BlackRock Brings Tokenized Money Market Funds to Europe
BlackRock is launching 12 tokenized fund classes across 15 European markets, tied to UCITS money market funds. Its partnership with JPMorgan’s Kinexys fits into the growing push for tokenized real-world assets outside MiCA.
Key Takeaways
- BlackRock is launching 12 tokenized fund classes based on six money market funds in Europe.
- The fund classes are available in 15 European markets, including the Netherlands, and come in sterling, euro, and dollar.
- The tokenized funds fall under existing EU rules and were developed with JPMorgan through Kinexys.
BlackRock is taking its tokenization push further in Europe with 12 new fund classes built on six money market funds. In total, that puts part of the $311 billion (€270 billion) held in these funds into an onchain format across 15 European markets.
European Rollout
The new classes are linked to funds covered by Europe’s UCITS framework and are offered in sterling, euro, and dollar. BlackRock says they are available in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom, among other markets.
The launch follows BlackRock’s recent expansion of its tokenized cash product in the United States. It suggests the world’s largest asset manager now sees tokenization less as an experiment and more as an added layer on top of existing cash management products.
What Tokenization Changes Here
BlackRock says the tokenized classes are designed mainly for corporate treasurers, but they are also aimed at asset managers and investment consultants looking to handle cash within familiar workflows. The company says the new digital holding and transfer feature sits alongside the fund’s existing dealing and liquidity processes.
The products were built with JPMorgan through its Kinexys platform. That reflects a wider trend in which traditional financial products are being connected to blockchain infrastructure without changing the underlying fund structure.
Why This Matters
For European crypto and market watchers, the key point is that tokenized money market funds are not governed by MiCA. Instead, they fall under existing EU rules for financial instruments. That makes them legally different from many other crypto products and may help explain why large institutions are moving faster in this area.
The broader market is also expanding quickly: according to rwa.xyz, the tokenized real-world asset market has grown by more than 200 percent over the past year to more than $30 billion (€26 billion). Citi has also projected that tokenized securities could reach $5.5 trillion (€4.8 trillion) by 2030, though that remains a forecast rather than a certainty.
That fits with the broader institutional move toward onchain funds and cash management, as Fidelity: Tokenization Is About Balance Sheet Management for Pension Funds explains.
