BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says tokenization era for all assets has begun

When the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager tells you the financial system’s plumbing needs an upgrade, you pay attention. Larry Fink, who oversees roughly $14 trillion at BlackRock, has declared that the era of asset tokenization has officially arrived, and he’s pushing for the US to modernize its regulatory infrastructure to keep pace.

This isn’t just talk. BlackRock filed with the SEC on May 8-9 for two new tokenized products designed to offer on-chain shares through public blockchains. The firm is putting real capital and real filings behind its conviction that nearly every asset class, from bonds to real estate to equities, will eventually live on a blockchain.

From rhetoric to reality

Fink first started beating the tokenization drum publicly during a CNBC interview on October 14, 2025. But his 2026 annual chairman’s letter, published in March, turned up the volume considerably. In it, he framed tokenization as a way to “update the plumbing of the financial system.”

The flagship proof of concept is BUIDL, BlackRock’s tokenized US Treasury fund that launched on Ethereum back in March 2024. As of May 2026, BUIDL has swelled to approximately $2.5 billion in assets under management.

The bigger tokenization picture

The broader tokenized real-world asset market has surpassed $30 billion in market capitalization as of May 2026. That figure represents growth of over 200% compared to the previous year.

Real-world asset tokenization, often abbreviated as RWA, essentially means taking traditional financial instruments and representing them as digital tokens on a blockchain. A tokenized Treasury bond, for instance, works just like a regular Treasury bond, except ownership is recorded on-chain rather than in a legacy clearinghouse system. The benefits include faster settlement, fractional ownership, and the ability to trade assets 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What this means for investors

Fink isn’t just cheerleading a technology. He’s explicitly calling for regulatory reform to make it work at scale. His 2026 letter advocates for updated rules that address what he sees as outdated barriers to tokenized financial products. He’s also pushing for better digital identity infrastructure, which is a prerequisite for any world where real assets trade freely on public blockchains while still meeting know-your-customer requirements.

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