Larry Fink: Tokenization Will Define the Next Era of Finance
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink believes the future of global finance is already being rewritten — and tokenization will be at the heart of it. In a recent interview on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Fink said that the next era of investing will revolve around bringing traditional financial assets onto the blockchain, transforming how markets function and how investors access them.
“If we can tokenize an ETF and digitize that ETF, we can have investors who are just beginning to invest in markets through crypto, and get them into traditional long-term retirement products,” Fink explained. He called this evolution “the next wave of opportunity for BlackRock over the next tens of years,” as the company reimagines the structure of financial assets in a digital form.
BlackRock, which manages $13.5 trillion in assets and holds over $100 billion in crypto, is already positioning itself as a leader in this transition. The firm launched the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) in 2024 — now the world’s largest tokenized cash fund with $2.8 billion in assets. Fink confirmed that multiple teams across the firm are exploring tokenization strategies aimed at bridging traditional finance and blockchain technology.
He also noted that the tokenization of assets such as equities, bonds, and real estate is still in its early stages, but its potential to reshape markets is enormous. “I do believe we’re just at the beginning of the tokenization of all assets,” he said.