Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, the largest global asset manager with $14 Trillion in assets under management, spoke at the World Economic Forum 2026 in Davos, Switzerland, generating speculations about BlackRock's report on Ethereum's dominance over tokenization and Fink's call to unify tokenization in a single blockchain.
Larry Fink Calls For Tokenization
Fink stated that the move towards tokenization of real-world assets and their digitalization is “necessary,” and underscored the US’ global position in this matter “ironic,” given the two countries at the tokenization forefront are Brazil and India, both classified as emerging economies.
“We would do more democratization by reducing fees. If we had all investments on a tokenized platform, we could move from a tokenized market fund to equities and bonds, back and forth. One common blockchain, we could reduce corruption. Yes we would have dependency on one blockchain, which we could talk about, but activities would be processed more securely,” said the BlackRock chief.
Although Fink did not name a specific blockchain and mentioned it only in passing rather than as a central theme, the reference to a single chain prompted speculation that he was referring to Ethereum.
Why Could Ethereum Be ‘The One’
BlackRock has already deployed several products on Ethereum, and launched ETH-based investment vehicles. The asset manager runs a spot ETH ETF: iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA).
Additionally, BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) was launched in March 2024 as its first tokenized fund issued on a public blockchain, initially on Ethereum.
BUIDL later expanded beyond Ethereum to additional networks, including Ethereum L2s such as Arbitrum and Optimism, plus Polygon, Avalanche, Aptos, etc.
While BlackRock products appear on other networks, such as BSC and Solana, Larry Fink’s 2025 letter frames tokenization of stocks/bonds/funds as a long-term direction for capital markets.
Not Ethereum-specific, but consistent with public-chain settlement rails as part of the thesis.
Ethereum is a prime candidate for BlackRock’s tokenization narrative, thanks to liquidity concentration, specifically stablecoins, RWAs (real-world assets), and derivatives, as well as regulatory clarity, wide reach, and dominant position in the DeFi market.
Moreover, ERC standards, i.e., technical guidelines for creating smart contracts and tokens (ERC-20, ERC-4626, ERC-1400), initially created by Ethereum, are widely adopted, which gives fiat companies an advantage.
BlackRock could choose Ethereum or create its own blockchain. In any case, Ethereum remains at the forefront of the debate, and it is highly unlikely for BlackRock to choose a competing blockchain IF they do not plan on launching their own.
