BNP Paribas Joins Ethereum Tokenization Wave with New Money Market Fund

BNP Paribas has become the latest major financial institution to join the growing trend of tokenizing funds on the Ethereum blockchain. The largest bank in Europe has launched a tokenized share class of a French-domiciled money market fund, allowing it to test the integration of public blockchains into heavily regulated fund structures.

The pilot project, executed through BNP Paribas' AssetFoundry platform, enables the firm to test new end-to-end processes within a controlled and regulated framework. However, the bank is maintaining strict control over the digital assets by utilizing a permissioned access model, which restricts holdings and transfers to a whitelist of authorized participants who meet stringent compliance standards.

This approach reflects a growing consensus among institutional asset managers to utilize public blockchain infrastructure while still demanding strict access controls inherent in traditional financial systems. BNP Paribas' pivot towards public networks signals a cautious institutional shift towards capturing broader future interoperability.