Guest: Theo Golden (@TFGolden) — Former Head of Digital Assets & Tokenisation at Baillie Gifford (@BGDA_UK)

Background: At the Asia Onchain Finance Summit, Theo Golden, who was the Head of Digital Assets and Tokenisation at Baillie Gifford—a century-old Scottish asset management giant managing approximately $266 billion globally—delivered a keynote speech titled "Tokenisation: Same, But Better." He elaborated on how Baillie Gifford is reshaping asset management using Ethereum's native architecture without sacrificing legal protections.

嘉宾：Theo Golden (@TFGolden) — 前Baillie Gifford(@BGDA_UK) 数字资产与代币化负责人

背景：在 Asia Onchain Finance Summit 上，苏格兰百年资管巨头 Baillie Gifford（全球资产管理规模约 2,660 亿美元）的前任数字资产负责人 Theo Golden 发表了题为《Tokenisation: Same, But Better》的主题演讲。他详细阐述了 Baillie Gifford 如何在不牺牲法律保障的前提下，利用以太坊原生架构重塑资产管理。

This article has been edited and translated based on the live session recording for clarity and readability. Every effort has been made to accurately reflect the speakers’ original remarks, though minor transcription or translation discrepancies may remain. Views expressed are those of the individual speakers.

本文根据现场录音整理、翻译并经编辑以提升阅读体验。我们已尽力准确还原嘉宾原意，但仍可能存在少量转录或翻译偏差。文中观点仅代表嘉宾个人观点。

1. The iOS Moment of a Century-Old Asset Manager: Why Choose Tokenisation?

一、百年老牌资管的“iOS时刻”：为何选择代币化？

Hi everyone. My name is Theo Golden. I am Head of Digital Assets and Tokenisation at Baillie Gifford. It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for coming and listening to us today. And thank you to our fellow hosts, and SNZ in particular, for their kind hospitality.

大家好。我的名字是 Theo Golden。我是 Baillie Gifford 的数字资产与代币化负责人。非常荣幸来到这里。感谢大家今天抽空前来倾听我们的分享。也感谢我们的联合主办方，特别是 SNZ 的热情招待。

I represent Baillie Gifford. For those who don't know us, we are a 118-year-old institution out of the United Kingdom, based in Scotland, in Edinburgh. We are a private partnership. That means we have no external shareholders. It is 54 individuals who all live and breathe Baillie Gifford and work in the business. We're also an unlimited liability partnership. What that means is if anything goes wrong, we start to lose our houses.

我代表 Baillie Gifford。对于那些还不了解我们的朋友，我们是一间来自英国、总部位于苏格兰爱丁堡的拥有 118 年历史的机构。我们是一家私营合伙制企业。这意味着我们没有任何外部股东。公司由 54 位合伙人共同拥有，他们全情投入于 Baillie Gifford 的日常运营与发展中。我们同时也是一家无限责任合伙企业。这意味着如果出了任何差错，我们是要拿自己的房子去承担责任的。

But what's really important is that we are very, very aligned. It means that the most important thing to us is that we do the right thing. What that also means is that we bring a very stable base to clients in terms of building a long-term adventure—a journey into the world of investments, innovation and technology. And that is why tokenisation is so important.

但真正重要的是，我们的利益是高度高度一致的。这意味着对我们而言最重要的事情就是“做正确的事”。这也意味着我们在带领客户踏上投资、创新与科技领域的长期探索之旅时，能够提供极其稳定的基石。这就是为什么代币化对我们如此重要。

We're also rather large. We run around US$266 billion of assets under management. That's across private equity, public equity, fixed income and multi-asset. I myself came through the investment floor and was formerly a portfolio manager with the firm. I now lead the Digital Assets team, and I'm joined by Alexander from our team as well today.

我们的规模也相当庞大。我们管理着大约 2,660 亿美元的资产。涵盖私募股权、公募股权、固定收益和多资产领域。我本人出身于投资部门，此前曾是公司的基金经理。我现在带领数字资产团队，今天我们团队的 Alexander 也来到现场。

Why are we here? What are we doing? Well, fundamentally, we believe that blockchain technology is going to completely rewire how the financial system and wider society works. This is an opportunity to reset. It's an iOS moment for what has often become an intermediated, inefficient and expensive financial system for many people.

我们为什么来到这里？我们在做什么？从根本上说，我们相信区块链技术将彻底重构金融体系乃至整个社会的运转方式。这是一个重新出发的机会。对于一个在很多人看来中介繁复、低效且昂贵的传统金融体系来说，这正是一个“iOS 时刻”。

2. Same, But Better: Rejecting SPVs and Dual-Ledger Systems

二、“Same, But Better”：拒绝SPV与双重账本

So what have we done? Well, we have been focusing on best-in-class, gold-standard tokenisation. So what does that mean? We launched the Baillie Gifford Enhanced Yield Fund ($BAGEY), and we like to say it is "the same, but better."

