Wall Street has embraced tokenization like no other trend of crypto. The total RWA market has now crossed over $37 billion but one debate continues to shape the industry’s future: Should financial assets be tokenized on private or public blockchains?
For now, banks appear to have made their choice.
A recent analysis by tokenization research platform Coinstruct found that nearly three-quarters of tokenization initiatives across 11 major US banks are running on private or permissioned blockchain infrastructure. However, the industry’s fastest-growing tokenized investment products are taking the opposite approach by launching on public blockchain networks.
The trend suggests that Wall Street isn’t choosing one model over the other. Instead, it’s increasingly assigning different roles to private and public blockchains. Here’s How:
Which Blockchain Are Wall Street Banks Choosing for Tokenization?
According to Coinstruct’s analysis, 45% of tokenization initiatives among major US banks are built on Canton Network. Another 27% operate on proprietary blockchain platforms developed by individual institutions. Only 27% currently run on public blockchain networks.
The preference reflects the requirements of wholesale banking.
Banks handling trillions of dollars in institutional payments, collateral and securities transactions. These functions prioritize privacy, regulatory compliance and permissioned access and they are the areas where private blockchain infrastructure continues to offer significant advantages.
For instance, among permissioned blockchain platforms, Canton Network has quickly become the industry’s preferred ecosystem.
Major financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, BNY, Broadridge, DTCC and Nasdaq have adopted Canton for tokenization and settlement initiatives.
Unlike isolated private blockchains, Canton allows regulated institutions to synchronize transactions while preserving data privacy and meeting regulatory requirements..
Goldman Sachs, for example, operates GS DAP (Goldman Sachs Digital Asset Platform). GS DAP is Goldman Sachs’ institutional tokenization platform built on Canton technology for issuing digital bonds and other tokenized assets.
The momentum extends beyond adoption.
A recent survey by the network found that 54% of global investment banks are already developing tokenized collateral, repo or liquidity management solutions. 90% of them expect demand for collateral mobility to increase. There are also increase in banks looking to tokenize money market funds. Canton also reports supporting around $9 trillion in monthly tokenized repo activity, underscoring its growing role in institutional capital markets.
Why Are Banks Building Their Own Blockchain Platforms?
Not every bank is joining shared blockchain infrastructure.
JPMorgan continues expanding Kinexys, its proprietary blockchain platform formerly known as Onyx. Citi and State Street also operate permissioned tokenization platforms for internal settlement and treasury operations.
Far from being experimental, Kinexys has become one of the largest enterprise blockchain platforms in finance. It has processed more than $1 trillion annually in tokenized deposit transfers.
Other Articles...
However, these networks primarily facilitate settlement between known participants. They don’t create open, liquid secondary markets for tokenized assets.
Why Public Blockchains Are Still Winning the Investment Race
However, there is still a contrast. While banks continue favoring private infrastructure, the largest tokenized investment products have largely been built on public blockchain networks.
BlackRock’s BUIDL, now the world’s largest tokenized US Treasury fund, launched on Ethereum before expanding across multiple public blockchain ecosystems.
Similarly, Franklin Templeton’s $813 miilion BENJI fund operates across Stellar, Solana and Base, giving investors access through open blockchain networks.
Even JPMorgan has begun moving beyond purely private infrastructure. Earlier this year, the bank launched JPMD, its permissioned deposit token, on Coinbase’s Base network.
The Wall Street Giants in Race to Tokenization
The latest data suggests that the industry is moving beyond a simple public-versus-private debate.
Private blockchain networks continue to dominate wholesale banking applications where confidentiality, compliance and settlement certainty are essential.
Public blockchains, meanwhile, have demonstrated advantages in liquidity, composability and investor accessibility. They generally enable tokenized investment products to reach broader markets.
Increasingly, the distinction is beginning to blur.
JPMorgan’s deployment of JPMD on Base, BlackRock’s expansion of BUIDL across multiple public chains and the growing adoption of shared institutional networks like Canton all point toward a hybrid future. This is the one where permissioned banking infrastructure connects seamlessly with public blockchain ecosystems.
The momentum extends as in recent months the wall street has been tapping on to the tokenization race. Recently, BNY unveiled a blockchain-powered transfer agency platform for regulated funds. HSBC expanded its Tokenized Deposit Service to the United States and the UAE, enabling corporate clients to move tokenized deposits around the clock.
Meanwhile, Swift launched a blockchain-based orchestration layer with 16 global banks. This includes Citi, HSBC, BNY, Standard Chartered and UBS to connect tokenized deposit platforms and enable 24/7 cross-border payments.
Thus, for Wall Street, the question is no longer whether to tokenize assets. It’s where each type of blockchain delivers the greatest advantage.
Sneha Agrawal 
Share