In recent months, 35 of the world’s leading financial and technology companies, including BlackRock, JPMorgan, and Fidelity, have announced new products and services built directly on the Ethereum blockchain.
These moves, detailed in a social media thread from Ethereum’s official account, indicate that the tokenization of real world assets (RWA) by mainstream institutions is rapidly accelerating.
This trend also highlights how Ethereum is moving beyond speculative crypto trading to serve as a fundamental payments layer for global finance, extending to stocks, bonds, and institutional payments.
Institutions promote tokenization and payments on public rail
Ethereum
For example, Kraken has deployed xStocks on its network, allowing eligible customers to move fully collateralized U.S. stocks on-chain. Ondo Finance has also launched a platform containing over 100 tokenized US stocks and ETFs backed by real securities.
Major asset managers have taken similar steps, with Fidelity introducing a tokenized money market fund, FDIT, on Ethereum, and China Asset Management’s Hong Kong arm launching the first tokenized USD money market fund by a major Chinese asset manager. In Europe, Amundi has introduced a tokenized share class of Euro money market funds on the Ethereum mainnet.
Banks are also expanding their footprint. JPMorgan moved its JPM Coin deposit tokens from its internal blockchain to Ethereum Layer 2, Base, and subsequently launched its first tokenized money market fund on Ethereum, seeded with $100 million of equity capital. Additionally, Societe Generale FORGE has rolled out euro and dollar-denominated lending and trading products on an Ethereum-based DeFi protocol.
Stripe led the way in expanding stablecoin subscriptions with USDC on Ethereum, with payment companies and fintechs also joining in, while SoFi issued SoFiUSD, becoming the first US national retail bank to launch a stablecoin on a public blockchain. Additionally, Google announced an agent payments protocol using stablecoins on Ethereum, built with partners such as the Ethereum Foundation and Coinbase.
Network growth meets questions about scale and simplicity
This institutional push is taking place in parallel with a rise in on-chain activity, as Ethereum staking has exceeded 30% of supply this month, with approximately 36.2 million ETH locked up, according to Ultrasound Money. Wallet creation also hit a record earlier this month, with around 394,000 new addresses created in a single day on January 11th.
At the same time, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned on January 18 that increasing protocol complexity could weaken security and autonomy in the long run, urging developers to prioritize simplicity. His comments highlighted the tension between expanding institutional use cases and keeping basic protocols understandable and resilient.
A wide range of recent announcements demonstrate how Ethereum and its Layer 2 network is being used as a testing ground for regulated tokenized finance, from funds and stocks to payments and settlements, while discussions around governance and design continue in parallel.
