Finance

BlackRock’s Tokenization Revolution: How Larry Fink Plans to Digitize All Assets and Transform Wall Street

BlackRock develops tokenization tech to digitize assets, broaden market access, and reduce fees.

byAndres Castro

October 14, 2025, 12:48 PM

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Executive Summary

BlackRock is actively developing its own proprietary technology for the tokenization of traditional assets to broaden access, reduce fees, and digitize a wide array of assets.

CEO Larry Fink emphasized the need to tokenize “all assets,” particularly those with multiple intermediaries, and is engaging with major financial platforms for integration into digital wallets.

BlackRock already has a significant digital asset footprint, including its $2.8 billion BUIDL tokenized fund and managing the largest Bitcoin ($93 billion) and Ethereum ($17 billion) ETFs.

The Story So Far

BlackRock’s strategic push into developing proprietary tokenization technology is a direct outcome of CEO Larry Fink’s strong advocacy for digitizing all assets to broaden access to capital markets and reduce fees, building on the firm’s significant existing investments in the digital asset space, including its large Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs and its own tokenized fund.

Why This Matters

BlackRock’s active development of proprietary technology for asset tokenization, championed by CEO Larry Fink, signals a significant institutional shift towards integrating digital assets into mainstream finance. This strategic move aims to revolutionize capital markets by broadening access, reducing fees, and digitizing a wide array of assets, potentially setting a new industry standard for how traditional finance approaches and leverages digital asset technology.

Who Thinks What?

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink advocates that the tokenization of all assets is crucial for broadening access to capital markets, reducing fees, and digitizing various assets like real estate and ETFs to benefit individuals.

BlackRock is actively committed to integrating digital assets into mainstream finance by developing its own proprietary tokenization technology, engaging with major financial platforms, and managing significant tokenized funds and cryptocurrency ETFs.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is actively developing its own technology for the tokenization of traditional assets, CEO Larry Fink announced on Tuesday during the firm’s third-quarter earnings broadcast. This strategic move aims to broaden access to capital markets, reduce fees, and digitize a wide array of assets, with future announcements expected in the coming years.

Strategic Push into Tokenization

Fink emphasized the need for rapid movement towards tokenizing “all assets,” particularly those with multiple intermediaries. He highlighted tokenized exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as a way to help individuals prepare for retirement and suggested real estate tokenization could lower costs by cutting out middlemen.

The firm is currently engaged in discussions with “all the major platforms” in finance to integrate its tokenization efforts within digital wallets. Fink has been a prominent advocate for tokenization on Wall Street since 2022, signaling a significant shift in how influential financial institutions might adopt digital assets.

Existing Digital Asset Footprint

BlackRock’s existing USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), launched last year, is already one of the largest tokenized assets, holding $2.8 billion. The fund is issued by Securitize, a company in which BlackRock led a $47 million strategic funding round earlier this year.

Beyond its tokenization initiatives, BlackRock is a significant player in the cryptocurrency market, managing the largest Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, which boast $93 billion and $17 billion in assets under management, respectively. Fink has publicly shifted his stance on crypto, acknowledging its role after previously labeling Bitcoin as a tool for illicit activities.

Future Outlook

While BlackRock is racing towards tokenized markets, Fink suggested that the public might have to wait for a clearer look at the Wall Street titan’s full plans. He stated, “I do believe we have some exciting announcements in the coming years on how we could play a larger role on this whole idea of the tokenization and digitization of all assets.”

BlackRock’s deep dive into developing proprietary tokenization technology signals a strong commitment to integrating digital assets into mainstream finance. This initiative, driven by the goal of efficiency and broader access, positions the asset management giant at the forefront of the evolving digital financial landscape.