84% of Wall Street institutions have listed tokenization as a priority strategy: traditional plus digital hybrid markets will become mainstream

Broadridge’s latest survey shows that 84% of North American financial institutions have put tokenization of assets as a strategic priority, and 92% are betting on a long-term coexistence of digital and traditional assets; in the same week, DTCC completed its first batch of tokenized securities in official trading in production environments.
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• 92% of institutions bet on a “hybrid market”: not full on-chain, but old and new coexisting
• From BlackRock to JPMorgan Chase, Wall Street giants have moved in early
• Capital markets go first, wealth management is just getting started: adoption speed isn’t uniform

Earlier this week, the U.S. Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) completed official production-environment trading for the first batch of tokenized securities, setting a new milestone for Wall Street’s blockchain infrastructure. Nearly at the same time, fintech firm Broadridge released its inaugural “Tokenization Pulse Survey,” with results showing that 84% of North American financial institutions have listed asset tokenization as a strategic priority, and most respondents expect this technology will reshape the financial markets over the next five years.

92% of institutions bet on a “hybrid market”: not full on-chain, but old and new coexisting

The survey was commissioned by Broadridge and carried out by research firm Phronesis Partners, interviewing 200 senior decision-makers from wealth management, asset management, capital markets, and digital asset companies across North America. The official press release noted that the industry has moved beyond the stage of merely “experimental blockchain technology,” and is now preparing in advance for a future in which tokenized assets become a routine market infrastructure.

The survey shows that 68% of respondents believe tokenization will at least partially reshape financial markets within the next three to five years, and nearly one-third of institutions plan to increase investments related to tokenization by 26% to 50% (or more) in the next two years.

But industry views on “full on-chain” remain cautious: 92% of respondents expect digital assets and traditional assets to coexist long term, and 69% plan to directly integrate tokenization into existing systems rather than build an entirely new blockchain-native architecture. This aligns with how many large financial institutions are approaching it today—connecting blockchain networks to existing trading, custody, and settlement systems rather than tearing everything down and starting over.

From BlackRock to JPMorgan Chase, Wall Street giants have moved in early

Over the past two years, some of the world’s largest financial institutions have rolled out tokenization initiatives one after another, driving rapidly rising industry interest in this technology.

BlackRock’s tokenized U.S. Treasury fund has grown into one of the largest blockchain investment funds, while Franklin Templeton provides tokenized money market funds; JPMorgan Chase is expanding blockchain-based settlement businesses through its Kinexys platform, and institutions such as Visa and DTCC are also building infrastructure to support tokenized payments and securities trading.

The aforementioned DTCC first batch of official production-environment trades is the latest development in this wave of plans.

Capital markets go first, wealth management is just getting started: adoption speed isn’t uniform

However, adoption speed within the industry isn’t consistent. Capital markets firms are currently the fastest group: 44% already have tokenization plans in official operation or have reached a certain scale, compared with 20% for asset managers and just 9% for wealth management firms, indicating that front-line businesses still have some distance to go before large-scale rollout.

In terms of asset classes, the survey also highlighted a clear gap: about 80% of respondents believe tokenized mutual funds and money market funds will play an important role within five years, reflecting the rapid growth of tokenized U.S. Treasury–type products in recent years; by contrast, only about half of respondents think tokenized stocks can reach a similar level of adoption in the same timeframe.

Despite continuing enthusiasm, industry players still face significant obstacles: regulatory uncertainty is listed as the most frequently mentioned challenge, followed by the operational complexity of integrating blockchain technology into existing financial systems.