Lars Heerink (Blockcentral): Think of NFTs as a digital version of a bearer share.

Lars Heerink (Blockcentral): Think of NFTs as a digital version of a bearer share.

February 13, 2026

Crypto

This text was originally written in Dutch. This is an English translation.

By Esther Waal

The crypto market is rapidly professionalising. Following Bitcoin ETFs in 2024, 2025 will bring further regulation and institutional entry. MiCA will create a harmonised supervisory framework, while tokenisation of real-world assets will bring digital and traditional markets closer together. At the same time, questions remain about applications, strategy and positioning within multi-asset portfolios. Reason enough for Financial Investigator to ask Lars Heerink, Founder of Blockcentral, a number of questions.

Do you expect the European MiCA regulation to increase the confidence of institutional investors, or will its complexity keep them at a distance for the time being?

‘The MiCA regulation is less technically detailed than MiFID II, but it focuses on a new area that MiFID does not cover. In my view, many institutional investors will be pleased that there is finally a clear framework for crypto companies, which will increase confidence in the market. The fact that MiCA is a regulation and not a directive like MiFID II will certainly give Member States less room for national interpretation, making it more difficult for non-European parties to exploit loopholes in the regulations. It is a much-needed step towards maturity for the crypto market and will only increase confidence in the market.’

Tokenisation of real estate, loans or works of art is often cited as a bridge between traditional and digital markets. How far along is this development really, and which use cases do you see breaking through first?

‘The tokenisation of so-called “real world assets” is a hot topic in the crypto world. But at the moment, we are seeing few successful or groundbreaking applications. There are some successful projects in specific and mainly illiquid markets, such as sports memorabilia, art, or even Pokémon cards. But we are still seeing few meaningful developments that are groundbreaking for traditional financial products or real estate. The development we are seeing most now is that certain niche markets are gaining more access to liquidity by issuing a digital version of the object in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT). This can be traded freely online or actually exchanged for the object itself. This ensures that the investment object always remains in the same place while easily changing hands. Think of it as a digital version of a bearer share, but for art or a rare card.’

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