DLT Goes Live: Adhara and ioBuilders Combine to Take Blockchain Banking from Pilot to Production

In a significant consolidation of enterprise-grade blockchain tech, Adhara and ioBuilders have merged to form what may now be the world’s most advanced independent provider of blockchain-based financial infrastructure for banks and capital markets. Headquartered in London, the new company is already profitable, with over 120 employees, operations in four continents, and annual revenues in the double-digit millions—a rarity in the blockchain-for-banks space.

This isn’t your average “future of finance” pitch. This is production-ready, regulation-friendly, multi-chain infrastructure already powering tokenized cash, securities, and lending platforms at major global banks and financial market infrastructures. Names like Santander, Deutsche Bank, BBVA, UBS, DTCC, Lloyds, SIX/BME, and Fnality are already in the mix. And that’s just the public roster.

From Pioneers to Production Partners

Founded in 2018, both Adhara and ioBuilders were early adopters of enterprise Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)—with a strong leaning toward Ethereum-compatible stacks like Hyperledger Besu and Hedera Hashgraph. These platforms, now viewed as mature, are emerging as the backbone for tokenized TradFi systems due to their scalability, privacy tooling, and ecosystem depth.

Adhara made its mark with real-time digital cash systems, most notably as the core software partner for Fnality, the first commercial wholesale digital cash network using blockchain. ioBuilders, meanwhile, has delivered tokenized securities and digital lending platforms for regulated institutions across Europe, offering a regulatory-grade alternative to more retail-oriented DeFi protocols.

Together, their combined offerings include:

• DC Commander – For issuing and managing digital currencies (deposit tokens, stablecoins)
• DC Issuance – For minting and managing tokenized assets (bonds, loans, equities)
• Asseto Markets – A trading and distribution platform for digital financial instruments

All three are live and in use—not stuck in the never-ending purgatory of pilot programs.

Why This Merger Matters Now

This move comes at a critical moment. With central banks, regulators, and financial institutions actively exploring tokenized money and assets, the need for scalable, compliant infrastructure has never been clearer. This merger signals that the institutional phase of blockchain adoption is no longer on the horizon—it’s happening.

“We’re moving beyond PoCs,” said Julio Faura, Adhara founder and now Chairman of the merged entity. “The maturity of digital cash and assets is real. Together with ioBuilders, we’re creating the go-to enterprise Ethereum partner for global finance.”

Leadership and Capital Backing

The new company is led by Carlos Matilla, former CEO of ioBuilders, with Peter Munnings (co-founder of Adhara) as COO. Investors include Yabeo, Force Over Mass Capital, and ConsenSys, whose founder Joe Lubin—also a co-founder of Ethereum—praised the merger as a key step in advancing regulated blockchain adoption in TradFi.

“As one of the earliest projects incubated at ConsenSys Mesh, Adhara saw this coming before most,” Lubin said. “With ioBuilders, they’re now poised to power the next wave of tokenized banking infrastructure—from stablecoins to cross-border payments.”

What Sets Them Apart from Rivals

While platforms like R3 Corda and Digital Asset’s Daml focus heavily on bespoke private networks, Adhara and ioBuilders are betting on interoperable, Ethereum-aligned infrastructure with built-in compliance tooling. That makes them not only tech-forward but ecosystem-aligned, ready to integrate with partners like Fireblocks, Ownera, Partior, and others.

Also key: they’re not just building software—they’re getting it into production. That makes them fundamentally different from most vendors still stuck building out tech demos or wrestling with regulatory uncertainty.

The Bigger Play: Replacing Incumbent Bank Software

This is no niche startup aiming to plug into existing banking infrastructure. The goal here is more ambitious: replace it.

Gerrit Seidel, General Partner at Yabeo, didn’t mince words: “The merged company is the leading bank-to-bank blockchain technology provider worldwide and bound to replace incumbent banking software players in the next years.”

With a growing client list, active deployments, and a team of engineers battle-tested in real-world financial environments, that prediction may not be as bold as it sounds.

Bottom Line

This isn’t blockchain hype—it’s blockchain delivery. Adhara and ioBuilders are now arguably the most production-ready player in institutional-grade DLT. As banks and financial infrastructures accelerate their transition into the digital asset era, this combined company is positioned to be the software stack they build it on.