BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Says We’re Entering the Tokenized Age of Finance

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink believes the next few decades will see a fundamental shift in how financial assets are structured and traded — with tokenization at the center of that transformation. 

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street on Tuesday, Fink described the tokenization of all asset classes as the next major growth opportunity for the world’s largest asset manager.

“If we can tokenize an ETF, digitize that ETF, we can have investors who are just beginning to invest in markets through, let’s say, crypto,” Fink said. “Now we can get them into the more traditional long-term retirement products. We look at that as the next wave of opportunity for BlackRock over the next tens of years.”

With $13.5 trillion in assets under management — including $104 billion in crypto holdings — BlackRock is already well-positioned to lead this transition. Fink noted that the company is moving away from traditional financial assets by “repotting them in a digital manner” and keeping investors inside a growing digital ecosystem.

Still the Early Days of Tokenization

Fink emphasized that asset tokenization — the process of issuing digital representations of real-world assets like real estate, bonds, and equities on blockchain networks — remains in its infancy. “I do believe we’re just at the beginning of the tokenization of all assets,” he said.

According to Mordor Intelligence, the global tokenization market is already worth over $2 trillion in 2025 and is projected to grow to more than $13 trillion by 2030. BlackRock is not sitting idle — the firm’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), launched in March 2024, has become the world’s largest tokenized cash fund, now valued at around $2.8 billion.

Asset tokenization market size (Source: Mordor Intelligence)

Fink confirmed during BlackRock’s earnings call that teams across the company are actively exploring new tokenization strategies, suggesting that blockchain-based financial products will become a much larger part of its portfolio in the coming years.

Also read: IBIT Turns Into BlackRock’s Biggest Moneymaker Yet, Nears $100B

From Crypto Skeptic to Believer

Fink’s latest remarks mark a major evolution in his stance toward digital assets. In a separate interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes earlier this week, he said crypto now plays a legitimate role in diversified portfolios, similar to gold.

“There is a role for crypto in the same way there is a role for gold; it’s an alternative,” he said. “For those looking to diversify, this is not a bad asset, but I don’t believe it should be a large part of your portfolio.”

That’s a stark contrast to his earlier comments in 2017 and 2018, when he dismissed cryptocurrencies as tools for money laundering and said none of BlackRock’s clients were interested in them. “I grow and learn,” Fink said when asked about his change of heart.

As BlackRock continues to expand its digital asset footprint — from tokenized funds to crypto ETFs — the firm’s growing embrace of blockchain technology may help accelerate mainstream adoption across the global financial system.