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Digital innovation is streamlining fund management and market operations, and digital market infrastructure operator Marketnode, which says it is in the business of building the digital backbone of Asia’s financial markets, is focused on modernizing funds, credit and structured products with cutting-edge technology.
The ambitions of the Singaporean blockchain fintech, co-founded by SGX Group and Temasek, got a major boost when Euroclear acquired a strategic stake. The Asset recently spoke with Rehan Ahmed, company’s CEO, to talk about scaling the business, tokenization, the role of artificial intelligence ( AI ) in finance, and where the industry is headed.
The fintech launched its funds platform just four months ago, and things are moving fast. It’s already handling 130,000 transactions per month, but Ahmed is thinking much bigger. “We’re not aiming to double or triple that number, we’re pushing for a seven to tenfold jump by mid-year. The goal is to hit one million transactions a month by year-end.”
Scaling up is about more than just numbers, he posits, it’s also about efficiency. Traditional back-office operations in finance are slow, manual and expensive; and the company, the CEO points out, is building a tech-first infrastructure to reduce settlement times and streamline transactions across asset classes.
“If we just replicated the old system, we’d be another big back office,” he explains. “That’s not the point. We’re designing this to be tech-heavy, lean and scalable.”
It helps to have heavyweight backers. HSBC invested in the fintech in May 2024, and Euroclear, the Brussels-based post-trade services giant, sees Marketnode as a key partner in transforming fund infrastructure in Asia-Pacific.
“Euroclear’s global connectivity, operational expertise and market-leading position as a trusted financial market infrastructure,” Ahmed argues, “will catalyze the growth of our platforms, especially Fundnode.”
Marketnode operates two flagship platforms:
“We’re solving real pain points in financial markets, whether it’s funds, credit or structured products,” Ahmed says. “The inefficiencies in how they are processed today need an overhaul. That’s what Marketnode is about.”
It’s a big task, but one with clear commercial potential. The fintech’s business model is flexible, offering three pricing options:
“Some fund managers handle US$50 million in assets, others manage billions,” Ahmed shares. “We have to offer flexibility so they can pick what works for them.”
Building market infrastructure
The company isn’t just another financial software vendor, Ahmed argues, rather it’s a market operator, which gives it a unique position.
“You can only have one or two market operators per region,” he explains. “Other firms might have similar tech, but we’re building the market infrastructure itself.”
With all the excitement around AI, Ahmed is pragmatic about how his company fits into the picture. “A lot of financial transactions still happen through emails, PDFs, even handwritten notes. AI helps us convert this messy, unstructured data into proper orders that can be processed digitally.”
It’s not about building chatbots or robo-advisers, he adds. The real impact is behind the scenes – turning paper-based processes into digital transactions, so that orders aren’t lost or delayed. “If we did this manually, transactions would get stuck in inefficiencies. The opportunity cost of not using AI is just too high.”
Tokenization
And then there’s tokenization, the financial world’s next big shift. Ahmed makes a compelling analogy: “Think of tokenization like the shipping container revolution. Before containers, cargo was packed onto ships in an inefficient way. Containers standardized how things were transported, making global trade much faster and cheaper.”
“It’s the same with finance once we standardize how assets are stored and transferred,” he explains. “It’s not just about tokenizing funds. It’s about building better financial highways.”
And it’s already happening. “Private debt and alternative investments are leading the way. We’re bringing our first private debt fund onto Marketnode in Q2,” he states. “The old 60/40 portfolio ( stocks/bonds ) is dead. Today’s investors want crypto, private markets and alternatives in their mix.”
Of course, with new digital infrastructure comes risk, and the fintech is heavily focused on security and compliance.
“We operate under Monetary Authority of Singapore ( MAS ) guidelines,” Ahmed assures. “And with SGX and Euroclear as partners, we’re using institutional-grade security standards.”
However, clearly many people worry about fraud risks in tokenized assets and some even whether the assets actually exist.
“That’s why financial markets have trustees,” he counters. “Their job is to verify and protect investors. Just because an asset is tokenized doesn’t mean we remove these protections. If anything, their role becomes even more important.”
Finding the right people
Looking ahead, Ahmed also sees private credit as a major opportunity. “By 2026, we’ll be expanding into private credit, one of the biggest untapped opportunities in Asia,” he explains. “But the challenge isn’t just launching products. It’s about getting the entire market to move together.
“We need talent that understands both finance and digital transformation. The downturn in 2023-2024 made hiring easier, but now it’s about finding the right cultural fit, people who align with our long-term vision.”
In summing up his aspirations for the business, Ahmed is humbly ambitious as he points out that the company is more than just a fintech and that he believes it is building Asia’s next-generation financial infrastructure.
From scaling transaction volumes, integrating AI, leading tokenization, and keeping pace with regulatory developments, the company, he says, is building the future of capital markets.
“Our job is to enable the front-end innovation,” he adds. “Investors might see slick new platforms, but without a strong back-end infrastructure, none of it works. That’s where we come in.”
And with SGX, Temasek, HSBC and now Euroclear backing them, Marketnode is well on its way to transforming how Asia’s financial markets operate.
