IOTA Expands Real-World Adoption with New Trust Framework, DPP Demo, and EU Sandbox Participation

• The IOTA network has deepened its foothold in real-world systems, placing IOTA as a trusted neutral layer for digital identity, provenance, and asset tokenization.
• IOTA recently launched its Trust Framework, unveiled a working DPP demo, and completed its involvement in the European Blockchain Sandbox.

The IOTA team kicked off its 10th anniversary month on a high note with the release of its Q3 report last week, and Binance joining the network as a validator.

CNF reported that IOTA leaped into the regulated finance space when DeFi Technologies, through its subsidiary Valor Inc., launched the IOTA Exchange Traded Product (ETP) on Sweden’s Spotlight Stock Market. This means European investors can now gain exposure to IOTA directly through traditional brokerage accounts.

Mirroring broader volatility, IOTA is currently trading at around $0.1566, down 18% over the past week. But there are bright spots too: trading activity has ticked up slightly, with daily volume climbing 6.46% to $34 million. Its market cap also rose 8% to $634 million.

Despite the recent market shake-up triggered by Trump’s tariff announcement, the IOTA community remains optimistic. Instead, there are ongoing discussions and ecosystem updates to get excited about.

This Week in IOTA

IOTA’s work in the European Blockchain Sandbox, a European Commission initiative, has wrapped up its second cohort after three years, with 60 projects selected throughout. The Foundation piloted Tokenized KYC / identity verification solutions in partnership with IDnow, walt.id, and Bloom Wallet.

In this sandbox environment, the project faced real regulatory scrutiny and feedback, particularly regarding how to handle identity data, privacy, GDPR compliance, and the tradeoffs between on-chain and off-chain transactions.

One key design pattern that emerged is the use of soulbound tokens, non-transferable credentials, to attest to KYC status, while keeping personal data off-chain. This lets dApps or services verify identity without exposing sensitive attributes on the ledger itself.

The sandbox also drew lessons about how wallet operators, node operators, and identity providers are classified under data protection law, which gives IOTA a better roadmap for deploying real-world identity infrastructure. Building on these findings, the team introduced the IOTA Trust Framework.

As we explained in a previous report, the framework is an open-source suite of modular building blocks meant to simplify how organizations integrate blockchain-based trust into their systems. One of them is IOTA Identity, which enables the issuance of verifiable identities to individuals, organizations, and even devices.

IOTA Notarization ensures data integrity by anchoring proofs directly on-chain, while IOTA Hierarchies provides structured access, permissions, and delegation for more secure and efficient operations.

IOTA Tokenization brings real-world assets onto the blockchain by representing them as tokens, opening up new possibilities for asset management and exchange. Finally, the IOTA Gas Station makes transactions more user-friendly by allowing for gas-free or sponsored transfers.

Because these tools are composable, architects can pick and combine only the parts they need, instead of adopting an all-or-nothing stack.

One of the headline showcases built on the Trust Framework is a Digital Product Passport (DPP) demo. This demo links the Trust Framework, the IOTA Wallet, and IOTA Explorer to illustrate how products can carry their own “history” transparently and securely.

In the demo, manufacturers and supply chains record lifecycle events, manufacturing, repair, and recycling, in a way that is verifiable yet privacy-preserving. Users don’t have to manage token mechanics or deal with complicated wallet payments; the system handles trust and verification under the hood.

This is quite useful because, as the EU gears up for stricter regulation around supply chain transparency, with DPPs becoming mandatory in sectors like textiles, IOTA’s demo is already aligned to meet those requirements.