BlackRock launched Ethereum-based tokenized share classes for selected European money-market funds with combined assets of $311 billion as of June 30 in a rollout first reported by The Block. It uses Kinexys, JPMorgan's blockchain platform, and is aimed at approved professional investors.
BlackRock's product explainer describes the token as a digital representation of a share in a traditional money-market fund. The portfolio, net-asset-value process and governance stay within the fund structure. The token adds a new way to hold and transfer the share.
The transfer agent remains, in BlackRock's words, the "golden source of truth" for ownership. The Ethereum token mirrors that register, rather than replacing it with an independent claim recorded only onchain.
A new rail for cash management
Approved investors can transfer the tokenized shares between allow-listed wallets around the clock, with near-real-time onchain visibility outside traditional market hours. BlackRock's explainer says wallet screening is added to the usual KYC and anti-money-laundering checks, and wallet addresses and transactions may be visible onchain while identity records remain with the transfer agent.
The fund still works on traditional dealing rails for subscriptions and redemptions. A transfer agent accepts the order, maintains the shareholder record and handles the fund's normal currency and valuation procedures. Peer-to-peer movement of the token happens between approved wallets, but it represents a transfer of the underlying shares.
BlackRock lists corporate treasury management, digital collateral and liquidity operations as use cases. A treasury team could move an eligible fund position between approved wallets without waiting for a market session, while a financing platform could use the token as a visible reference to a regulated cash-management asset.
The launch is therefore a change in market plumbing more than a new investment strategy. The money-market funds keep the same portfolios and governance; Ethereum supplies a transfer and recordkeeping layer for institutions already permitted to own the shares.
