In a move that could accelerate the financial sector’s shift toward digital infrastructure, BNY has partnered with Securitize to bring AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) onchain.
The new vehicle, still in development, will allow qualified investors to access tokenized exposure to top-tier floating-rate credit instruments — the same kind of assets traditionally held by major banks and pension funds. According to insiders, BNY will act as custodian for the underlying loans, while one of its subsidiaries takes charge of the fund’s active management.
Blockchain Steps Into Institutional Credit
Rather than reinventing credit, the project retools it for a decentralized era. CLOs — long considered a backbone of structured finance — make up more than $1.3 trillion in global issuance. By digitizing them through tokenization, Securitize aims to cut costs, shorten settlement times, and widen access to high-grade credit products once reserved for institutions.
The launch will be further supported by Grove, a blockchain-based credit protocol within the Sky Ecosystem, which plans to allocate $100 million as an anchor investment pending governance approval. That initial commitment would provide liquidity and help validate onchain credit as a legitimate alternative to legacy fund structures.
Tokenization’s Momentum Builds
The partnership is part of a much larger trend. According to data from RWA.xyz, the total value of tokenized real-world assets now exceeds $35 billion, encompassing treasuries, private credit, real estate, and even major stock indices.
Recent examples underline how quickly the idea is spreading. Ondo Finance introduced a U.S. Treasury fund on the XRP Ledger, offering redemptions in stablecoins. Around the same time, Centrifuge collaborated with S&P Dow Jones Indices to tokenize the S&P 500, marking the first time a global equity benchmark was represented directly onchain.
A Strategic Shift for Securitize
For Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo, the CLO fund is as much about accessibility as it is about modernization. He argues that tokenized credit gives investors a chance to participate in previously closed markets without sacrificing regulatory oversight or transparency.
“This is about reshaping how capital flows,” a person close to the project said. “Tokenization makes high-quality credit liquid, auditable, and borderless.”
The launch follows a separate announcement that Securitize is preparing to go public through a merger with Cantor Equity Partners II, a special-purpose acquisition company. That deal would make it one of the first blockchain-native issuers to debut on a U.S. stock exchange.
Wall Street’s New Digital Frontier
What began as an experiment in blockchain-based securities has rapidly matured into a new asset class. By blending the reliability of BNY’s custodial framework with the flexibility of Securitize’s digital infrastructure, the project highlights a pivotal shift: tokenization is no longer a side story to crypto — it’s becoming the next foundation of finance.
As global capital markets continue to migrate onchain, Securitize’s latest venture may be remembered not for the size of its fund, but for what it represents — the moment traditional credit truly entered the blockchain age.