TL;DR
- Legal & General Asset Management (LGAM) has placed $68 billion worth of money market funds on the blockchain via Calastone's tokenization infrastructure
- The goal is faster settlement, broader access, and more efficient liquidity management
- The move comes at a time when tokenized money market funds are growing rapidly, with players like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and JPMorgan
- The total market for tokenized funds is estimated to reach $600 billion by 2030, according to industry estimates
One of the Largest Tokenization Operations Ever
British Legal & General Asset Management (LGAM) has completed one of the largest single operations to date in the tokenization of traditional financial products. According to CoinDesk, the company has placed money market funds — funds that have existed for decades — on the blockchain through Calastone's tokenization network.
The value of the funds now digitally represented on the chain amounts to approximately $68 billion. This is not about new products, but about existing, well-established liquidity funds that are now being backed by blockchain infrastructure.
What is the Purpose?
The ambition is threefold: faster settlement, expanded access for institutional investors, and a more flexible operational structure. Tokenization of money market funds automates processes such as issuance, redemption, and regulatory compliance through smart contracts — which traditionally required manual intermediaries and took days to complete.
Calastone is a British fintech player specializing in fund transactions and distribution networks, and has built infrastructure that connects traditional fund managers to blockchain environments. The company acts here as a technological bridge between classic asset management and tokenized finance.
A Rapidly Growing Market
LGAM's move does not occur in a vacuum. The total market for tokenized money market funds has now reached approximately $10 billion in managed assets, and growth forecasts are significant. Industry estimates suggest the market could reach $235 billion by 2029 and potentially $600 billion by 2030, assuming regulatory acceptance for on-chain money.
BlackRock's BUIDL fund is currently the market leader, controlling over 40 percent of the US segment for tokenized money market funds. Franklin Templeton was an early mover and has funds on several blockchains, including XRP Ledger in collaboration with DBS and Ripple. JPMorgan launched its own tokenized fund towards the end of 2025.
What Differentiates This from Other Players?
Where many competitors have launched their own new digital funds from scratch, LGAM's approach is about taking existing, large, and liquid funds and providing them with blockchain infrastructure. It is a different strategy — and the volume is significantly higher than what most individual players have managed to accumulate.
How much of the digital underlying asset is actually actively used by investors on the chain is not clear from the available source, and it is important to distinguish between funds that are technically represented on the blockchain and funds where the blockchain is actively used in the transaction flow.
Regulatory Uncertainty Remains
Despite the institutional momentum, the picture is not without caveats. The tokenization of fund products operates in a regulatory landscape that is still evolving. In Europe, the EU's MiCA regulation provides some clarity, but globally, the classification of tokenized fund shares is inconsistent — which can create challenges for cross-border distribution.
AML and KYC requirements must also be integrated into the technical solution. Martin Gruenberg of the US FDIC has previously expressed skepticism about open blockchains because they make it more difficult to enforce anti-money laundering regulations. Calastone, however, operates on permissioned infrastructure aimed at institutional players, which inherently addresses many of these concerns.
The Industry's Direction is Clear
Regardless of individual details, LGAM's step sends a clear signal: the tokenization of traditional liquidity instruments is no longer a niche project. With players like BlackRock, JPMorgan, Franklin Templeton, UBS, and now Legal & General in the field, tokenized money market funds are rapidly moving from experiment to infrastructure.
