JPMorgan: Tokenization Will Transform Funds Industry, 'Good Use Cases' Still Years Away

JPMorgan’s global head of ETF product, securities services, said tokenization should drive change across the entire funds industry, though practical applications remain on the horizon. Ciarán Fitzpatrick stated in a post from Friday that “tokenization will certainly drive how the market changes, not just for ETFs but across the funds industry as a whole,” while noting that “we’re a couple of years away from some good use cases.”

JPMorgan’s Tokenization Strategy

Fitzpatrick highlighted potential benefits of tokenizing ETFs, including enhanced creation and redemption processes, “near-instant settlement,” and nonstop access. JPMorgan is already exploring different tokenization use cases through Kinexys, the bank’s blockchain business unit.

Regulatory Momentum

Both traditional financial institutions and regulators have recently shown increased willingness to tokenize established investments, particularly those that trade on exchanges that close during weekends, such as equities and funds. Hester Peirce, a commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, recently encouraged firms exploring tokenized products to engage directly with the agency.

The SEC has authorized various tokenization efforts, including approving a rule change that enables Nasdaq to support tokenized share trading. The New York Stock Exchange, Robinhood, Kraken, and Coinbase are all pursuing tokenized equities offerings.

Market Projections

Many analysts expect tokenized assets to swell into the trillions of dollars over the next decade. Projections range from roughly $2 trillion to more than $10 trillion by 2030.