JPMorgan Makes History: Launches First Tokenized Money-Market Fund on Ethereum

Wall Street just crashed the blockchain party—and they brought the boring, profitable stuff.

JPMorgan, the banking titan that once called Bitcoin a 'fraud,' just dropped its first tokenized money-market fund directly onto Ethereum. This isn't some experimental pilot. It's a live, institutional-grade product from a $3.9 trillion asset manager, now running on the same decentralized network as countless DeFi protocols and NFT projects.

From Skeptic to Architect

The move signals a seismic shift. Tokenization—representing real-world assets as digital tokens on a blockchain—has long been crypto's holy grail for mainstream adoption. Now, one of the world's most powerful banks is building the grail itself. It bypasses traditional settlement layers, promises near-instantaneous transfers, and operates 24/7.

Why This Is Different

Forget speculative crypto tokens. This fund invests in ultra-short-term, high-quality debt—the kind of cash-park vehicle corporations and wealthy investors use daily. By putting it on-chain, JPMorgan isn't just dipping a toe in crypto waters; it's plumbing traditional finance's plumbing into the blockchain. It cuts out middlemen, reduces operational friction, and opens these instruments to a new world of programmable finance.

The Cynical Take

Of course, there's a delicious irony here. The same institution that built fortunes on fees for moving and safeguarding money now champions a technology designed to make those very services obsolete. Call it hedging, call it co-opting—either way, it's a masterclass in financial jiu-jitsu. They'll tokenize your treasury operations while quietly billing for the privilege.

The gates are officially open. When JPMorgan moves, the rest of finance follows. The race to put everything from bonds to real estate on-chain just hit ludicrous speed. The future of finance isn't coming—it's being deployed, one blockchain transaction at a time, by the very giants it was supposed to disrupt.

JPMorgan embraces tokenization

John Donohue, Head of Global Liquidity at JPMorgan Asset Management, highlighted client demand for tokenized offerings. “There is a massive amount of interest from clients around tokenization,” he said. “We expect to be a leader in this space and work with clients to make sure that we have a product lineup that allows them to have the choices that we have in traditional money-market funds on blockchain.” The MONY fund illustrates how established banks can bridge conventional finance with emerging digital tools.

The tokenized money market funds have become a collateral option in crypto exchanges and thus have additional investment usage. They also attract more investors into digital investment, considering stablecoins have hit over $300 billion in market size. With a total industry of $7.7 trillion in money market funds globally, MONY gives JPMorgan a good push into blockchain investment.

Industry momentum and regulatory backdrop

JPMorgan’s MOVE also follows the U.S. passing the GENIUS Act for stablecoins and guidance from the Clarity Act on blockchain finance. 

Apart from JPMorgan, other institutions have embraced tokenized offerings. Leading the list is Franklin Templeton, who launched a product named BENJI in 2021. BlackRock followed, launching an offering named BUIDL in 2024 with Securitize, attracting $2 billion in assets.

The MONY fund shows that traditional banks are beginning to try blockchain for investing. People can now manage familiar money-market investments digitally, while banks test how these funds operate on blockchain. The launch reflects increasing curiosity about combining regular finance with digital tools.

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