BlackRock CEO Sees Tokenization at “Seed Stage” Comparable to 1996 Web

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and COO Rob Goldstein say tokenization is approaching a breakthrough moment, comparing its current stage to the early Internet era.

The executives argue that the technology could scale far faster than expected. This acceleration may change the way traditional and digital assets operate across global markets.

Tokenization Seen at 1996-Level Inflection Point

In a guest post for The Economist, Fink and Goldstein draw a parallel between today’s tokenization efforts and the internet of the mid-1990s.

Specifically, they note that the web was still in its early stages of development at the time. Major tech companies had yet to emerge, and Amazon’s revenue was still relatively modest.

They use this comparison to suggest that tokenization is at a comparable “seed stage” and may accelerate rapidly as real-world adoption grows. They foresee a familiar pattern: slow beginnings followed by sudden, transformative growth.

A Growing Bridge Between Crypto and Established Finance

Building on that comparison, the executives argue that tokenization is not designed to replace existing financial systems. Instead, they present it as an increasingly vital bridge between long-standing institutions and digital-native innovators.

They point out that banks, blockchains, stablecoin issuers, and fintech platforms are already learning to work together. Consequently, this cooperation is contributing to a more integrated market structure.

As this cooperation deepens, they foresee investors gradually moving away from maintaining separate portfolios for traditional and digital assets.

Accordingly, a unified digital wallet capable of holding various asset classes could become standard, simplifying the investment experience.

BlackRock’s Expanding Footprint in Tokenized Assets

Their optimism is reflected in BlackRock’s own activity. The firm, which manages over $13.4 trillion in assets, has become a leading supporter of tokenization.

Fink, once skeptical of crypto, has changed his view as institutional use cases become clearer. The pair says early crypto hype obscured the underlying benefits of tokenizing real-world assets, a trend they believe is now gaining broader acceptance.

The company already runs a major tokenized cash fund. The BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, launched in March 2024, has grown to about $2.8 billion. The executives say its performance shows increasing institutional comfort with blockchain-based financial instruments.

Call for Updated Regulatory Frameworks

To sustain this momentum, Fink and Goldstein stress the importance of regulatory clarity. They call on policymakers to update rules so traditional and tokenized markets can operate side by side without conflict. Their argument draws on past examples, such as bond ETFs, which helped connect dealer markets with public exchanges and improved trading efficiency. 

They also highlight the significance of recent spot Bitcoin ETFs, which brought digital assets onto mainstream exchanges and demonstrated how innovation can integrate with established systems.

According to them, regulators should assess the real risks associated with an asset rather than its technological format, emphasizing that a financial instrument does not change simply because it is recorded on a blockchain.