For years, the same question has followed blockchain into every serious financial conversation: can this technology actually work inside real regulatory systems?
In 2025, that question started to get answered. Not with theory, but with approvals and policy engagement. Plume spent the year doing something most blockchain projects talk about but rarely execute on: helping regulators think through what comes next.
If you care about real-world asset tokenization, or where capital markets are actually heading, 2025 was a turning point.
Here is what Plume did and why it matters.
Regulation Was Not the Bottleneck, Execution Was
The dominant narrative around blockchain regulation has long been that rules were unclear or hostile. The reality in 2025 looked different.
Regulators were open to engagement. What was lacking was infrastructure that could actually meet regulatory expectations without sacrificing the benefits of being onchain. Only a few firms took on the challenge of mapping existing frameworks to the capabilities of onchain, RWA finance. Plume’s approach was simple but demanding: design the network as if regulators, institutions, and auditors would be real users, not edge cases. Where gaps existed between existing frameworks, then work toward educating policymakers on solutions that proportionately address the risk while not undermining the unique capabilities of onchain capital markets.
SEC Approval Changed the Conversation in the United States
One of the most important moments of the year came when Plume earned approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to operate as a registered transfer agent.
That status is not symbolic. Transfer agents sit at the core of regulated securities markets. They maintain official ownership records, process transfers, and ensure the integrity of shareholder registries.
By meeting those standards on-chain, Plume demonstrated something concrete: public blockchains can operate as regulated financial infrastructure, not just experimental rails.
The takeaway was clear. Real-World Assets (RWAs) do not require rewriting securities laws. Existing regulatory frameworks can extend to programmable systems that improve transparency, settlement speed, and auditability while preserving investor protections. Plume is actively working with the SEC and lawmakers to unlock onchain transfer agency - among other regulated market functions that can be performed better onchain.
Policy Engagement Became Practical
Throughout 2025, Plume engaged directly with U.S. policymakers and regulators on the future of tokenized capital markets.
The tone of these conversations mattered. This was no longer about debating whether blockchain belongs in finance. It was about how to implement it responsibly.
Several ideas consistently resonated:
- Regulation should focus on outcomes and risk, not the underlying technology.
- Compliance can be enforced directly through smart contracts through “embedded compliance,” not bolted on later nor require legacy manual processes.
- Tokenized markets can lower issuance costs, improve liquidity, and expand access without weakening oversight.
RWAs Are Global, So Regulation Has to Be Too
Capital markets do not stop at national borders, and neither do Real-World Assets.
In 2025, Plume participated in regulatory discussions across key international jurisdictions, with a focus on how compliant on-chain infrastructure can integrate into existing financial systems.
Hong Kong
Engagements in Hong Kong focused on bridging traditional finance, Web3 infrastructure, and regulatory oversight. The goal was practical alignment: supporting institutional participation, cross-border capital flows, and AML requirements without fragmenting market structure.
Plume hosted a series of forums with Web3Labs under the title “2025 Spotlight: Hong Kong’s New Policy on Digital Assets” in an effort to provide a full overview of the region’s fast-emerging Web3 ecosystem development and policy interest to key industry and regulatory players.
Abu Dhabi and the Middle East
Plume made meaningful progress in the Middle East in 2025 by securing a commercial license from the Abu Dhabi Global Market Registration Authority (ADGM), establishing a permanent presence in Abu Dhabi to support real world asset origination and distribution across the Middle East, Africa, and other emerging markets under ADGM’s globally respected financial framework.
he commercial license provides an important milestone toward an eventual integration within the regulatory perimeter in a jurisdiction that is rapidly attracting institutional interest in compliant digital asset infrastructure. Plume’s move reflects Plume’s strategy of engaging early with forward looking policymakers to build long term pathways toward regulated tokenization.
Bermuda and Principles-Based Regulation
Plume also submitted a detailed response to the Bermuda Monetary Authority’s consultation on asset tokenization.
Rather than arguing for special treatment, the submission focused on practical regulatory design. This included recognizing distributed ledger technology as official record-keeping infrastructure, providing clarity for non-custodial tokenized asset models, and applying risk-based supervision that reflects how on-chain systems actually operate.
The intent was straightforward: help regulators regulate what matters.
Compliance Works Best When It Is Built In
One lesson from 2025 became increasingly clear. Compliance is most effective when it is embedded in system design, not an afterthought.
Plume continued to build around programmable controls, transparent on-chain records, and interoperability with existing financial institutions. This makes it easier for regulators, issuers, and institutions to evaluate tokenized assets using familiar legal frameworks.
On Plume, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) are implemented at the sequencer level. On the RWA yield protocol built on Plume, Nest, AML is built in at the vault level.
What 2025 Made Possible
By the end of the year, the narrative around regulated blockchain infrastructure had shifted.
Public blockchains were no longer being evaluated only as experimental technology. They were being assessed as production-ready financial systems capable of operating within established supervisory regimes.
The work Plume did in 2025 laid important groundwork. Not just for the network itself, but for a broader future where regulated, and globally interoperable on-chain finance is no longer aspirational.
It is already happening.