BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says tokenization will trigger a structural overhaul of finance comparable to the deregulation of the 1970s, driven by faster settlement, fractional ownership and programmable assets. Tokenization is the conversion of real-world assets into digital tokens that can be traded and settled on blockchain ledgers, and Fink’s comments position BlackRock to shape that shift given its scale.
Fink frames tokenization as the digital unbundling of assets that strips out intermediaries and cuts transactional friction, accelerating capital velocity and liquidity. The technique enables fractional ownership and embeds rules and automation through smart contracts, a form of programmable finance that can automate compliance, conditional payouts and dividend or interest distribution.
This combination aims to shorten settlement cycles from days to near-instant transfers and reduce manual reconciliation costs.
One practical result is broader access to asset classes historically limited to institutions or wealthy investors. By lowering minimums and enabling cross-border trading, tokenization expands the investable universe and offers new portfolio diversification channels for retail and institutional clients alike.
BlackRock’s strategic moves and regulatory hurdles for tokenization
BlackRock is actively building infrastructure and deploying capital behind the thesis. The firm manages roughly $13.46 trillion in assets and has developed proprietary tokenization technology under Fink’s direction. BlackRock led a $47 million strategic funding round in a tokenization platform and has flagged exploration of tokenizing its ETF lineup and other large pools of assets.
Its BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), launched in March 2024, became one of the largest tokenized cash-market funds with $2.8 billion under management. BlackRock is also reported to be planning a $150 billion blockchain treasury fund to apply tokenization at scale.
Joseph Chalom, BlackRock’s Global Head of Strategic Ecosystem Partnerships, described the Securitize investment as “another step in the evolution of our digital assets strategy,” underscoring a deliberate ecosystem approach. The firm is collaborating with other asset managers—Apollo, Hamilton Lane, KKR and VanEck—on tokenized funds, signaling industry-wide coordination rather than a solo experiment.
Fink has urged regulators to provide clearer rules and called on the SEC to “rapidly approve” tokenized bonds and stocks, noting that regulatory certainty is essential for institutional adoption. Absent a supportive framework, the technological benefits—faster settlement, embedded compliance and expanded liquidity—may be constrained by legal and operational uncertainty.
BlackRock’s push couples technological design, strategic investments and large-scale fund experiments to accelerate tokenization; success depends on regulatory clarity and infrastructure interoperability.
