BlackRock Says Ethereum Is Wall Street’s Tokenization Backbone

Ben Graham · Janeiro 22

Tokenization means turning real-world assets such as U.S. Treasuries or investment funds into digital tokens that live on a blockchain, and BlackRock’s Ethereum tokenization has become a central theme in this shift. In its report, BlackRock said Ethereum supports about 65% of all tokenized assets. That dominance helps explain why firms, and not only BlackRock, racing into tokenized stocks and funds keep choosing Ethereum instead of starting from scratch on new chains.

The network’s recent surge in activity further underscores this shift, with daily transactions reaching an all-time high of 2.885 million on January 16, 2026. This record-breaking volume, up from averages around 1.2 million in 2025, reflects growing on-chain demand from stablecoins, layer-2 solutions, and tokenized products, even as some activity was linked to address poisoning scams.

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BlackRock Tokenization with Ethereum Sets the Standard for Wall Street

BlackRock’s own tokenized Treasury fund, called BUIDL, shows how this works in practice. The fund now holds nearly $2 billion in assets under management as of January 2026, including tokenized U.S. Treasuries, and pays yield directly on-chain. Launched in 2024, BUIDL has grown steadily, distributing around $150 million in dividends to date across networks like Ethereum and BNB Chain.

(Source: DefilLama)

Why BlackRock says Ethereum is Wall Street’s tokenization backbone? ETH acts like a shared financial highway. Banks, funds, and fintech firms can all plug into the same network instead of building closed systems. That openness explains why even competitors like Franklin Templeton and Ondo Finance build around Ethereum.

You can see similar momentum in tokenized stock infrastructure, where Ethereum-linked tools keep showing up. The network’s established smart contract capabilities and vast developer ecosystem make it the go-to choice for secure, scalable token issuance.

Price Action and Network Activity Drive Momentum

Ethereum’s price has shown resilience amid broader market movements in early 2026. As of January 22, ETH trades around $3,000 USD, up about 1.3% in the last 24 hours but down roughly 7% over the past week following a peak near $3,300 earlier in the month. Year-to-date, it’s up around 2%, with a market cap exceeding $360 billion.
This consolidation follows a strong close to 2025, where ETH gained 25% in the final quarter, driven by institutional interest and upgrades like Fusaka, which boosted capacity and reduced fees to as low as $0.04 per swap.

The transaction all-time high aligns with increased on-chain metrics: daily active addresses hit a three-year peak of 1.03 million on January 16, and new wallet creations surged to 450,000 on January 11. These figures indicate broader adoption, with stablecoin transfers accounting for 35-40% of activity and staking reaching 36 million ETH locked (about 30% of supply).

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ETF Inflows and Institutional Flows Signal Confidence

Spot Ethereum ETFs have seen robust inflows, reflecting Wall Street’s growing embrace. For the week ending January 16, 2026, ETH ETFs attracted $479 million, the highest since October 2025, with BlackRock’s ETHA leading at $219 million. Year-to-date inflows total around $585 million, pushing total assets under management for ETHA to $10.7 billion.

However, flows turned mixed recently, with a $239 million outflow on January 20, including $101 million from BlackRock’s fund. Despite this pause, the overall trend remains positive, supported by BlackRock’s outlook. Combined with Bitcoin ETFs drawing $1.42 billion in the same week, these movements highlight sustained demand for blockchain exposure.

(Source: Sosovalue)

More tokenized assets mean more activity on Ethereum. Activity matters because users pay fees in ETH, similar to paying tolls to use a busy road. If Wall Street keeps issuing funds and assets on Ethereum, demand for block space rises.

BlackRock’s Jay Jacobs framed Ethereum as a direct beneficiary of this shift. The idea is simple: More assets. More transactions. More economic weight flows through the network.

That narrative also explains why institutions like Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon are entering tokenized money markets. As tokenization scales, potentially reaching $80 billion by year-end per Bernstein estimates, Ethereum’s role as the settlement layer could drive further value accrual, benefiting holders through increased fees and network utility.

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