The future of assets

We continue our series of interviews dedicated to the future of the financial industry, and we sit down with Dr. Max Bernt, Managing Director at Taxbit Europe and Global Head of Regulatory Affairs for the company. Max leads the company’s strategy beyond the US and brings a background as a lawyer with deep experience in compliance, crypto-assets, and public policy. Let’s ask him a couple of questions on blockchain, digital assets, and the future of money, too.

Who are you and how did you land at Taxbit?   

I began my career as a criminal defense attorney; not the most conventional entry point into crypto assets, but one that gave me a strong foundation in regulatory complexity and risk management. Along the way, I completed a Ph.D. focused on transnational collaboration in combating organized crime and corruption, with academic stints in both Austria and Australia.

My first exposure to crypto-assets came in 2015/16 while researching their use, both legitimate and illicit, in global trafficking networks. That sparked a long-standing interest in how emerging technologies intersect with regulation, compliance, and financial infrastructure.

I later joined a crypto start-up as Chief Legal Officer and helped scale it during a period of intense growth. That path eventually led me to work closely with the European Commission on the DAC8 rules and with the OECD on the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), where I currently co-chair their Business Advisory Group.

That growing focus on regulatory transformation brought me to Taxbit. I joined in 2024 as our first hire outside the U.S., and we’ve since built a rapidly expanding international presence. Today, we support compliance infrastructure for global institutions and governments, helping them address the complexities of financial reporting, including DAC8 and CARF. It’s been an exciting journey at the intersection of public policy and product innovation.

Tell us a little bit about Taxbit. 

Taxbit is the leading financial compliance platform for digital assets. We work with global banks, brokers, exchanges, and regulators to help them navigate reporting and accounting in a domain where traditional systems often fall short.

What makes us unique is the depth of our regulatory, financial, and technical expertise. Our platform was built by professionals who deeply understand the rules and the rails, CPAs, lawyers, and engineers coming together to support compliance in an emerging space. While our name might suggest tax filings, that’s not exactly what we do. Taxbit focuses on information and financial reporting. Think of us as the CRS or FATCA solution provider, but purpose-built for crypto-assets and tokenized instruments. We are a true SaaS company, with plug-and-play APIs that enable clients to upgrade legacy systems and become blockchain-ready. Our tools support everything from ledger reconciliation and regulatory disclosures to crypto-asset and stablecoin reporting.

Since I joined, we have grown our global team to over 135 professionals, and we are scaling quickly across Europe, LATAM, and APAC. Our mission is simple but ambitious: to build the compliance infrastructure that will power digital assets for the global economy.

What do you think of crypto per se?  

We’re seeing a natural maturing of the space. Speculative, hype-driven assets will struggle to find long-term relevance as regulation tightens. Some of these “meme” tokens are unlikely to outlive their novelty. But leading crypto-assets still have value, particularly as tools for diversification in institutional portfolios.

That said, I believe the real promise lies in tokenized financial instruments and real-world assets. Blockchain technology allows us to fractionalize ownership and lower barriers to markets that were historically limited to the wealthy, due to high entry thresholds or structural inefficiencies. That’s where blockchain delivers tangible, scalable value.

We are already seeing regulation drive this shift. Under MiCA, for example, token issuers in Europe are now required to publish white papers substantiating value and functionality. That’s pushing the market toward credible, utility-driven products. Looking ahead, I expect mainstream adoption to be driven by tokenized products that simplify compliance and expand access, like stablecoins and tokenized funds that make financial infrastructure faster, safer, and more inclusive.

What needs to happen for the space to become mainstream?  

We are already deep into a clean-up phase. The space is maturing rapidly, and regulatory clarity is a key driver. Starting January 1st, 2026, under DAC8 and CARF, all users of digital asset platforms across 65+ jurisdictions, including Europe, UAE, US, Singapore, Hong Kong, and others, will need to be identifiable by a Tax ID (or equivalent). Reporting obligations will apply to both on-chain and off-chain transactions. That’s a big step forward for transparency and accountability.

This will help weed out bad actors who often exploit regulatory grey zones. But it’s not just about rules; it’s about systems. Traditional banks are still operating on legacy infrastructure, and there are deeply entrenched inefficiencies. The transformation ahead is not just technological, it’s cultural. We need a shift in how institutions think about infrastructure, value transfer, and trust. The benefits are substantial. Blockchain enables near-instant, low-cost, cross-border transactions. That contrasts sharply with today’s system, where transfers often take days and incur significant fees. We have the tools to unlock real-time liquidity and democratize access to capital. Regulation will accelerate this shift, and so will platforms like Taxbit that provide the compliance rails to make it all viable.

Will the finance system be run on chain in the future?  

Blockchain isn’t going to run the world. And, that’s a good thing. It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, but it’s incredibly powerful when used where it adds real value. We will continue to see blockchain adopted in areas where it brings transparency, speed, and cost-efficiency. Over time, traditional institutions will evolve, becoming leaner, more automated, and more agile. But the human layer of financial services, namely trust, accountability, customer relationships, will remain essential. What we will see is convergence: traditional finance leveraging blockchain rails in the background. Regulatory frameworks like CARF and DAC8 will support this by raising the bar for compliance, transparency, and security. At Taxbit, we are building the infrastructure to support that convergence. We track and report crypto-assets and tokenized assets across both on-chain and off-chain environments. We help institutions meet regulatory obligations while preparing for a more digitized financial future. Ultimately, we’re not just making compliance easier. We are enabling the responsible growth of digital assets at a global scale.

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