Through the following recent releases, ISDA® has begun the movement to establish contractual standards for the growing digital assets derivatives market:

ISDA notes that it is uniquely placed to lead the charge for standardization in the digital assert derivatives arena because of its work establishing standardization with other asset classes, as ISDA has been analyzing how novel technologies such as distributed ledger technology (DLT) and smart contract code can be integrated within ISDA's contractual framework (see Legal Updates, ISDA Publishes Legal Guidelines for Smart Derivatives Contracts: Credit Derivatives and ISDA Publishes Second Series of Legal Guidelines for Smart Derivatives Contracts)

O'Malia's column continued the theme of the whitepaper, detailing the need for greater standardization in the digital asset market to reduce risk and to promote greater efficiency and deeper liquidity. He noted the growth of crypto assets in recent years as a defining feature of modern finance. Currently valued at $3 trillion, according to a cited November 2021 Forbes article, the crypto-asset market is attracting the attention of institutional investors and banks. It is ISDA's position that standardization in this industry will create a strong legal foundation built on common definitions and contract templates. O'Malia noted further that, to date, OTC crypto derivatives trading has taken place using amended ISDA templates and definitions or bespoke definitions.

In the February 15, 2022 podcast, Wetjen contended that any market that features automation needs standardization for broad adoption. With crypto assets, he noted, there is some standardization with certain tokens. However, he argued more standardization is needed for the interoperability of networks and assets on networks.