Why collateral that moves and works 24/7 onchain depends on independent, consistent data, and how Kaiko contributes to defining how it will operate

Collateral has always been a core component of capital markets. Repo, securities lending and margining for cleared and bilateral trades depend on it, and margin calls can be made several times a day when markets move, requiring changes to collateral posting.

Collateral management runs on agreed settlement cycles, cut-off times and batch processing, while perpetual futures and crypto markets trade around the clock. When a margin call lands after a cut-off or over a weekend, firms can’t always mobilize collateral before the next call, so they pre-fund margin and overcollateralize as a buffer. The result is idle collateral held at custodians and central securities depositories (CSDs), and a cost of carry that firms absorb to stay safe.

To address this issue of immobilized assets and high costs, institutions are tokenizing the assets they post as collateral, such as government bonds and money market fund (MMF) shares, and choose distributed networks based on regulatory and privacy requirements, cost and interoperability. Each network needs data infrastructure to price the collateral held on it and feed the workflows around it.

Once collateral is onchain, the next objective should be to enable onchain collateral mobility: the ability to post, substitute and recall collateral continuously, 24/7, so it reaches the counterparty that needs it the moment a margin call lands. This, in turn, can enable onchain collateral utility, with collateral that keeps working while it is posted. A tokenized MMF share used as collateral, for example, can keep accruing yield intraday, so a firm no longer has to redeem fund units for cash to meet a margin call.

24/7 collateral mobility and utility means rebuilding collateral processes on distributed ledger technology (DLT). Every operation collateral goes through offchain, from eligibility checks and valuation to haircuts, margin calls and substitutions, has to be replicated onchain and run in an always-on environment, and each one depends on independent data that every counterparty can trust.

What onchain collateral still needs

Tokenized assets are being issued across a growing number of chains, each with its own identifiers and token standards. Without common data models, a tokenized bond or MMF share on one network is hard to recognize, value or accept as eligible collateral on another.

At the same time, crypto-native and traditional finance are converging. Protocols such as Morpho and Aave already run collateralized lending onchain, and hybrid models are emerging, such as tokenized money market funds issued by Spiko and deployed on Morpho with curation by Steakhouse. Traditional institutions want the same efficiency with the controls they are used to, and that requires trust in the data. Accepting an asset as collateral means pricing it, applying haircuts and managing margin calls in near real-time, which requires independent, auditable data on every asset, on every network.

Where data fits in collateral mobility

Kaiko’s contribution sits in the data layer, starting with pricing. Kaiko Data On-Ramp brings offchain data onchain, from Kaiko Reference Rates to third-party data such as Bloomberg’s, so tokenized collateral can be priced on the networks where it is held. Kaiko Data Off-Ramp works in the other direction, extracting onchain data and delivering it to institutions offchain, which brings transparency to the volumes of real-world assets (RWAs) transferred onchain.

Onchain pricing lets a counterparty value collateral, but for collateral to move, every participant also needs to read the asset the same way. Kaiko is working with the industry on the open questions in data standards, from asset identifiers to open-source data models, so tokenized collateral can be recognized and valued consistently across institutions and networks.

Kaiko Connect supports collateral mobility by linking networks together. It is a multichain architecture designed so a tokenized asset can be posted, substituted or recalled across venues without being stranded on the chain where it was issued.

Why Canton matters for collateral

Kaiko does its work on data standards inside industry groups, and a large share of the industry’s work on tokenized collateral is converging on the Canton Network. Built for regulated institutions, with privacy controls and interoperability between participants, Canton is the network Euroclear uses for its tokenized collateral mobility initiative, and its industry working group includes Euroclear, DTCC, LSEG, Citadel Securities and Tradeweb.

The Canton Network collateral subcommittee is where market infrastructures and network participants work out how tokenized collateral should operate in practice. Kaiko leads its Workstream 2, “Collateral Mobility & Interoperability”, which looks at how tokenized collateral moves between counterparties, custodians, CCPs and networks.

Canton is one part of Kaiko’s contribution. Across the groups below, participants are deciding how tokenized assets are identified, valued and accepted as eligible collateral, and how they move between institutions.

Where Kaiko is shaping the standards

Kaiko now contributes to nine working groups, task forces and initiatives that are shaping how tokenized collateral will work in practice.

• Canton Network Collateral Subcommittee: Kaiko leads Workstream 2, “Collateral Mobility & Interoperability”, and contributes to the workstreams on data, transparency and observability, central counterparties (CCPs) and financial market infrastructures (FMIs), and securities lending.
• International Central Securities Depository (ICSD) Digital Assets Solutions Industry Working Group: working group member.
• International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Tokenized Collateral Working Group: working group member.
• ISDA, Global Digital Finance (GDF) and Ownera Tokenized Money Market Fund (TMMF) working groups and sandboxes, UK and US, 2025 to 2026: partner and data provider.
• Ownera Open Collateral Network (OCN): partner.
• UK Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Task Force: task force member, working toward an end-to-end repo transaction in 2027.
• International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Bond Data Taxonomy (BDT) Working Group: working group member.
• ICMA Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Bond Working Group: working group member.
• Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS) Common Domain Model (CDM) Tokenized Assets Working Group: working group member.

The work is already producing results, including an honorable mention at the Swift Hackathon 2026 for Kaiko’s “Standardized TMMF Margin Call Functions” project.

Data infrastructure that follows the collateral

Institutions choose different networks for their tokenized assets, so collateral is spread across Besu, Canton, Base, Arbitrum, Stellar and other chains. Each tokenized asset is settled and transferred on the network where it was issued, which is where its reference prices need to be available. If the same tokenized Treasury fund were valued one way on Arbitrum and another way on Canton, institutions could end up with conflicting views of its value, ownership or settlement status, which would undermine the single, authoritative record that institutional post-trade systems are designed to provide.

Kaiko is blockchain agnostic and deploys its data infrastructure on the networks where tokenized collateral sits, so the same reference prices, built with the same methodology and trusted data sources, are available on each network. Through Kaiko Data On-Ramp, Kaiko has brought Bloomberg data onchain on Canton, with an initial focus on tokenized U.S. Treasuries and repo. Across public EVM networks such as Base and Arbitrum, several tokenized assets used as collateral are priced with Kaiko Reference Rates.

Franklin Templeton chose Stellar for its BENJI tokenized money market fund in 2021, and DTCC has announced plans to connect its tokenization service to the network. Following tokenized collateral onto Stellar, Kaiko deployed Kaiko Data On-Ramp on the Stellar mainnet in August 2026, giving lending protocols and tokenized money market funds signed price updates for collateral valuations, net asset value (NAV) calculations and trade settlement.

Work with Kaiko on tokenized collateral

Whether you are a market infrastructure, a custodian, an asset manager or a protocol exploring tokenized collateral, Kaiko would like to hear from you. Talk to the team about how Kaiko’s data and infrastructure can support your collateral workflows, or about joining Kaiko in the working groups shaping the market.

About Kaiko
Kaiko provides institutional-grade data, regulated digital asset services, and infrastructure for onchain finance. Founded in 2014, the company supports trading, valuation, risk management, tokenized assets and onchain applications, connecting traditional and blockchain-based markets. Its clients include banks, asset managers, exchanges and leading financial institutions worldwide. For more information, visit www.kaiko.com.