools and investors greater liquidity and transparency.