Patrick Hennes: From Fund Chain Pioneer to the Future of Tokenized Asset Servicing

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Episode Description

In this episode of the Applied Blockchain Podcast, Adi Ben-Ari (Founder, CEO of Applied Blockchain) speaks with Patrick Hennes, a blockchain and digital assets servicing expert based in Luxembourg, specialising in tokenization, MiCA, and digital asset operating models.

Patrick has spent 26 years in Luxembourg's fund industry — from transfer agency and fund migrations to six years as Director at PwC Luxembourg, where he co-founded one of the earliest blockchain initiatives in European asset management. He is a speaker, author, and one of the genuine pioneers of tokenization in the institutional finance world.

Together, Adi and Patrick explore, but not limited to:

• How Patrick first encountered blockchain at a PwC management meeting in 2015 — and what immediately clicked
• The Fund Chain initiative: building the first Ethereum-based tokenization pilot for investment funds back in 2016
• Why digitalization must come before tokenization — and what that means in practice for the full asset servicing value chain
• The two missing pieces from the early days: digital custody and on-chain cash
• Stablecoins, deposit tokens, and the payment rail that will finally enable atomic settlement

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Resources Mentioned & Themes Discussed

• Fund Chain initiative — PwC Luxembourg white paper: "The Genesis of a New Business Model for the Asset Management Industry"
• Forge stablecoin (accepted as settlement currency by Clearstream)
• Larry Fink's "era of tokenization of all assets"
• ERC standards & Polygon
• DORA, AML directives, MiFID2, GENIUS Act
• Atomic Habits – James Clear• The 5 AM Club – Robin Sharma