那么，我们做了什么？我们一直专注于打造同类最佳、行业黄金标准的代币化。那么，这究竟意味着什么？我们推出了 Baillie Gifford 增强收益基金（$BAGEY），我们喜欢称之为“Same, but better”。

What that means is when we ask clients to go for the tokenised future, you fundamentally shouldn't have to make any sacrifices in the name of innovation. You shouldn't have to cut your legal protections just because you're going onchain. Therefore, what we think about is this "same, but better" analogy, which is you're getting the same legal rights, the same high-quality institutions, but better outcomes onchain: faster finality and security.

这意味着，当我们邀请客户拥抱代币化的未来时，从根本上说，你不必为了所谓的“创新”做出任何妥协。你不应该仅仅因为资产上了链，就必须牺牲你的法律保障。因此，我们所设想的这种“Same, but better”的比喻就是：你获得了完全相同的法律权益、完全相同的高品质机构服务，但同时获得了更优的链上结果——更快的结算终局性以及更高的安全性。

So what do we mean by that? We mean a fully native operating system. That means there's no SPV and no wrapper. The fund is the token, and the token is the fund. That means you're not adding layers of intermediaries or adding layers of counterparty risk. You're just buying a fund.

那么，我们这样说具体指什么？我们指的是一个完全原生的运行系统。这意味着没有特殊目的载体（SPV），也没有包装外壳（wrapper）。基金即代币，代币即基金。这意味着你没有增加任何额外的中介层级，也没有增加额外的交易对手风险。你就是在购买一只基金。

What we're also doing is creating a legally robust framework for the fund. What we mean by this—and this is nuanced—is that the blockchain, which is simply a record-keeping device, legally records ownership at all times. That means when a transaction occurs with a Baillie Gifford fund, that block, when it closes, means that transaction is legally true in the eyes of the law.

我们还在为这只基金建立一个法律上极其稳健的框架。我们的意思是——这里面有很微妙的区别——区块链本质上是一个记账工具，但在法律层面，它无时无刻不在记录着所有权。这意味着当涉及 Baillie Gifford 基金的交易发生时，那个区块一旦出块闭合，就意味着这笔交易在法律视角下立刻具备了完全的法律真实效力。

That compares to other tokenised funds out there in the market today, where they use something called a dual register. The blockchain is recording things, but the legally authoritative register of the transfer agent still sits offchain. What we're trying to do is say transactions need to be fast, final and secure onchain, but also legally true. Otherwise, you're taking operational risk simply by being onchain.

与目前市场上其他代币化基金相比，后者使用的是一种被称为“双重登记册（dual register）”的模式。区块链虽然在记录数据，但具备法律权威效力的转让代理登记册依然停留在链下。而我们试图做的是：交易不仅要在链上做到快速、具备终局性和安全性，还必须在法律上真实有效。否则，仅仅因为上了链，你反而承担了额外的操作风险。

3. Stablecoin On/Off-Ramps and Real-Time iNAV: Breaking Away from Traditional Finance's "T+N"

三、稳定币出入金与实时 iNAV：打破传统金融的“T+N”

The last thing is about using the onchain economy. It's about the flywheel effect. The key point here is there is no point tokenising a fund unless you are utilising the wider ecosystem. At the moment, that means using stablecoins as the source of in-kind subscriptions and redemptions.

最后一点是关于利用链上经济。这是关于飞轮效应。这里的核心要点是：除非你充分利用了更广泛的链上生态，否则代币化一只基金毫无意义。在当前阶段，这意味着要使用稳定币作为实物申购和赎回的资金来源。

There is no point having a tokenised fund if we're forcing you to go into fiat on the way in and the way out. We simply must allow subscriptions to be done in stablecoins. And that's exactly what we've done in the UK. You can use USDC to subscribe and redeem in kind into the fund. We're also, because we're using stablecoin rails, able to offer T+0 redemptions of up to 10% of the fund's NAV. That is only possible because we are utilising the blockchain and we're not having to utilise legacy cash rails.

如果我们一边搞代币化基金，一边又强制你在资金进出时必须换回法定货币，那代币化就失去了意义。我们必须允许直接用稳定币完成申购。而这正是我们在英国所做到的。你可以直接使用 USDC 对本基金进行实物申购与赎回。此外，由于我们使用了稳定币轨道，我们能够支持最高相当于基金 NAV 10% 的 T+0 赎回。这之所以成为可能，完全是因为我们利用了区块链，而不需要依赖传统的旧式现金结算轨道。

$BAGEY is bringing together all of the best of that fully native model, which we believe is now a new gold standard for what tokenised funds should look like. It's the only way that capital is going to reliably come onchain, because investors are not having to cut corners or take on additional risk simply to enter the ecosystem. But it also means those key features, as I said—stablecoin mint and redeem, T+0 settlement of up to 10% of NAV, and peer-to-peer transactions.

