Blockchain
Wall Street giants and JPMorgan’s Onyx Eye are industrializing Blockchain PoCs
Last Updated: May 12, 2024 12:00 PM EDT | 2 minute read
Wall Street’s major financial institutions are shifting their focus toward industrializing proofs of concept (PoC) developed under the blockchain experiment known as Project Guardian.
JPMorgan’s blockchain platform, Onyx, is particularly interested in converting the insights gained from its pilot program with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) into tangible products.
During TokenizeThis event held in Miami on May 10, Stephanie Lok, JPMorgan’s Onyx product manager, said the company is focused on tokenization of investment funds as a key area of focus.
“This is a very important area of interest: how can we produce, industrialize what we have built as a proof of concept?” Lok stated.
WisdomTree Highlights Interest in RWA Tokenization
Another mainstream company heavily invested in blockchain-enabled financial migration is WisdomTree, an asset manager.
Maredith Hannon, head of business development at WisdomTree, highlighted the company’s interest in wallet customization and merging wallets with checking accounts.
Hannon further delved into the potential benefits of real-world asset tokenization for investor portfolios, envisioning the ability to create myriad variations in allocation and risk profiles.
WisdomTree is also exploring providing diverse on-chain services through a unified interface for its customers.
The company aims to integrate various financial services, including tokenized wallets and traditional banking services, into a single application.
“Provide the ultimate value of being able to use your money more effectively. Being able to be in the market, in a money market fund, earning 5% instead of earning virtually nothing in your checking account.
As a leading asset manager involved in Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), WisdomTree brings its expertise and experience to the Project Guardian initiative.
Launched in May 2022, Project Guardian seeks to explore decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and asset tokenization in wholesale funding markets.
The initiative focuses on the development of open and interoperable networks, institutional-grade DeFi protocols, asset tokenization and trusted infrastructure.
JPMorgan, DBS Bank, SBI Digital Asset Holdings and WisdomTree are major participants in Project Guardian, working together to evaluate the feasibility of DeFi and asset tokenization on a larger scale.
Tokenized funds continue to gain popularity
In a report earlier this year, Moody’s, a leading investment risk rating firm, revealed the value of tokenized funds rose from $100 million in early 2023 to around $800 million, driven by the increasing tokenization of U.S. Treasury securities.
The report highlighted that both public and private blockchains are witnessing the inclusion of various assets.
Some of the most notable examples include Franklin Templeton’s US Government Monetary Fund expanding from Stellar to PolygonalBacked Finance launching a tokenized short-term US Treasury exchange-traded fund (ETF) and UBS Asset Management implementing a tokenized money market fund (MMF) on the Ethereum blockchain.
According to Moody’s, tokenization of FCMs offers the potential to combine their stability with the technological advantages of stablecoins.
Just recently, so did DigiFT, a fintech company based in Singapore announced the launch of its US Treasury Depository Receipt (DR) tokens.
Likewise, Turkey’s Misyon Bank did so announced its partnership with the Swiss company Taurus to leverage its digital asset custody and tokenization technology.