Wall Street's Tokenization Push Enters High Gear
The largest banks in the US are building a shared network that will enable corporate clients to move tokenized deposits around the clock, seven days a week. The project, coordinated through The Clearing House, is targeting a first half 2027 launch.
This marks a significant shift from the past where institutions treated blockchain as an experimental technology. In recent months, JPMorgan Chase expanded its Kinexys deposit token network, while Wells Fargo committed to offering tokenized deposits for corporate clients. BlackRock filed to expand its tokenized money market fund lineup, and Mastercard added stablecoin settlement rails.
The shared tokenized deposit network will be built by JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and The Clearing House. It will allow corporate clients to move tokenized deposits between participating banks on a 24/7 basis, reducing the time it takes for transactions to settle from hours to seconds.
Citigroup is pursuing a parallel strategy by investing in tokenized securities infrastructure separately. The bank's Digital Depositary Receipts product and its participation in the DTCC tokenization pilot position it at the intersection of payments and capital markets tokenization.