Ethereum Institutional Names Laurens Schepens Asia-Pacific Head

Ethereum Institutional has named former UBS executive Laurens Schepens its Asia-Pacific head, bringing bank tokenization experience to the nonprofit’s outreach to financial institutions building on the Ethereum network.

Schepens is based in Singapore and will work with financial firms across the region. He left UBS after nearly eight years, having helped develop and promote UBS Tokenize, the bank’s internal tokenization service.

The service has supported work involving Ethereum-based structured products, funds, bonds and equities. UBS also launched a tokenized money market investment built on Ethereum in 2024.

Ethereum Institutional is a Swiss nonprofit association founded by members of the Ethereum Foundation’s enterprise team. It operates separately from the foundation and works with banks, asset managers and other institutions on Ethereum-based products. The group previously sought a Tokyo-based Asia-Pacific lead and named David Duong its U.S. head.

Its next institutional forum is scheduled for Nov. 20 in Singapore, with sessions on banking infrastructure, tokenized assets, privacy and settlement on public blockchains.