- Redbelly Network has appointed Christian Westerlind Wigstrom as Chief Executive Officer to lead the company's push into regulated tokenisation; he previously co-founded payments platform Monoova, which processed $200bn in transactions and became Australia's largest PayTo processor.
- The regulatory environment in Australia has shifted significantly, with the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act becoming law in 2026 and taking effect in 2027, bringing digital asset platforms into the same licensing regime as brokers and fund managers.
- As part of the Reserve Bank of Australia's Project Acacia, Redbelly was the only public Layer 1 blockchain to carry a real central bank claim on public infrastructure, distinguishing it from other chains that participated via private or permissioned instances.
- Redbelly is built with identity and compliance native to its protocol rather than as add-ons, positioning it to operate within the licensed environment created by the new Digital Assets Framework.
- Christian Westerlind Wigstrom brings deep experience in regulated financial infrastructure, having also served on the boards of FinTech Australia and the Australian Payments Network, and aims to position Redbelly as the settlement layer for regulated markets.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Redbelly's new CEO is a payments pioneer betting on regulated tokenisation
SYDNEY, Australia — 16 September 2026 — Today, Redbelly Network announced the appointment of Christian Westerlind Wigstrom as Chief Executive Officer to start November 2026. In collaboration with regulators and the scientific community, Redbelly has spent years building rigorous, patented technology to support the management of regulated assets. Christian joins to lead the company's push into regulated tokenisation.
As Co-Founder and CEO of payments platform Monoova, most recently, Christian Westerlind Wigstrom built a leading fintech serving clients with embedded payments. One idea was critical: payments infrastructure must be good enough to disappear into the background. At the end of Christian’s tenure, Monoova had processed $200bn transacting with more than 10% of all Australians by acting “behind the scenes” of several leading, innovative brands. Along the way, Monoova became Australia’s largest PayTo processor, issued almost a quarter of the country’s PayIDs and won Fintech Australia’s Fintech Organisation of the Year.
As CEO of Redbelly Network, Christian is applying that same thesis to regulated capital-markets infrastructure: it must be secure, scalable and fast enough to support enterprise-level use cases behind the scenes.
The regulatory moment has arrived
For years, tokenisation in Australia lived in pilots. That has changed. The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act became law in 2026, bringing digital-asset platforms and tokenised-custody platforms into the same licensing regime as brokers and fund managers. This framework takes effect in 2027.
At the same time, the Reserve Bank’s and DFCRC's landmark research program Project Acacia tested tokenised settlement across twenty use cases. It demonstrated faster settlement, reduced counterparty risk and improved capital efficiency. The DFCRC estimates digital-finance innovation could deliver $24 billion in annual economic gains for Australia.
As part of Project Acacia, the RBA issued its world-first pilot wholesale CBDC directly onto external platforms. Several well-known chains participated with private or permissioned instances. Redbelly, by contrast, was the only public Layer 1 carrying real central bank claims on public infrastructure. For a market deciding what to build on, that is the difference between theory and proof.
Built for regulation, not around it
Redbelly is designed for regulated contexts. It is a Layer 1 with identity and compliance native to the protocol. Rules forced on regulated participants are properties of the network, not add-ons at the edges. Its compliance work, including Public Digital Token Infrastructure (PDTI), is specifically aimed at operating inside the licensed environment created by the Digital Assets Framework.
As Christian remarks:
“One of Redbelly’s many strengths is its regulatory credibility. In payments, I learnt that success belonged to the company that saw compliance as a product edge rather than a tick box. The same thing applies to capital-markets infrastructure. As new regulation takes effect, this insight stops being philosophical and starts being existential.”
Why him, and why now
Christian is not a crypto tourist. He co-founded one of Australia's most significant payments businesses serving major platforms such as Wise and Carsales.com.au, and served on the boards of FinTech Australia and the Australian Payments Network. He has spent years inside the regulated financial system, learning how new rails get adopted and how to earn the trust of counterparties who do not move on hype.
That is the profile this moment calls for. Building infrastructure for regulated finance is not won by the largest marketing budget. It is won by being credible, durable and native to how institutions already operate.
“The next era of finance won't be won by the loudest chain,” according to Christian. “It'll be won by the chain that institutions can actually use.”
His appointment sends a strong message about Redbelly’s position and direction: it is the settlement layer for regulated markets, not just another chain chasing attention. With Christian as CEO, Redbelly will be led by someone who has already proven that the infrastructure that wins is the infrastructure you stop noticing.
About Redbelly Network
Redbelly Network is a Layer 1 blockchain built for regulated finance, with native identity and compliance. Its tokenisation strategy, delivered through Tokeniser, brings fund and equity administration on-chain for regulated markets. Learn more at redbelly.network.
ENDS
Media contact
Alison Lewis
Head of Marketing, Redbelly Network
About us:
Redbelly Network is a Layer 1 blockchain built for regulated finance, with native identity and compliance. Its tokenisation strategy, delivered through Tokeniser, brings fund and equity administration on-chain for regulated markets. Learn more at redbelly.network.
Contact details:
Alison Lewis
Head of Marketing