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Bank of New York Mellon (BK), the world’s largest custodial bank with $55.8 trillion in assets under custody, is testing tokenized deposits in a bid to modernize its global payment infrastructure and keep pace with a growing shift toward blockchain-based finance.
The effort, still in the exploratory phase, aims to let clients make payments using tokenized versions of their deposits, Bloomberg reports.
These tokenized deposits would move over a blockchain, enabling near-instant settlement and potentially reducing transaction costs.BNY currently handles about $2.5 trillion in payments each day.
BNY’s Carl Slabicki told Bloomberg the technology could help banks “overcome legacy constraints,” allowing them to move money faster within their own networks and eventually across the wider financial system.
BNY Mellon joins a growing list of major banks experimenting with tokenized funds. JPMorgan began trialing its JPMD token in June on Coinbase’s Base blockchain, while Europe, nine banks are building MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin.
Over the summer, BNY Mellon and Goldman Sachs teamed up to roll out tokenized money market funds for clients. The financial instituion’s CEO, Robin Vince, has in the past said the bank wouldn’t be as aggressive as other lenders in trying to gain crypto deposits.