The world's largest custodian is moving fund ownership onchain

@BNYglobal has launched a blockchain-based Digital Transfer Agency (TA), placing legal fund ownership records directly on public blockchains rather than mirroring them in a secondary ledger. The move covers a business that services approximately $8.6 trillion in assets across 7.6 million accounts.

The new service modernizes core record-keeping functions by maintaining legal ownership records and economic value directly on public blockchains. That is a meaningful departure from earlier approaches. When tokenized funds are issued on a blockchain from the start, the legal title and economic value of the funds exist on-chain rather than in the mirror-token or "digital twin" models that have prevailed to date.

First Funds Already Live

The move will initially support clients including Baillie Gifford, BlackRock, and BNY's Dreyfus unit. Baillie Gifford, with more than $261 billion under management, will use the service for what the companies describe as the first fully native UK-regulated tokenized fund.

The Baillie Gifford Enhanced Yield Fund ($BAGEY) is denominated in dollars and gives eligible investors access to an actively managed, short-duration portfolio of public corporate bonds. It is operated through a UK-regulated Open-Ended Investment Company (OEIC). The fund is open to subscriptions via $USDC on both chains. Solana's lower transaction costs suit smaller institutional and retail subscribers, while Ethereum's existing institutional DeFi integrations suit larger allocators already operating on that chain.

Baillie Gifford's digital assets and tokenization head framed the launch as more than placing a token on top of an existing fund. In his view, the blockchain becomes the register of record, giving investors direct ownership and direct recourse through the onchain structure from the start. With a digitally native issuance, when the token moves, the ownership moves with it.

Dreyfus, BNY's money market and cash management unit, is launching a tokenized money market fund on the same rails, and BlackRock is expected to follow with a share class built for stablecoin reserves.

A Signal, Not an Experiment

BNY's move is notable because it applies blockchain technology to a core, back-office function rather than a new or speculative asset class. Transfer agency is a highly regulated, data-intensive operation that handles trillions of dollars in transactions annually. Automating parts of this process with a shared, immutable ledger could reduce operational risks and costs for asset managers, who have long sought more efficient post-trade infrastructure.

BNY does not expect the old system to disappear. The bank will keep its traditional transfer agent and says trillions of dollars in funds will remain on existing rails for years. Even so, when the world's largest custodian builds this kind of infrastructure, tokenized funds move firmly out of the pilot phase and into the mainstream.

Sources:
BNY Official Press Release: Digital Transfer Agency Launch
CoinDesk: BNY Targets $8.6 Trillion Transfer Agency Market on Blockchain Rails
Ledger Insights: Baillie Gifford Launches BAGEY Tokenized Bond Fund on Ethereum and Solana