BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Prepare to Launch Tokenized Shares
Wall Street’s largest banks are accelerating their adoption of blockchain technology for traditional financial markets. According to recent information, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are preparing to launch tokenized shares, a development that could profoundly transform how capital markets operate.
This initiative marks a major turning point in the institutional adoption of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. After years of exploration and pilot projects, the three financial giants now appear ready to move to the operational phase, with concrete offerings of tokenized shares intended for institutional investors and, potentially, retail clients.
What Is Tokenization of Shares?
Tokenization of shares consists of representing traditional shares as digital tokens on a blockchain. Each token corresponds to a fraction or a whole unit of a share, and can be traded 24/7 on compatible platforms. This process allows benefiting from the speed, transparency and efficiency of the blockchain while retaining the economic and voting rights attached to traditional shares.
Unlike stablecoins or native cryptocurrencies, tokenized shares are backed by real securities held by a regulated custodian. Each token represents a legal claim on the underlying share, offering protection to investors while enabling increased liquidity.
Tokenization of shares offers several advantages over the traditional system: near-instant settlement instead of T+2, reduced intermediation costs, increased accessibility thanks to token divisibility (allowing the purchase of fractions of expensive shares), and full transaction transparency via the distributed ledger.
BlackRock: The Asset Management Giant Takes a New Step
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with over $10 trillion in assets under management, is no newcomer to the crypto space. The firm has already launched several tokenized products, notably its BUIDL tokenized fund on Ethereum, and has been a key player in the development of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
With the addition of tokenized shares to its catalog, BlackRock is taking an additional step toward its goal of digitizing financial markets. Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, has repeatedly stated that the tokenization of financial assets is the next major evolution of capital markets. According to him, every share and every bond will eventually be tokenized, reducing friction and improving market efficiency.
BlackRock’s platform could build on the existing infrastructure of its BUIDL fund, which has already demonstrated the viability of tokenization on Ethereum. The use of smart contracts would allow automated governance and programmable dividend distributions.
Goldman Sachs: The Pioneering Investment Bank
Goldman Sachs was one of the first major banks to seriously explore tokenization. The bank has already launched its asset tokenization platform, GS Tokenize, which initially enabled the tokenization of bonds and money market funds. The extension to shares represents a natural progression of this offering.
The New York-based investment bank has a dedicated digital assets team working closely with regulators to ensure compliance of new offerings. Goldman Sachs has also participated in several funding rounds for blockchain infrastructure, including tokenization platforms and digital asset custody solutions.
Goldman Sachs’s expertise in equity markets, combined with its deep understanding of distributed ledger technologies, positions it ideally to become a leader in the field of tokenized shares. The bank plans to offer these products to its institutional clients, starting with the most liquid stocks from the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices.
JPMorgan: The Onyx Network and Tokenization at Scale
JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, has invested heavily in blockchain infrastructure with its Onyx network and JPM Coin. The bank has already processed billions of dollars in tokenized transactions via its platform, and the extension to shares is a long-announced step.
JPMorgan’s Onyx network uses a permissioned version of the Ethereum blockchain to enable transactions between financial institutions. This infrastructure is already used for payments, securities settlement, and tokenization of money market funds. Adding tokenized shares to this platform could allow institutional investors to trade shares 24/7, near-instantly and with significantly reduced costs.
JPMorgan has also filed several patents related to asset tokenization, covering aspects from token creation to their exchange and settlement. The bank is also exploring the use of its stablecoin JPM Coin to facilitate tokenized share transactions.
A Favorable Regulatory Environment
This acceleration by major banks occurs in a regulatory context that is increasingly favorable in the United States and the United Kingdom. The U.S. Crypto Clarity Act, whose adoption is nearing, should provide a clear legal framework for the tokenization of traditional assets. In the UK, the government has already set up a tokenization working group in which these same banks...
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