The appeal of tokenisation extends beyond bankers and investors to also include corporate treasurers who are seeking more efficient and cost-effective ways to move and manage their money.
According to Adam Levine, CEO of Fireblocks Trust Company, the future of corporate treasury belongs on-chain. Fireblocks, as a digital asset infrastructure aimed at a range of institutional investors, aims to be in this market.
“Our goal is not to jeopardise speed for safety, or vice versa, but to provide a platform that allows you to change digital assets in the safest way,” says Levine.
The infrastructure is partly about market connectivity and providing corporate treasurers with the ability to see all of their holdings – digital and traditional – in one place, whether that is a tokenised MMF, stablecoin or traditional asset. “It is about the simplicity of how you connect to the market and the visibility of assets,” says Levine, and he says the adoption of digital assets has increased in the corporate treasury market to the point where it is no longer the sole preserve of crypto-native firms. “Some of the largest publicly-listed companies are coming to us, asking how they could use digital assets to operate in a more efficient way and to make their treasury operations more effective,” says Levine.
Stablecoin sandwiches
It is still early days in the life of digital assets, and tokenised MMFs specifically, but the rate of adoption is increasing. A big factor in the increased rate of adoption is corporate treasurers’ greater understanding of the benefit of on-chain assets.
These benefits have been most clearly seen in the crossborder world, says Levine. He refers to the increasing use of so-called “stablecoin sandwiches” where companies selling across borders are using stablecoins rather than traditional FX processes. “This is especially effective in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia or Latin America,” says Levine.
For example, Mexican companies are using stablecoins to transfer money from pesos to dollars – a process that can be done in minutes using stablecoins but can take two days to settle when done through the conventional FX market.
“For corporate treasurers, the ability to move money faster but in a wholly visible and transparent way is a tremendous incentive,” says Levine. “Stablecoins may not be necessary for every transaction, especially domestically. But there are plenty of examples where the current process is too slow, costly, complex and wholly inefficient. But as the use of on-chain instruments continues, we will see it applied more widely.”
One example of wider application is the tokenised money market fund (MMF). Typically recognised as a safe-haven for investors and a critical cash management tool for corporate treasurers, the MMF has become a staple of the financial system. “Money market funds are really important instruments for corporate treasurers but they are not seen as ‘sexy’,” says Levine. And even if you tokenise the fund, it is still an MMF.
But there are clear benefits to a tokenised MMF over a stablecoin, says Levine. “Firstly, they are interest-bearing assets that will generate a return. There is also a practical advantage in that you are keeping that asset on-chain at all times, whereas with a stablecoin, you have to manage the conversion between fiat and on-chain status.”
Digital firsts
The number of tokenised MMFs on the market is increasing significantly. Some of the biggest names in asset management have all launched their own tokenised MMFs in recent months.
Franklin Templeton was one of the first established asset managers to enter the tokenised MMF market, launching the Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund back in 2021. Since then, the tokenised MMF market in the US has grown to more than $1.8 billion while tokenised US treasuries have grown exponentially in the past 12 months – from $1.8 billion in July 2024 to $7.5 billion in July 2025.
And the fund launches have continued. In May 2025, BNP Paribas Asset Management launched natively tokenised money market fund shares on Allfunds Blockchain, marking what it claims is the “first cross-border digital asset transaction between Luxembourg and France”.
And in July, BNY and Goldman Sachs launched a “first-of-its-kind” service in the US that gives institutional clients access to tokenised MMF shares issued through Goldman’s private blockchain via BNY’s LiquidityDirect platform.
Yet the volume of tokenised MMFs still represents a fraction of the $7 trillion in the overall MMF market. So, what can be done to increase the volume and adoption of on-chain treasuries?
According to Levine, the market is still in the early stages of digital development and that creates some challenges for adoption. For example, fees are currently higher for tokenised MMFs because there is a premium attached to anything that can be termed as a digital asset. However, as the market becomes more competitive, the cost will come down.
Levine also believes that the involvement of recognisable names and seeing these fledgling funds develop a track record of providing returns will help. “Seeing that tokenised MMFs really work would be a big incentive to wider adoption,” he says.
Regulatory clarity
A further catalyst to wider adoption is the regulatory clarity that is emerging.
The UK and Europe have been laying the path for greater usage of digital assets to emerge, through the Plan for Change initiative and the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.
But the most significant development has been in the US. A report published earlier this year found that 41% of the world’s tokenised assets remained inaccessible to US investors due, in part, to the unresolved regulatory classification for digital assets as either commodities, securities or something else entirely.
The change of administration has brought with it a much more crypto-friendly approach to supervision, culminating in the passing of the Genius Act in July, a comprehensive framework for stablecoin regulation.
“When you get regulatory clarity, it is a big boost for adoption,” says Levine. “And the investment world was waiting to see what would happen in the US.”
The more involvement there is from major jurisdictions and well-known players, the more it diminishes the stigma that anything to do with on-chain, decentralised finance is somehow untrustworthy, says Levine.
One final catalyst will be corporate treasurer’s growing familiarity with the technology. Levine says corporate treasurers are inherently conservative but any hard attitudes will soften once they see on-chain securities really working.
