The Chainlink team announced the launch of a comprehensive institutional solution to automate regulatory compliance for the issuance and circulation of tokenized assets.
The Chainlink Foundation introduced the Automated Compliance Engine (ACE), a modular platform designed to ensure compliance in on-chain and hybrid financial operations. The solution is built on the Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE) infrastructure and supports interaction with both public and private blockchains, enabling institutional investors to operate securely and legally in the on-chain environment.
ACE provides KYC/AML compliance, digital identity management, and real-time automation of compliance policies. The system is already in use by several organizations:
- The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) provides on-chain verification of legal entities via vLEI, a cryptographically verifiable form of the Legal Entity Identifier, allowing institutional participants to confirm counterparties’ status without revealing unnecessary data.
- The ERC-3643 Association integrated ACE and vLEI support into the ERC-3643 standard, making tokens compatible with dynamic and jurisdiction-dependent rules.
- Apex Group, managing $3.4 trillion in assets, uses ACE to issue permissioned ERC-3643 tokens with ONCHAINID support.
The press release highlights the rapid growth of the tokenized assets market. According to BCG, tokenized illiquid assets will reach $16 trillion by 2030, while the World Economic Forum estimates the tokenization potential at up to $867 trillion. However, institutional adoption of blockchain solutions remains limited without built-in compliance. ACE removes this barrier by enabling use cases such as:
- fund subscriptions with eligibility compliance;
- cross-border credit transactions with party accreditation checks;
- transaction volume limits;
- asset freezing policies for sanctions compliance;
- collateral verification during token issuance.
ACE offers a modular architecture, SDK support, templates, reusable components, and full compatibility with any blockchain networks, assets, and identity providers. The platform also supports CCID, a format for verified identification data using vLEI, ONCHAINID, and other real-time sources accessible to smart contracts.
Previously, ACE was employed during the second phase of the digital Hong Kong dollar (e-HKD) pilot project, demonstrating Chainlink’s infrastructure readiness to support real-world financial operations with high regulatory requirements.
