Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), the world’s largest custodian bank, has launched services for tokenized deposits aimed at institutional clients, according to Bloomberg.
The service creates a digital representation of assets held at the institution on the blockchain. This enables the use of funds as collateral in secured and margin transactions.
The solution also allows the bank to expedite payments and operate them on a 24/7 basis, bypassing the limitations of traditional fiat channels.
Among the first clients of BNY’s tokenized deposit service are Intercontinental Exchange, Citadel Securities, DRW Holdings, Ripple Prime, Baillie Gifford, and Circle Internet Group.
The launch of the service follows several months after reports of the bank’s experiments with deposit tokens.
Experts largely attribute the interest of U.S. financial institutions in the technology to the adoption of the GENIUS Act, which sets rules for stablecoins and represents the first significant regulatory framework for the crypto industry in the country. Unlike fiat-pegged stablecoins, tokenized deposits are created within the existing banking system and can yield interest.
According to a forecast by Standard Chartered, by 2028, the capitalization of tokenized real-world assets, excluding stablecoins, will grow to $2 trillion.