$BAGEY 汇集了这种完全原生模式的所有优势，我们相信这代表了代币化基金应该具备的全新黄金标准。这是资本能够可靠地流向链上的唯一途径，因为投资者不需要为了进入这个生态而走捷径偷工减料，或承担额外的风险。但也正如我所说，这意味着那些核心功能——通过稳定币进行申购与赎回、最高相当于 NAV 10% 的 T+0 赎回，以及点对点交易。

We like to joke as a team that we're almost making an ETF and a mutual fund have a baby. It's an ETF on the front end and a mutual fund on the back end. We've almost made a mutual fund tradable, which is novel and simply wasn't possible within the legacy financial system. But by simply being on Ethereum, we can make that happen.

我们团队喜欢开玩笑说，我们几乎是让 ETF 和共同基金生了个孩子。它前端表现得像 ETF，后端运行得像共同基金。我们几乎让共同基金变得可实时交易，这很新颖，在旧有的金融体系内部根本不可能实现。但仅仅通过部署在以太坊上，我们就让它变成了现实。

The other piece of the puzzle is transparency. Currently, when you look at tokenised funds today, many of them are still using legacy architecture. They publish valuations once a day, which is a legal requirement—and we do that too. That's the price you use to subscribe to and redeem from the fund.

拼图的另一块是透明度。目前，当你观察当今市面上的代币化基金时，许多基金依然在使用旧有的架构。它们每天发布一次估值，这是法律要求——我们也是这么做的。那是你用来申购和赎回基金的价格。

But when you look at ETFs, which are exchange-listed, there's something really important called an indicative NAV. What we've done is take that iNAV feature and bring it onto the fund. That means every 15 minutes, during market hours, we publish a live indicative NAV of what the fund is. Why do we do that? Because it allows you to have better visibility into what your asset may be worth. It also makes the fund feel like a digital asset. We're building for 24/7 markets. We can't be using once-a-day assets. That's why we built this onchain iNAV feature, as well as providing greater transparency around the underlying assets.

但是当你观察在交易所上市的 ETF 时，会有一个非常重要的概念叫“参考净值（indicative NAV / iNAV）”。我们所做的，就是把 iNAV 这个功能引入到了我们的基金上。这意味着在市场交易时间内，我们每 15 分钟就会在链上发布一次基金的动态参考净值。我们为什么要这么做？因为这能让你对自己的资产价值拥有更好的可见性。这也让这只基金体验起来更像是一个真正的数字资产。我们正在为 7×24 小时运转的市场做建设。我们不能再去使用每天只更新一次价值的资产。这就是为什么我们构建了链上 iNAV 功能，并对底层资产提供了更高的透明度。

4. Asset Structure of $BAGEY and the Future of Asset Management

四、$BAGEY 的资产结构与资管未来

So what is $BAGEY? We've seen a massive proliferation of money market funds. There's a good reason for that. Because GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoins are backed by sub-90-day U.S. Treasury bills, giving stablecoins and money market funds very similar characteristics. It's cash-like. It's also relatively easy to build. That's why most institutions have gone there first. There's simply not that much innovation required. In fact, in the Luxembourg regime, many money market funds already allow investors to subscribe and redeem during the day. Being onchain alone is therefore just a cosmetic wrapper.

那么，$BAGEY 究竟是什么？我们看到了货币市场基金（MMF）的大肆涌现。这背后有充分的原因。因为符合 GENIUS 法案的稳定币底层是由 90 天以内的美国国库券支撑的，这使得稳定币和货币市场基金具备了非常相似的特征。它类似于现金。构建起来也相对简单。这就是为什么大多数机构最先选择从那里切入。因为这根本不需要太多的创新。事实上，在卢森堡的监管体制下，许多货币市场基金已经允许投资者在日内进行申购和赎回。因此，仅仅是“上了链”，充其量只是一种表面上的包装。

It gets much harder when you move into assets that carry credit risk or generate higher yields. That's why we chose to go there first. Once we've solved the difficult problem, everything else becomes easier. $BAGEY is a yielding fund. The portfolio is 50% government bonds and 50% corporate credit. It yields around 7%, offering a meaningful spread over money market funds while remaining a high-quality investment-grade credit portfolio, averaging BBB.

