Banks, payment companies, and asset managers are testing blockchain rails for deposits, securities, stablecoins, and settlement.
Wall Street is entering the next phase of institutional crypto adoption, moving beyond trading desks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) into core financial infrastructure.
Since May, financial institutions including Citi, Mastercard, Visa, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC), and several major US banks have rolled out blockchain infrastructure projects, spanning on-chain payments, asset tokenization, transaction settlement, and more.
These moves mark a clear turn for blockchain’s role in traditional finance. Wall Street’s first major crypto push centered on trading products and investment access, while banks and asset managers are now moving blockchain closer to the financial system’s foundational plumbing.
As Denelle Dixon, CEO and executive director of the Stellar Development Foundation, said in May, “Blockchain’s utility for finance is to be the rail that institutional-grade markets can depend on.”
Blockchain technology is becoming core Wall Street infrastructure. Source: CoinMarketCap
The Money Layer
Payments are becoming a key battleground for institutional blockchain adoption, with card networks and banks racing to make transaction settlement faster and more efficient.
Mastercard said in June it would add stablecoin settlement options for issuers and acquirers. Visa is testing private stablecoin settlement with Brale on the Canton Network, a privacy-focused blockchain network for institutions.
Meanwhile, banks are developing an alternative model built around tokenized deposits. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and The Clearing House are all planning a bank-led tokenized deposit network targeted for the first half of 2027, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Consumer banks are also joining the fray. SoFi launched its own SoFiUSD stablecoin on its retail banking platform and named Bullish as its first centralized exchange partner.
“People no longer have to choose between blockchain technology and regulated banking products,” Anthony Noto, SoFi’s CEO, said in May.
SoFi has launched its own bank-issued stablecoin. Source: CoinMarketCap
The Asset Layer
Tokenization is also transforming traditional Wall Street products, such as private shares, money market funds, and stocks.
In June, Citi launched Digital Depositary Receipts for private-company shares, creating a new way for investors to access private markets. The push comes amid demand for broader access to high-profile private companies and initial public offering (IPO) candidates, including OpenAI and Anthropic.
“For decades, getting in at the IPO price has been a privilege of geography and net worth. [...] That worldview is breaking down,” Mark Greenberg, global head of Payward Services, said in June.
Meanwhile, money market funds are moving onchain. BlackRock has filed to expand its tokenized fund suite following the 2024 launch of BUIDL, its first tokenized money market fund. Ondo Finance, Kinexys by J.P. Morgan, Mastercard, and Ripple also completed a pilot to redeem a tokenized US Treasury fund on blockchain rails in May.
Tokenized stocks are also gaining traction. Coinbase has outlined plans to offer tokenized US equities to non-US customers, while Kraken’s parent company, Payward, has pushed tokenized IPO access through xStocks.
Kraken is pushing tokenized IPO access through xStocks. Source: CoinMarketCap
Read more: Are Tokenized Stocks the New Altcoins? On-Chain Equities Heat Up Amid SpaceX IPO
The Infrastructure Layer
The deepest shift is happening in the systems that move assets behind the scenes.
In May, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. said it was rolling out a tokenization service with more than 50 financial firms. It plans to facilitate initial, limited production trades for select tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) in July, with a broader launch targeted for October.
Custody is another crucial layer, allowing institutions to hold, move, and build products around digital assets. Standard Chartered said in May it would acquire Zodia Custody’s crypto custody business and fold it into its own infrastructure.
“Digital asset custody forms the foundational layer that underpins all digital asset use cases for financial institutions,” Ripple and Quinlan & Associates wrote in a February report.
Standard Chartered agreed to acquire Zodia Custody in May. Source: CoinMarketCap
The Future of Finance
The latest announcements show institutional adoption is entering a new phase.
The first phase gave Wall Street access to crypto through trading desks, custody, and ETFs. The next phase is about using blockchain to move money, issue securities, manage collateral, and settle transactions.
This transition is moving blockchain closer to the center of global financial markets.
As Yuval Rooz, co-founder and CEO of Digital Asset, said in June:
“Blockchain adoption will be defined by practical, production-grade applications in the world’s largest markets.”
Read more: Everything You Own Will Live On-Chain Thanks to RWA Tokenization
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