Tokenized structured note: UniCredit’s Italy on-chain issue

Italy’s capital markets take a step into on-chain finance as the country’s first tokenized structured note reaches private investors through a major bank’s wealth platform.

UniCredit and BlockInvest complete first tokenized investment product for Italian private clients

On December 19, 2025 in Milan, BlockInvest supported UniCredit in issuing Italy’s first tokenized structured note for private investors within the bank’s Wealth Management segment. The transaction, executed by UniCredit and managed via Weltix‘s digital register, relied on the BlockInvest technology infrastructure and remained fully aligned with the FinTech Decree. Moreover, it represents a concrete application of blockchain to regulated investment products.

The deal was executed through BlockInvest’s platform and the digital register operated by Weltix, in full FinTech Decree compliance. It closely follows the first native digital minibond structured by UniCredit the previous week, underlining the bank’s progressive strategy on digital securities. However, this new operation specifically targets private investors, widening access to tokenized instruments.

Product structure and blockchain-based lifecycle management

The tailor-made product, designed for professional clients inside UniCredit’s Wealth segment, offers capital protection and returns indexed to Euribor 3M. Thanks to registration on a public blockchain, the entire lifecycle of the instrument can be managed in a fully digital way. As a result, operational complexity linked to traditional processes is reduced, while transaction traceability is enhanced.

BlockInvest delivered the platform that enabled the digitalization of the financial instrument in line with the FinTech Decree, its representation on a public blockchain, and its integration with the digital register Weltix operates as an authorized Register Operator. Moreover, a workflow that was previously fragmented across multiple systems and intermediaries has been managed through a unified digital infrastructure that respects regulatory standards.

Through this setup, UniCredit was able to test an end-to-end issuance and management process dedicated to private clients, using a single digital architecture. That said, the core features of risk control and investor protection remain anchored to the existing regulatory framework, showing that innovation and compliance can coexist in practice.

Tokenization, regulation, and efficiency gains

The structured note, aimed at professional clients within UniCredit’s Wealth segment, highlights how tokenization can extend to sophisticated investment products without compromising regulatory oversight. This tokenized investment product aligns with investor protection rules while exploiting distributed ledger technology for efficiency. Furthermore, it shows that wealth managers can embed digital assets technologies into their traditional offerings.

Thanks to the use of DLT, issuance and settlement timelines are significantly reduced compared to standard capital markets procedures. Moreover, transaction traceability becomes native and independently verifiable on a public ledger, while operational processes achieve higher efficiency than legacy models. In this context, the tokenized structured note serves as a live test case for how on-chain workflows can streamline post-trade activities.

This transaction confirms the flexibility of the BlockInvest infrastructure in supporting multiple use cases on the same technological base. According to the parties, the same architecture can be extended to other asset classes and structures, including minibonds and additional wealth management tokenization initiatives. However, each future project will still need to respect strict regulatory requirements and investor safeguards.

Strategic relevance for Italian markets

The successful execution of this deal underscores Italy’s growing role in regulated digital securities. By combining UniCredit’s distribution capabilities with BlockInvest’s technology and Weltix’s role as Register Operator, the partners have introduced a repeatable model for public blockchain registration of financial instruments. In this way, the tokenized structured note becomes both a commercial product and a proof-of-concept for broader digital transformation.

In summary, the operation shows how a major Italian bank, supported by a specialized fintech and an authorized register provider, can use blockchain to issue and manage complex instruments more efficiently while remaining firmly within existing regulation, opening the door to wider adoption of on-chain securities in the coming years.