当你转向带有信用风险或能产生更高收益的资产时，难度就会大得多。这就是为什么我们选择直接先去攻克这个高难度领域。一旦我们解决了这个最难的问题，其他一切都会变得容易。$BAGEY 是一只收益型基金。它的投资组合是 50% 的政府债券和 50% 的公司债。它的收益率在 7% 左右，在保持平均 BBB 级的高质量投资级信用组合的同时，提供了显著高于货币市场基金的利差。

It is also short duration. Now, that's a slightly different concept from what people in DeFi usually mean by duration. Here we're talking about traditional fixed-income duration. The bonds are less sensitive to changes in interest rates than longer-duration bond portfolios. Most of the portfolio matures in roughly two to two-and-a-half years. Putting all of that together, it's a natural complement to the money market fund industry.

它同时也是短久期（short duration）的。不过，这与 DeFi 领域人们通常所说的“久期”概念略有不同。我们这里说的是传统固定收益领域的久期概念。这些债券对利率变动的敏感度要低于更长久期的债券组合。组合中的绝大部分债券大约在 2 年到 2.5 年内到期。把所有这些结合起来，它是对货币市场基金行业的一个天然补充。

We started rebuilding the onchain economy with stablecoins, which represent money. Then we moved to money market funds, representing low-risk yield. The next evolution is yield for savings. That's where the Baillie Gifford Enhanced Yield Fund fits. And you might ask, what's next? The next step is investments. That's the final stage of building a fully fledged financial system onchain. So watch this space.

我们重建链上经济的起点是稳定币，它代表着货币。然后我们转向货币市场基金，代表着低风险收益。下一个演进阶段是针对储蓄的收益（yield for savings）。这就是 Baillie Gifford 增强收益基金所在的位置。你可能会问，下一步是什么？下一步是投资。这是在链上建立一个完整成熟的金融体系的最终阶段。所以请拭目以待。

Why have we cared about this? Well, for those who may not know Baillie Gifford, there's a little sign up there that says: "Actual investors think in decades, not quarters." We like to think that is the foundational principle of how we operate as a business. Every business in the world can optimise for the next quarter. But if you do that, you're focusing on the wrong thing. You're building for the business you had over the last five years—not the business you'll need over the next ten.

我们为什么如此重视这件事？对于那些可能还不了解 Baillie Gifford 的人，上面有一块小标牌写着：“真正的投资者以‘十年’为单位思考，而不是‘季度’。”我们喜欢将这句话视为我们企业运营的立足之本。世界上任何一家企业都可以针对下一个季度进行优化。但如果你这么做了，你就关注错了重点。你只是在为你过去五年拥有的业务做建设——而不是为你未来十年所需要的业务做建设。

As I said, we're a Scottish firm. We're not famous for being the most innovative people in the world. But when it comes to finance and banking, Scots certainly like to claim that we invented the banking system. We've been working on tokenisation for around five years. When I joined the firm, we asked ourselves: "What are the three transformational trends that are going to reshape society?" Our answer was: Clean energy, Artificial intelligence, Tokenisation. We've been investing heavily in tokenisation because we believe it is the one that will fundamentally transform our own industry.

正如我所说，我们是一家苏格兰公司。我们并不以世界上最具创新力的人群而闻名。但谈到金融和银行学，苏格兰人绝对敢宣称是我们发明了现代银行体系。我们在代币化领域已经探索了大约五年。当我加入公司时，我们曾问过自己：“将要重塑社会的三个颠覆性趋势是什么？”我们的答案是：清洁能源、人工智能、代币化。我们一直在代币化领域进行大量投入，因为我们相信它将从根本上变革我们所在的资产管理行业。

We established the Digital Assets workstream in 2021. In 2025, we proved that a fully native model could work within the UK legal framework for private clients. And this year, in 2026, we launched the Baillie Gifford Enhanced Yield Fund ($BAGEY), which is now available to professional investors in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong.

我们在 2021 年建立了数字资产专项工作组。在 2025 年，我们证明了完全原生的代币化模式可以在英国法律框架内为私人客户有效运行。而到了今年——2026 年，我们正式推出了 Baillie Gifford 增强收益基金（$BAGEY），目前该基金已面向英国、瑞士、开曼群岛和中国香港的专业投资者开放。

For us, this is only the first step in a much longer journey. We want to help rebuild the financial system together with amazing colleagues, peers and professionals across this industry, as we redefine what good can look like. So I hope today marks the beginning of a long relationship as we continue building together with our colleagues here in Hong Kong and across Asia. Thank you very much.

对我们而言，这仅仅是一段漫长征程的第一步。我们希望与行业内优秀的同行、专家们一道，共同帮助重建金融体系，重新定义什么是真正的卓越。因此，我希望今天是一个长期合作关系的开端，让我们与香港及整个亚洲的同仁们继续携手共建。非常感谢大家。