DLT Pilot Regime: Nasdaq, Boerse Stuttgart, others lobby to drop tokenization caps

Nasdaq, Boerse Stuttgart, and a coalition of ten securities firms and 16 fintech associations have formally petitioned the European Parliament to eliminate the current €6 billion cap on tokenized securities under the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime. The existing regulatory constraints have discouraged large institutional players from participating, as the limits are deemed insufficient for meaningful market operations. The European Commission’s recent Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP) proposed raising this limit to €100 billion, but industry participants argue this remains inadequate for competitive scaling. The coalition is now advocating for the complete removal of these caps or, alternatively, an increase to €1.5 trillion to align with global standards. They specifically cited the DTCC’s U.S. no-action letter as a benchmark for the scale required to support institutional-grade tokenization. This lobbying effort highlights a critical friction point between European regulatory caution and the operational requirements of global financial institutions. If successful, the removal of these caps could significantly accelerate the adoption of DLT-based trading venues across the European Union. The outcome of these negotiations will determine whether the EU remains a viable jurisdiction for large-scale institutional RWA tokenization.