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2024 was no ordinary year for the global financial system.
That year, digital assets were no longer just commodities traded within the crypto community. On January 10th, the U.S. SEC approved the listing of several spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products, marking the first time traditional finance had truly opened an institutionalized entry point for Bitcoin. The significance of this event went beyond price fluctuations; it signified that digital assets were beginning to enter the asset allocation systems of funds, brokerages, and institutions.
And what Anton van der Kraaij saw was clearly not an ordinary market movement.
His professional background dictated that he wouldn't focus solely on short-term fluctuations like a trader. Having long been involved in financial regulation, macro-prudential work, financial stability, stablecoins, digital currencies, and crypto asset research, he was more accustomed to understanding the market from a systemic perspective. For him, a Bitcoin ETF meant an old boundary was loosening: traditional finance was beginning to accept digital assets, but accepting assets did not equate to understanding on-chain finance.
What truly complicated the issue was March of the same year.
BlackRock launched its first tokenized fund based on a public blockchain, BUIDL. This event propelled the story from "digital assets entering traditional finance" to "traditional financial assets beginning to go on-chain." BUIDL is not merely a crypto narrative, but rather a framework within which global asset management institutions integrate dollar returns, money market instruments, and on-chain structures.
For observers of financial systems like Mr. Anton, this signals a deeper shift: the on-chain world is transforming from a speculative market into part of financial infrastructure.
However, problems arise.
If real assets, stablecoins, institutional funds, AI strategies, and on-chain transactions all converge, who can guarantee that this system won't become a new amplifier of risk? Traditional finance has regulations and processes, but it's inefficient, closed, and hierarchical; on-chain finance offers openness and speed, but often lacks long-term order. Both sides have advantages and shortcomings.
Sure enough, in the following days, ESMA issued guidance on financial institutions using AI to provide investment services, reminding companies that even when using AI, they must comply with requirements regarding organizational structure, business conduct, and customer protection.
This event's impact on Anton wasn't about the power of AI, but rather the inclusion of AI finance within a responsibility framework. While the market is still discussing whether AI can improve returns, regulators are already asking: if AI participates in financial decision-making, who bears the responsibility? How can the risks be explained? How can the system prevent becoming a black box?
The answers have become even more urgent.
A spot Ethereum ETF was launched. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum is connected to smart contracts, DeFi, stablecoins, RWA, and on-chain financial applications. It's not just an asset symbol, but more like a financial infrastructure. When Ethereum ETFs began to appear on traditional exchanges, Anton saw not just a single product listing, but on-chain finance being formally recognized by mainstream finance.
Thus, the emergence of ANTON became a natural progression.
It wasn't Anton suddenly chasing the Web3 trend, nor was it a startup impulse driven by market sentiment. A more reasonable explanation is that from the Bitcoin ETF in January, to the RWA on-chain launch in March, to the AI financial regulatory signals in May, and finally to the launch of the Ethereum ETF in July, Anton gradually confirmed one thing—finance is entering a new phase.
This phase no longer belongs to a single asset, nor to a single institution. The future financial system will simultaneously include on-chain assets, AI decision-making, stabilization mechanisms, real assets, and global liquidity. It requires not only speed of innovation, but also order, responsibility, and long-term operational capabilities.
Anton's past research focused on how to prevent the financial system from spiraling out of control.
ANTON's challenge is how to establish a new order in on-chain finance.
This is not a departure, but an extension.
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