BNY is launching a blockchain-based version of its transfer agency business, which services about $8.6 trillion in assets:
- BNY is shifting its core transfer agency record-keeping onto blockchain to create a single on-chain ownership ledger and reduce reliance on intermediaries:
- The move will initially support clients including Baillie Gifford, BlackRock and BNY’s Dreyfus unit for what is described as the first fully native U.K.-regulated tokenized fund:
- While BNY and other major banks are building blockchain-based infrastructure and tokenized deposit networks, the bank expects traditional systems to coexist for years:
BNY, which has more than $59 trillion in assets under custody and administration, is moving one of its core record-keeping businesses onto blockchain as Wall Street builds the infrastructure for tokenized funds:
"We think of BNY as modernizing a function that sits behind every single fund transaction by bringing the books and records on-chain," Carolyn Weinberg, chief product and innovation officer at the 242-year-old financial services giant, said:
BNY, which services about $8.6 trillion in assets across 7.6 million accounts, said moving its transfer agency onto blockchain would create a single record of ownership, cutting out the need for multiple intermediaries:
"We fully recognize you've got trillions and trillions of dollars' worth of funds that... will continue to exist on traditional rails," said Emily Portney, BNY's global head of asset servicing:
BNY does not expect the old system to disappear, and the bank says trillions of dollars in funds will remain on existing rails for years:
Blockchain also brings cyber risks, including bugs in smart contracts and bridges linking networks:
