BlackRock's Perspective on Tokenization's Growth
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and COO Rob Goldstein have stated that tokenization is entering a phase comparable to the early days of the commercial internet, with its growth already exceeding expectations. They highlighted a 300% increase in real-world asset tokenization over the past 20 months as evidence of accelerating adoption. The executives described digital records of ownership as a way to modernize markets by reducing paperwork, streamlining manual processes, and enabling instant asset settlement. They view tokenization not as an isolated cryptocurrency trend, but as the natural evolution in financial infrastructure upgrades over decades.
Fink recalled the significant shift from manual, phone-based trades and physical certificate delivery in the 1970s to the standardization and efficiency brought by SWIFT in 1977, which reduced settlement times from days to minutes. They position blockchain as the subsequent major advancement—a shared ledger that allows market participants to independently verify transactions without a central intermediary.
The Impact of Tokenization on Market Structure
Fink and Goldstein explained that tokenization enables nearly any asset, including equities, debt, real estate, and currencies, to be represented on a single digital record. This capability could significantly shorten settlement windows, decrease operational errors, and broaden access to assets that are currently too illiquid or administratively burdensome for many investors. They emphasized that the underlying asset remains the same, even if it resides on a blockchain, and that private market processes heavily reliant on spreadsheets and extensive back-office documentation could be rewritten into code.
The executives noted that faster settlement reduces counterparty risk, and the creation of smaller digital units allows for fractional ownership of assets that were previously inaccessible. While early adoption is most prominent in developing markets with limited banking access, many of the firms poised to lead the tokenization transition are based in the U.S. They drew a parallel between the current moment and the internet in 1996, a period when major tech companies had yet to emerge and e-commerce was in its infancy.
BlackRock is presenting tokenization not as a niche crypto experiment but as a structural upgrade to the bookkeeping and settlement foundation of global markets.
BlackRock's Involvement in Tokenization
BlackRock is actively engaged in tokenization through various initiatives. Its BUIDL tokenized U.S. money-market fund, operating on public blockchain infrastructure, has surpassed $2 billion in value. The company has also expanded its digital asset presence with spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, which have attracted substantial net inflows, totaling $62.6 billion for Bitcoin products and $13.2 billion for Ethereum products.
Fink and Goldstein observed that tokenization was initially overlooked due to its association with the speculative aspects of the crypto boom. However, as traditional financial firms explored its underlying technology, they recognized its potential to expand the range of investable assets rather than replace existing markets. They described tokenization as a bridge connecting established institutions with "digital-first innovators," such as stablecoin issuers, public blockchains, and emerging fintech companies. Their outlook suggests that investors will eventually manage all asset types through a single digital wallet.
BlackRock sees tokenization as an add-on to existing rails — a way to compress time, cut paperwork and bring more assets into investable form, not a plan to replace traditional markets outright.
Challenges and Future Outlook for Tokenization
The BlackRock executives advocate for regulators to update existing rules rather than create entirely new frameworks for tokenization. They emphasized the need for clear buyer protections, robust counterparty-risk standards, and modern digital-identity systems to ensure secure participation. While tokenization has the potential to increase accessibility, its success hinges on safeguards evolving in tandem with the technology.
Despite real-world asset tokens representing a small fraction of global markets currently, their rapid growth rate—tripling in less than two years—indicates a significant acceleration. The extent to which tokenization becomes integral to the financial system will depend on institutional adoption and the smooth adaptation of regulations. Fink and Goldstein anticipate that the next decade will mirror the early stages of the internet boom, characterized by rapid development and a move towards much larger scale as more assets transition to programmable digital ledgers.