BNY sees FOMO driving asset managers into tokenized funds

BNY is calling it by its name: FOMO. And according to the bank, that fear is now a primary driver pushing asset managers into tokenized money market funds at a pace the industry has not seen before.

How the plumbing got built

The infrastructure moment that changed the conversation came in July 2025, when BNY and Goldman Sachs jointly launched a mirrored tokenization system for money market fund shares.

The setup works like this: BNY handles custody, shareholder servicing, and investor access through its LiquidityDirect platform. Goldman Sachs runs the blockchain layer through its Digital Asset platform, known as GS DAP. Together, they created the first US system where money market fund subscriptions were integrated directly on both platforms simultaneously.

The launch was not a quiet pilot. BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, Federated Hermes, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and BNY Investments Dreyfus all participated from day one.

Northern Trust Asset Management moved next. On March 2, 2026, it launched a tokenized share class for its NIF Treasury Instruments Portfolio, using the same BNY and GS DAP infrastructure.

Baillie Gifford’s June 2026 initiative introduces a native tokenized bond fund called BAGEY, targeting roughly a 7% yield. BNY is providing custody and infrastructure across both Solana and Ethereum for that product.

The numbers behind the trend

BNY executives have confirmed there are already a double-digit number of tokenized money market funds live in the market. The US SEC now oversees more than $1 billion in tokenized MMFs.

Pantera Capital’s Q1 2026 report put a specific figure on the momentum: 168 new tokenization assets launched in 2025, driven by what the firm called institutional FOMO. BlackRock’s BUIDL fund reached approximately $2.1 billion in assets under management.

The efficiency argument is straightforward. Tokenized fund shares offer faster settlement, improved transferability, and reduced operational friction compared to traditional fund infrastructure.

What this means for investors and the broader market

BNY’s position in this ecosystem is worth examining closely. The bank is not issuing tokenized products itself. It is building and operating the custody and servicing infrastructure that other firms plug into. Goldman Sachs plays a complementary role as the blockchain technology layer, meaning GS DAP becomes embedded in an increasing number of institutional fund operations.

The Solana angle in Baillie Gifford’s BAGEY fund deserves attention. Public blockchain infrastructure handling institutional bond fund custody is a genuine development. If that structure works at scale, it opens a credible path for public chains to serve as settlement layers for traditional finance products.

The risks are real and worth naming. Tokenized fund infrastructure is still early. Smart contract risk, custody complexity across multiple chains, and potential regulatory shifts all represent live variables. The concentration of infrastructure around BNY and Goldman Sachs also raises questions about what happens to fund operations if either platform experiences issues.

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