FinanceBNY Mellon Eyes $8.6 Trillion Transfer Agency Sector via Blockchain
The leading custodian will maintain its current system while integrating digital ownership records for tokenized assets.
By Olivier Acuna|Edited by Jamie Crawley Jul 29, 2026, 12:18 p.m. 2 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on
The bank is set to launch a blockchain-enabled version of its transfer agency services, which currently oversee about $8.6 trillion in assets. (BNY/Press)Summary- Bank of New York Mellon is transitioning its primary transfer agency record-keeping onto blockchain technology to establish a unified on-chain ownership ledger, minimizing the need for intermediaries.
- This initiative will initially cater to clients such as Baillie Gifford, BlackRock, and BNY's Dreyfus unit, focusing on the first fully native U.K.-regulated tokenized fund and other upcoming tokenized offerings.
- Despite the advancements in blockchain infrastructure, BNY anticipates that traditional systems will persist for several years due to ongoing cyber and smart-contract vulnerabilities.
With over $59 trillion in assets under custody and administration, BNY Mellon is shifting one of its fundamental record-keeping operations onto blockchain as Wall Street develops the infrastructure for tokenized funds, according to a report from the Financial Times.
Carolyn Weinberg, BNY's Chief Product and Innovation Officer, stated, "We view this as a modernization of a function that underlies every fund transaction by transitioning the books and records on-chain."
Managing approximately $8.6 trillion in assets across 7.6 million accounts, BNY Mellon believes that adopting blockchain for its transfer agency will result in a singular record of ownership, eliminating the necessity for various intermediaries.
Emily Portney, BNY's Global Head of Asset Servicing, remarked, "We fully acknowledge that there are trillions of dollars' worth of funds that... will still operate on traditional systems."
BNY has not yet provided additional information in response to a CoinDesk inquiry.
Baillie Gifford, a client of BNY with over $261 billion in assets under management, will utilize this service for what the companies claim is the first fully native U.K.-regulated tokenized fund, as reported by the Financial Times. BlackRock and Dreyfus, part of BNY's money-market and cash-management operations, are also expected to leverage this service for future funds.
In recent years, asset managers including BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have introduced tokenized money-market funds that hold short-term debt and cash but offer ownership stakes as blockchain tokens.
Edwin Mata, CEO and founder of the tokenization platform Brickken, has projected that by 2030, Wall Street will be entirely dependent on blockchain technology. Major U.S. banks, including JPMorgan, Citi, and Bank of America, are working on a shared tokenized deposit network scheduled for the first half of 2027 to safeguard their deposits against threats from stablecoins.
However, according to the Financial Times, BNY does not foresee the old system vanishing anytime soon. The bank plans to retain its traditional transfer agent, acknowledging that trillions of dollars in funds will remain on existing frameworks for years to come. Blockchain technology also introduces cyber risks, such as potential bugs in smart contracts and vulnerabilities in network bridges. BNY is optimistic that a unified ownership ledger can alleviate some of the expensive reconciliation tasks that are still prevalent in fund administration.
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By CoinDesk ResearchJul 22, 2026Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.
Why it matters:
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